Castro to Return, Local Pastry Chefs Rejoice

by Eric Simon on Nov 15, 2007 12:30 PM EST in Transactions

Local area papers are aflutter with news that Ramon "Hippo" Castro will return to the Mets after agreeing to a two-year, $4 million deal.

It also appears that we will have an answer from ~~Norbit~~ Yorvit Torrealba today, as his agent Melvin Roman said, "All I can say is Omar (Minaya) and the Mets have done a tremendous job". Roman was also overheard muttering, "Three years, fifteen mill for this guy? Really?".

Castro and Torrealba are set up to split time at catcher next year, hopefully with Castro getting at least half of the playing time if not more. Castro is clearly the superior hitter while historically Torrealba has been a strong defender. Such a tandem would represent a perfectly reasonable catching platoon, with Torrealba manning the plate against high-speed opponents while Castro would play whenever the Mets wanted any actual offensive production from the position.

No official announcement has been made regarding Castro, as he is likely to take a physical before anything is set into stone. Castro had some back problems last year and his overall health is his biggest concern going forward.

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Quite a $ spread.

If these guys are going to split the catching time 50/50, 60-40 or thereabouts, and both of them are free agents, and one is the better hitter while the other has the better glove and arm, why is Torrealba worth $3m more per year than Castro? I'd think about getting a new agent if I were Castro.

by madisonmetsfan on Nov 15, 2007 1:53 PM EST 0 recs

Money

My feeling is that Castro took less money because he really enjoyed playing for the Mets. Torrealba is a hot commodity because he was the catcher for the team that won all of those games in a row. If the eventual deals are 2/$4 for Castro and 3/$15 for Torrealba, they really make a lot more sense in reverse.

In the end, they are paying the right amount of money to the wrong guy but they will be done with catcher and can focus on pitching, which is really where Minaya wants to be channeling his offseason energy (and money and prospects).

by Eric Simon on Nov 15, 2007 2:05 PM EST up 0 recs

Torrealba

Yes, the Rockies sure were good in September. But not because of anything Torrealba did - his OPS for the month was .676 with an OBP south of .300. OPS in the playoffs was .710. He's just not really what you'd call "good". Overrating him because he was on a team that was really hot is stupid.

Still, I'm happy that we're re-signing King Hippo.

by Josh on Nov 15, 2007 2:50 PM EST up 0 recs

No source for this

But espn.com says "Torrealba, 29, is expected to be the starter. Ramon Castro will remain the backup but will receive more playing time than he did when Paul Lo Duca was the Mets' starting catcher."

Hopefully this isn't true. I'd much rather see Castro behind the plate.

Also, in Keith Law's chat today he mentioned that the Twins wanted Carlos Gomez for Matt Garza. If that's true, I hope Minaya makes that deal ASAP.

by ams258 on Nov 15, 2007 4:12 PM EST 0 recs