As many of you now know, the Phillies have signed Luis Castillo to a minor league contract yesterday, three days after he was released by the New York Mets.
There has been a sense of negativity amongst the other Phillies blogs about this deal, but I on the other hand see this as a great signing.
Now before all of you jump on me and call me an idiot let me say this….Luis Castillo sucks. He really does. Last year he batted .235 and had an on base percentage of just .337. He also famously dropped that fly ball against the Yankees which would have ended the game, and for that he will forever remain awful in my book.
However, this is still a good signing for the Phillies. For one, he will only cost $414,000 if he makes the Phillies makes the active roster. They key word here is “if” he makes the roster.
Obviously with Utley out, the Phils are looking for someone to replace Utley at second base, and by signing Castillo to this minor league deal, he essentially has a 10 day try out with the Phillies.
If he impresses during the next two weeks, the Phillies will gain a former Gold Glover and a bat who hit .302 two years ago before his foot injury.
If he sucks wind in Clearwater, the Phillies will probably cut Castillo, and will still have plenty of qualified candidates for the job such as Wilson Valdez, Delwyn Young, and Josh Barfield. If they cut him before Opening Day, they won’t have to pay him a cent.
GM Ruben Amaro Jr. put this deal in the prefect perspective when he said this morning, “It’s kind of a low-risk situation. We’ll see if he’s somebody who can help our club.”
So there you have it. I have made my case on why this is a good deal for the Phillies. I stand alone as the only person in the tri-state area who thinks this isn’t a horrible idea. Hopefully I am right so I can laugh in all of your faces.
In other news the Mets released Oliver Perez, the only man who was a worse financially investment for the Mets than Bernie Madolf. Now that guy really sucks.
TTB 