Johan Santanamay not appreciate it, but part of the reason the Twins dealt Luis Castillo is because he's going to be a free agent at the end of the season. Now that he's been traded to the Mets, though, it's sounds like he's hoping he never hits the open market. From the Journal News:
Castillo will be a free agent after the season and hopes his isn't a rental situation.
"I hope to stay here," Castillo said. "I hope we go to the World Series. ... We've got two more months. We'll see what happens."
Both first baseman Carlos Delgado and catcher Paul Lo Duca were teammates of Castillo in Florida, where he won three Gold Glove awards.
"He's a gamer," Lo Duca said. "He's going to play hard. He doesn't like to lose. He's a great teammate."
See, he's a gamer! From what I hear, you can't win without those. We'll have to wait and see what Omar Minaya wants to do this winter, but I'm not so sure the slap-hitting Castillo is a serious improvement over Ruben Gotay, who's hit .350 and slugged .504 in in 123 at-bats. I guess it's possible that Jose Valentin could be re-signed, but by the time spring training rolls around he'll be 38 years old and coming off a major leg injury.
The Mets are close to acquiring second baseman Luis Castillo from the Twins for two minor leaguers, according to major-league sources.
Castillo would replace Jose Valentin, who recently suffered a season-ending broken shin when he fouled a pitch off his leg.
Now while this trade may not solve all of the Mets problems, having Luis Castillo teamed up with Jose Reyes atop of their order, it will lead to a lot of runs.
As for the Twins, if there were any questions remaining on how they were going to treat the rest of this season, I think this provides the answer. For now they'll fill the spot with Nick Punto and Jeff Cirillo, and could be interested in Morgan Ensberg at third base.
With Castillo being a free agent at the end of the season, it was unlikely he'd have stayed in Minnesota considering they have bigger fish to fry in Justin Morneau and Johan Santana. There's also Alexi Casilla down at Triple-A who's just waiting to take over the second base position in Minnesota.
There's no question that the White Sox will be sellers before Tuesday's trade deadline passes, but there may be a new player available. Up until now most trade talk surrounding the White Sox has focused on Jermaine Dye, Jose Contreras, Javier Vazquez, and Jon Garland.
Dye is a free agent at the end of the season, but unlike Mark Buehrle, he hasn't been offered an extension. The Sox also have another player who will be a free agent at season's end, and he just became a lot more valuable.
Considering that the White Sox don't appear to be on the verge of getting anything substantial for Dye and Contreras, the two players they really want to trade, Iguchi might be Chicago's best chance to get something of value in return.
Iguchi is one of the top offensive second baseman in the American League, and is average defensively. He could help the Phillies supplant some of the production they'll be missing without Chase Utley, and the Mets could probably get more out of Iguchi than Valentin. Since both teams are in the same division, they may have to try and outbid each other for Iguchi's services.
Which would be great news for Kenny Williams and the White Sox.
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.
Major League Mongering will look at players rumored to be on the move between now and the July 31st pseudo-trade-deadline.
This isn't too surprising, but once again the Pirates could end up being a one-stop shop for any contender looking to stock up for the stretch run. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported today that the following three players are available:
Jack Wilson to the Blue Jays. This was one we actually broached yesterday, but apparently this deal is dead in the water until the Pirates lower their demands. Who were they looking for in return? Troy Glaus. Can't blame you for trying, Dave Littlefield, but all-glove, no-hit shortstops (and expensive ones at that) rarely bring that much in return.
Saloman Torres to the Red Sox. The Pirates' main objective in any deal will likely be to improve their offense, so the Post-Gazette suggests the Bucs would go after Wily Mo Pena, who just so happens to be on the block, as well. Pena has enough potential that the Sox might be nervous pawning him off for a reliever with a 5.12 ERA, but Torres is better than he's pitched this year, and besides, the Sox can't exactly afford to be too picky considering Pena is hitting just .202-4-12 in 129 at-bats. This is one deal I could definitely see happening.
Jose Castillo to the Mets. Considering Jose Valentin is expected to miss the rest of the season with a fractured leg, this is possible but unlikely. For one, Castillo is hitting just .238, almost one hundred points below Ruben Gotay, the heir apparent at second base for the Mets.
