Phillies

Scout Says Castillo is Done

By Kyle Scott

Published: Mar 21st, 2011 · 7:44 PM EDT

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Heyyo.

In case we haven't beaten our 10-day tryout flyer pseudo replacement second baseman to death enough, here's this, courtesy of new Phillies beat reporter Jim McCormick: [Philly Sports Daily]

Recently, a National League scout told Philly Sports Daily that Castillo’s trademark speed is essentially sapped. The source said, “He’s done as far as I see it, this isn’t much more than kicking tires.”

 

Tires that are apparently flat. Nice.

That's in addition to Jon Heyman's comment to Howard Eskin (funny, same way a blogger gets information) about Castillo having lost all of his fielding range. Even better.

As J-Mac (that's what we're going with here) points out, Castillo led the majors in percentage of ground balls hit last year (63%). Not good for a guy with two flat tires.

But I still like the "signing." And you should, too. Here's why: If the injuries to either Utley or Polanco linger, Castillo could prove to be an adequate bat to fill the Wilson Valdez gap. He is a career .290 hitter who batted .302 in 2009 before hurting his foot in 2010. Plus, the Phillies will have until March 31st to make a decision on him. If they don't like him, they let him go. If the keep him, they will only have to pay him the league minimum of $414,000. The Mets will pay the rest of his $6 million salary.

Speaking of our friends assholes to the north, the Mets let go of Oliver Perez today. They will eat his $12 million salary. That's right, the broke team will be paying $17.5 million worth of salary to two players they released.

The Amazin' Mets, folks.