
Looks like the Mets were more than a little scared off my
David Eckstein's insane asking price and they're now close to a deal with
Luis Castillo, who manned second for the latter half of 2007 for them. At least
that's what Ken Rosenthal is saying and I don't know why he'd lie to me (or you).
Rosenthal's reporting a 4-year/$25 million contract between the Mets and Castillo. That's $11 million total less than what Eckstein is reportedly asking for. When you consider that Castillo is younger, a better fielder, and about the same at the plate (Castillo's 2007 OPS was .721, Ecksein's was .738) as the Mighty Eck, this is a deal that almost makes too much sense for the Mets.
If I may beat a dead horse, this just goes to show how overrated Eckstein really is. Despite being a younger, better player with several teams interested (at least the Astros, Nationals, and Cubs), Castillo's price tag still fell waaay short of what Eckstein's asking for with no one bidding for him (as far as I can tell). This whole being a "World Series Champion" thing really is worth something. The Red Sox should cash in on
Royce Clatyon this off-season. He really showed some grit in the dugout during those totally-not-staged conversations about Taco Bell.