After signing a four-year, $24 million contract last winter, Luis Castillo was a huge disappointment in his first full season with the Mets. He hit just .245, nearly 50 points below his career average, and spent large chunks of the season on the bench after losing his regular starting job to the likes of Damion Easley and Argenis Reyes.
Ordinarily you'd think the Mets would try to move Castillo, but they've decided to give him another chance, and not just because his contract makes him nearly untradeable. Soon after the season ended, Castillo had his agent arrange a face-to-face meeting with GM Omar Minaya and VP Tony Bernazard in which he took responsibility for his poor showing and pleaded for a chance to redeem himself. From the New York Post:
"He wanted to let the front office know that he was disappointed in how the year went, and promise to do everything he could to get in shape and be the kind of player he had been for 10 years," Minaya said.
Just because the Mets didn't fire Willie Randolph, it doesn't mean the team isn't open to making some changes in hopes of getting back on the winning side of things. You need only look at last night's lineup against the Marlins to see that.
Fernando Tatis won the game with a 12th inning double and he was joined in the lineup by Nick Evans and Damion Easley. Tatis and Evans were both in the minor leagues earlier this month and Easley started for the second straight night at the expense of Carlos Delgado. Does that mean the Mets have benched him?
"I told him he has to pick it up," Randolph told Mets.com before the game. "His defense played into (the decision). He has to pick it up. He didn't like what I said. I don't want him to be happy (about) not playing. But he had no choice."
Nor should he because Delgado isn't doing anything right now. Never the best glove, Delgado's bat no longer carries that deficiency and the Mets aren't hitting on enough cylinders to keep waiting for him to come around. There's a caveat, each of Easley's starts came against lefties and Delgado's expected in the lineup against Brad Penny tonight, but there's probably not much rope left for Delgado.
Maybe he should shave his moustache and goatee. Growing a 'stache got Jason Giambi cooking, perhaps the opposite could get New York's other first baseman in gear.
This Dugout blurb comes only with the information that you need to know. One! The New York Mets are having a contest where fans help decide which song will be played and sung along to during this season's games. Two! The Mets are not particularly good at choosing songs to be associated with the Mets. Three! David Wright has a blog and probably thinks Maddox has a funny website.
Today's Dugout gets straight up RICK ROLL'D (lol) after the jump.
The Mets may be staying mum on their interest in Alex Rodriguez, but they did lock up a couple of their own on Wednesday, ensuring that Moises Alou and Damion Easley will return in 2008. The Mets held a $7.5 million option on Alou, while Easley signed for $950,000. From the New York Daily News:
"I was thinking about retirement early in the year. Or I wasn't sure I wanted to come back," [Alou] continued. "But the way I ended up playing, and what happened this year to us, I really wanted to have another shot at winning a world championship."
Saying "I ended up playing well" is an understatement: he ended up hitting .341 with a 30-game hitting streak. That's incredible production, let alone from a 41-year-old veteran whom many regarded as being on his last legs.
He only played in 87 games, largely due to a strained calf that sidelined him for two and a half months, but he's shooting to play in at least 140 games this year. Is that overly optimistic? Perhaps; he's only in that many games over a full season five times since making his big-league debut in 1990, and he hasn't topped 123 in a season since 2004.
After losing Damion Easley for most likely the rest of the season, the Mets are in need for a new utility man. Wait, scratch that -- the Mets were in need for a new utility man. From Ken Rosenthal, whom I strongly suspect never sleeps and has a Blackberry electronically tethered to his brain:
The New York Mets are on the verge of acquiring utility player Jeff Conine from the Cincinnati Reds for two Class-A position players, according to Major League sources.
Conine will serve as a right-handed hitter off the bench, filling in at first base and possibly the outfield.
It's not the most exciting move, but it's certainly fitting -- I think the annual "Jeff Conine to a contender" trade has kicked off every single stretch run of the past 12 years. Conine isn't quite as versatile as Easley -- at least when it comes to playing the middle infield -- but even at 41 years old he's still a solid bat off the bench. The Mets could have done much worse.