While the general baseball fan populous seems to be rooting for the guy to make it to his goal of playing in the league at the age of 50, his manager in New York and some former teammates there don't seem too sad to see him go.
Manager Willie Randolph said Franco should get more playing time with the Braves, and the reason he didn't with the Mets was a .200 average.
"If you play, you have to produce. That clubhouse stuff is overrated," said Randolph, who volunteered the information unsolicited.
Jose Valentin offered up that Franco was a less than eager participant in the club's pregame stretching.
However, what irked some players was Franco wouldn't hesitate to get in the face of some of the younger players about doing their jobs when he was hitting .200 with one homer with the Mets.
"To be a leader for me, it's not enough to talk all the time," Valentin said. "You have to go out and do it yourself."
What I'm garnering from that blockquote is Franco liked to tell his teammates what to do a lot in an effort to be a "leader," but wasn't producing much himself. That can get annoying, no doubt. It's like your alcoholic father telling you to not drink. But hey, we're supposed to respect our elders regardless, right?
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
The Injury Turk is starting to catch up to the older Mets. Orlando Hernandez and Jose Valentin have already gone down with injuries, and now the injury reaper is chasing Moises Alou. The 40-year-old has already experienced a cut chin and a jammed shoulder. But that wasn't enough to sideline him too long. So now, it's a knee injury that is nagging Alou, and it may keep him out of action for a game or two if anti-inflammatory medication and draining the knee don't do the trick:
"My knee felt unstable and painful," Alou said. "The doctor said I have a little bit of fluid there. I had an MRI the other day and I have a little bit of arthritis and a small little tear in my meniscus. The little tear, I guess, sometimes it rubs something and makes me get an uncomfortable feeling. I wore a brace during the game after (tweaking it in the fourth) to feel more secure, but it didn't help much."
In baseball, there are no little tears ... especially for 40-year-olds. When something rubs something and you get an uncomfortable feeling, it's time to see the doctor (or a therapist, but that's an entirely different uncomfortable feeling caused by an entirely different method of rubbing). Previously on The Fanhouse: Moises Alou Fought the Wall and the Wall Won Mets lose El Duque and Valentin to Injury
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.
Apparently running through walls gets tougher with age. Moises Alou, 40, aggravated a shoulder injury and suffered a badly cut chin after charging into the left-field wall during Monday's game. He's scheduled to undergo an MRI today and will is day-to-day.
Alou first hurt his shoulder over the weekend when he jammed it while diving to make a play in the outfield. He was healthy enough to start Monday's game, and he actually stayed in the game after his outfield collision until being lifted for a defensive replacement in the ninth. In fact, he's not even sure Monday's collision was the root of his shoulder suddenly starting to ache:
"It was funny, I was just standing there," Alou said. "I don't know, maybe it was the way I turned. I feel OK now, but tomorrow, I don't know when the painkiller wears off how I'm going to feel."
I'm not a doctor, but if I had to say whether it was just standing there or the violent crash into a wall that caused his shoulder to ache, I'm going with the latter. In any case, it's hard to look at the Mets' situation and not think that they must have seen this coming: in addition to dealing with Alou's injury, both Jose Valentin and Orlando Hernandez, both 37, landed on the 15-day disabled list last year. Technically speaking, "age" was never an official diagnosis in any of their cases, but you have to figure it played a factor.
Johan Santana may not appreciate it, but part of the reason the Twins dealt Luis Castillo is because he's going to be a free agent at the end of the season. Now that he's been traded to the Mets, though, it's sounds like he's hoping he never hits the open market. From the Journal News:
The Phillies are on a tear, and just got 
There's no question that the White Sox will be sellers before Tuesday's trade deadline passes, but there may be a new player available. Up until now most trade talk surrounding the White Sox has focused on 
Major League Mongering
Major League Mongering
We 
First it was 
The Injury Turk is starting to catch up to the older Mets. Orlando Hernandez and Jose Valentin have already 
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 
Apparently running through walls gets tougher with age. Moises Alou, 40, 
