Posts tagged LuisCastillo at FanHouse

The latest plan to accelerate the maturity of Jose Reyes involves Luis Castillo. After Reyes' Tanner Boyle-like tantrum in front of a packed house at Shea Stadium on Sunday, manager Jerry Manuel discussed the plan to have Castillo be a more positive influence on Reyes.

Manuel noted that Reyes could be more focused during games. To that effect, Manuel hopes Luis Castillo will take a more active role in keeping Reyes disciplined, as Jose Valentin and Miguel Cairo did in past seasons.

"We would hope that at some point he would, because of the years that he's had in the majors, get comfortable enough in taking on some of that responsibility," Manuel said about Castillo. "I think when Louie begins to feel good about Louie, then he can do something for somebody else. When he came last year he was a little different as far as, 'C'mon. Let's go. Stay up.' I think the injuries, the season that he's had, has had a little effect on him."

Yep, it's come to that. A 25-year-old ballplayer who has been in the majors for five years is still in a mentor program. And his new mentor is a guy who was recently guilted into playing every day when it was hinted that his request for an occasional few days off to rest up nagging injuries would result in a stay on the disabled list. Great. Hope Castillo remembers to child-proof the clubhouse by covering up the electrical outlets.

As the 2005 draft class continues to be dismantled one underachieving pick at at time -- most recently highlighted by 32 teams wanting nothing to do with fourth-overall selection Cedric Benson -- the Boston Globe's Mike Reiss reminds us in today's edition that all but one (with injury exceptions) of the first 10 picks in that draft were forgettable.

Cornerback Pacman Jones (No. 6) and receivers Troy Williamson (No. 7) and Mike Williams (No. 10) are already with their second teams. Meanwhile, quarterback Alex Smith (No. 1) is in a battle to hold down the starting job in San Francisco, while Antrel Rolle (No. 8) is being moved to safety in Arizona after failing to excel at cornerback.

Reiss rightly gives Ronnie Brown (No. 2), Cadillac Williams (No. 5) and Carlos Rogers (No. 9) passes because of injuries, but if nothing else, Benson, Brown and Williams reinforce the theory that using high-round picks on running backs is a waste of time and money.

Of the first 10 selections, only Braylon Edwards has lived up to the pre-draft hype. In fact, if we staged one of those dopey mock re-drafts, DeMarcus Ware (No. 11) or Shawne Merriman (No. 12) would probably be the first-overall pick, followed by some combination of Aaron Rodgers, Luis Castillo, Heath Miller and Logan Mankins.

Two things: A.J. Smith is obviously a genius, and nothing like having a tight end as a top-five selection -- Kellen Winslow couldn't even do that, and he's a soldier.

If you're new to these proceedings, click here and here to catch up on what you've missed.

If you're not into the extended catch-up, you've missed a six-run Mets fourth and a two-run Josh Willingham home run and some entertaining fat men dancing. Johan Santana's on his way to his first Mets win, we'll see if he can get it after the jump.

Hopefully you're moving over from the Innings 1-3 coverage but if not and need to catch up, check it out here.

Johan Santana's been everything the Mets expected to this point but he's getting everything he can handle from Mark Hendrickson. On a basketball court, that wouldn't be surprising but we're playing baseball here. Let's see how both men do as they start facing people for the second and third time. For now we're scoreless and heading into the top of the fourth.

If you're looking for a feeling of rebirth, there ain't much better than Opening Day. Blank slates abound, last year's failures are but a fleeting memory and everybody's in first place. Nope, it doesn't get much better than that.

Unless, of course, you have all those things plus your first look at the best pitcher in baseball wearing your team's uniform for the first time in a game that counts. It's Johan Santana's Mets coming out party and the Marlins are playing both host and cannon fodder for the man who has launched World Series dreams all across Queens.

I'll be here for every one of his pitches (and Mark Hendrickson's too!). Sit back, relax and enjoy the show.

Former NFL player Ross Tucker is now a columnist for Sports Illustrated, and he makes an interesting case in his most recent column: Tucker claims that the pressure to perform well in the 40-yard dash, bench press and other events at the NFL scouting combine leads some players to use performance-enhancing drugs.