The gist of the title isn't official yet, but after seeing Damion Easley's ankle roll over the way it did on Saturday night, one would have to assume that Easley has put on a Mets uniform for the final time in 2007.
Easley was going to second base on a wild pitch against the Nationals in the sixth inning, when as he was starting to stop, Easley's ankle rolled in such a way that the ankle itself hit the ground, and the next thing you know Easley had to be taken off the field with a grade three sprain ... the most severe ankle sprain you can have.
"It was very difficult (to watch)," manager Willie Randolph said. "Easley's done a great job for us, he's been a great addition to this ballclub on and off the field. Works as hard as anyone, it's very disappointing."
Otherwise, Saturday for the Mets was quite peachy as their victory, coupled with losses by Atlanta and Philadelphia have stretched their division lead to four over the Phils, and five and a half over the Braves. But with Easley being their only viable right handed option off the bench, the Mets may have to do something more significant than a minor league call-up to replace him. (Let's just say if I was Jeff Conine, I wouldn't plan any long-term team bonding exercises in Cincinnati.)
Major League Mongering will look at players rumored to be on the move between now and the July 31st pseudo-trade-deadline.
Now that the Mets have lost Jose Valentin for at least six weeks thanks to a broken right tibia, they find themselves a little short at second base. Willie Randolph seems to think that Ruben Gotay, Anderson Hernandez, and Damion Easley can fill in, but there's a better option in Kansas City.
Royals veteran Mark Grudzielanek is believed to be on a short list of second basemen eyed by the New York Mets as a possible replacement for injured Jose Valentin.
The Mets showed interest in Grudzielanek as a free agent after the 2005 season before opting to sign Valentin. Grudzielanek signed four days later with the Royals.
Grudzielanek would be an upgrade over any of the Mets options right now. He's the reigning AL Gold Glove winner at second base, so he'll fit in seamlessly with Jose Reyes, and he's a .300 hitter.
If the Mets were to get Grudzielanek, they could place him in the second spot of the lineup where he's just about a perfect fit. He very rarely strikes out, and he'll be able to make sure Jose Reyes gets to second or third without having to steal a base if need be. He'll also get on base a lot himself making sure there are runners on when Carlos Beltran, David Wright, and Carlos Delgado come up to the plate.
It's not going to completely solve the Mets problem in their starting rotation, but Grudz's addition would make an already potent offense even more dangerous, and take more pressure off of the Mets pitching staff.
First it was Moises Alou's quad and knee, which isn't quite healed yet. Then, it was Shawn Green fouling a ball off of his foot and breaking a small bone in his foot. Those are both of Carlos Beltran's flanks in the outfield, so who can blame him if he started to feel a little nervous for his own health, especially with his recent admission that he's played the last month with a little tendinitis (Beltran hit .234 in May after a .356 average in April).
Last night, Beltran was involved in a collision with Giants first baseman Rich Aurilia, and after testing his knee in the dugout unsuccessfully, Beltran left the game with a knee contusion, and is undergoing an MRI today in New York. Beltran admits that he's indeed a little nervous.
"If I feel good tomorrow, I will be there," he said after the Mets' 4-2 win last night, with "there" meaning the lineup. But he acknowledged that he was "scared" because he felt pain in the front and back of his knee after he crossed the base. Later, standing at his locker, he said the pain had gone away, especially in the back. The front felt sore, he said, adding that the knee felt weak.
Beltran, as noted here before, had injury issues in '05, tried to play through them, and had a terrible season. If tendinitis is causing him to bat .234, and if the MRI shows anything close to a DL worthy injury, then maybe it's time to learn from what happened in 2005 and rest him for a couple of weeks. Sure, having an outfield with guys like Endy Chavez, David Newhan, Carlos Gomez, Ben Johnson, Damion Easley, and perhaps Jose Valentin who's currently on a rehab stint in the minors, is going to hurt for 7-14 days. But better to have no Beltran for two weeks in June than have a so-so Beltran for the whole year. Previously on The Fanhouse: The Injuries Mount for Moises Alou
Last season, Jose Valentin was the old second baseman who won his job due to injury and never looked back as he tore the cover off the ball from the eighth spot. This season's version of Valentin is Damion Easley, who's trademark so far has been "the big hit". Easley set up a drag bunt walk-off win by hitting a two out, two strike home run in the bottom of the 10th inning. On Thursday night, Easley did it again ... this time with a three run home run off of Diamondbacks closer Jose Valverde to start off a six-run ninth inning and send the Mets to a 9-4 come from behind victory in a place where they've outscored the Diamondbacks 76-16 over the previous eight games.
