Last night on SNY, Kevin Burkhardt, Jon Heyman, and David Lennon discuss the Mets at 2nd Base. Check out this clip. I had never thought that Manuel was a big fan of Castillo. But, as Heyman reports, there is no love lost between the two. Going back before the Mets, Manuel had never been a big fan of Castillo. Burkhardt and the others discuss Castillo and the other possibilities the Mets have if he fails (none really at this point).
The key though, as Burkhardt brings up is that moving Castillo will be next to impossible unless the Mets basically pay almost all of his salary. The Mets are not currently in a position where they are going to do this. As I think they shouldn't. Castillo is by no means over the hill. I firmly believe that if he comes into camp in shape, he will do fine in the field and should bat a respectable .275 with some runs scored and some timely hitting. What I do not agree with is him in the two hole. I am a huge fan of Ryan Church there. I think especially coming off a season with so many injuries, Church will come in very motivated. Healthy, he should be a doubles machine. Reyes should be salivating at the thought of all those runs scored.
In a related story from the Minneapolis Star Tribune, the Mets are rumored to be interested in Nick Punto, free agent from the Twins. Punto is a guy that can and does play all over the infield. Career numbers for Punto: .252 BA, .319 OBP, seems like nothing special. I am hoping Omar sees him as a backup/fallback option.
I no longer see the Mets going for Hudson. I just do not think they want to dish out $40-$50 million for 4 or 5 years to the guy. He is very solid, but not a superstar by any means. Luis looks to be the guy until he proves he isn't.
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