The most notable example is San Diego Chargers defensive lineman Luis Castillo, who tested positive for steroids at the 2005 combine. But Tucker also writes he talked to two recently retired NFL players who said they took performance-enhancing drugs before and/or after the combine.

"I had spent seemingly my whole life working toward the opportunity to play in the NFL," one NFL player who talked to Tucker said. "I wanted to be able to bench press at the combine and did not want teams to think that I was either injured or lacked the toughness to fight through an injury."

Another player who wasn't invited to the combine told Tucker, "Right after my college season I sat down and weighed the pros and cons of taking steroids, and ultimately decided that the pros outweighed the cons. I looked at this [my pro day workout] as my one shot in life."

Are stories like this common? Are dozens or hundreds of prospective NFL players using performance-enhancing drugs to get ready for workouts with NFL scouts? Tucker seems to think it goes far beyond the players he talked to.

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.

Although fellow FanHouser Pat Lackey bemoaned the rest of the free agency crop last evening now that Alex Rodriguez is all but locked up with the Yankees, he forgot one man. This man stands for grit, hustle and integrity. This man is Mr. Scrappy. This man is David Eckstein.

And it looks like the Mets took Eckstein out to a nice dinner this week in hopes he'll pay second base for them next season.

How serious the 32-year-old Eckstein is about playing second base isn't clear, but he was interested enough about getting the Mets involved in the bidding to dine with Omar Minaya, Willie Randolph and other team executives in chief operating officer Jeff Wilpon's neighborhood.

[ ... ]

Aside from signing Eckstein or Castillo, the Mets could pursue a trade for Orlando Hudson, Arizona's second baseman and a three-time Gold Glove winner, who is a year away from free agency. But signing a free agent would allow the Mets to preserve their top prospects for a run at a front-line starting pitcher.

So yeah, it appears the Mets' first option might be to try and resign Luis Castillo, but they might have some stiff competition with the Astros for his services. And, as you can see from the above blockquote, they may also be working on a deal for Orlando Hudson.

But hey, do either of these guys have a World Series MVP trophy or the scrap and grit of Eckstein? I think not.

HT: BBTF.

To get you ready for week 10, FanHouse is previewing all 14 NFL games. Here is the Indianapolis Colts/San Diego Chargers preview.

2007 Records:

Indianapolis Colts 7-1 (1st in AFC South)
San Diego Chargers 4-4 (t-1st in AFC West)

Last Game:

Patriots 24, Colts 20
Vikings 35, Chargers 17

When the Colts have the ball: They could go to the ground game more than they have in the past. Adrian Peterson's record-breaking game last weekend could have served as a blue print for how to pound the Chargers defense. Furthermore, with Marvin Harrison questionable, Dallas Clark's status in jeopardy, and Anthony Gonzalez out for a few weeks, Peyton Manning won't have all his weapons available in the aerial attack.

When the Chargers have the ball: They should get the ball to secret weapon Legedu Naanee as much as possible. He proved last weekend against the Vikings that he can be a go-to-guy when the Chargers need a critical first down. On the real, San Diego needs to get playmaker Antonio Gates the ball more than once a game, and they can't get down in a spot where Philip Rivers throws it 42 times. Oh yeah, and maybe giving LT around 25-30 touches would be a good idea.

"Boom, Bust, or Bobby Bonilla" takes a look at MLB's Free Agents and the teams who need them in 2008.

Luis Castillo was a trade deadline acquisition from the Minnesota Twins, and for the Mets lineup he was just what the doctor ordered. He hit .296 after coming over from Minnesota and, more importantly, .381 with runners in scoring position and two outs. To understand how important that is, consider that the Mets average with RISP and two outs for the '07 season was .239, which means that if more Mets had hit like Castillo in those situations, that great Philadelphia comeback might never have existed.

More impressively, Castillo did all of this with bad wheels, and recently had surgery on his right knee to fix the problem and should be fit and ready to go for 2008.