"Nice comeback, huh?" Mets manager Willie Randolph said. "I'll tell you what, we like it here. It's comfortable. It's a great hitting ballpark."
Mets fans will also be happy with the final three runs of the inning, which came on David Wright's second homer of the season ... and more importantly, it was an opposite field home run which signals that Wright is finding his wheelhouse. Carlos Beltran also hit a homer in the sixth that went an estimated 442 feet and could have landed in somebody's soup.
Also, Aaron Heilman's 1-2-3 eighth inning shouldn't go unnoticed. Heilman has struggled lately in his eighth inning role, mostly in tie games or games where the Mets are down by a run where he would take the team out of striking distance. Heilman's scoreless frame kept the Mets hopes inflated and may have inspired the whole ninth inning rally.
It was an unlikely scenario, made possible by a two out, two strike pinch home run by Damion Easley in the 10th inning. Runners on second and third, Endy Chavez at the dish. What do you do?
Well if there's one thing that we've learned about Endy Chavez, is that he's always capable of a spectacular moment. And while his amazing catch in Game 7 of the NLCS will always be moment number one (unless he does that in a playoff game that the Mets actually win), an extra inning walk-off victory over the Rockies on a drag bunt is pretty sweet.
"I knew the game was over," Chavez said. "After the first pitch I was watching the infielders. I saw that the first baseman and second baseman were playing back there, so I said I'm going to take a chance." The crowd of 38,500 chanted "Endy Chavez! Endy Chavez!" for the reserve outfielder, a fan favorite especially after his incredible catch in Game 7 of the NL championship series last year.
"It's a great feeling," Chavez said.
Easley's heroics can't go unnoticed here. He was facing all-star closer Brian Fuentes, and after swinging and missing a pitch by his eyes, he was down to his last strike. Then he sent the crowd, along with the Mets bullpen, into a frenzy:
"He popped that ball," winning pitcher Joe Smith said. "Everybody in the bullpen went nuts."
Chavez hasn't seen a lot of time in the Mets outfield yet, between the great hitting of Moises Alou and Shawn Green, there hasn't been a lot of chances for Chavez to start or get significant playing time. But as we saw tonight, having Endy Chavez as a bench player is a good problem to have.
After signing a four-year, $24 million contract last winter, Luis Castillo was a huge disappointment in his first full season with the Mets. He hit just .245, nearly 50 points below his career average, and spent large chunks of the season on the bench after losing his regular starting job to the likes of Damion Easley and Argenis Reyes.
Just because the Mets didn't fire 
This Dugout blurb comes only with the information that you need to know. One! The New York Mets are having a contest where fans help decide which song will be played and sung along to during this season's games. Two! The Mets are not particularly good at choosing songs to be associated with the Mets. Three! David Wright has a blog and probably thinks Maddox has a funny website.
The Mets may be staying mum on their interest in 
After losing 
The gist of the title isn't official yet, but after seeing Damion Easley's ankle roll over the way it did on Saturday night, one would have to assume that Easley has put on a Mets uniform for the 
Major League Mongering
First it was 
Last season, Jose Valentin was the old second baseman who won his job due to injury and never looked back as he tore the cover off the ball from the eighth spot. This season's version of Valentin is Damion Easley, who's trademark so far has been "the big hit". Easley set up a 
It was an unlikely scenario, made possible by a two out, two strike pinch home run by Damion Easley in the 10th inning. Runners on second and third, Endy Chavez at the dish. What do you do?
