Luis Castillo

Those who were hoping for an Opening Day miracle in the form of a healthy Chase Utley are going to be sorely disappointed.  The signing of veteran second baseman Luis Castillo to a minor league deal means that Utley may be down for a long time.

On Sunday, the Philadelphia Phillies signed Luis Castillo to a minor league deal and it makes perfect sense to do so.

Well, it looks like it may be a reality: Luis Castillo is reported close to signing a deal with the Philadelphia Phillies. Quite frankly, I am not sure how I feel about this. One would assume that there are some pros and some cons so let's take a look at some of them

One down and one to go for the New York Mets.

The Mets did the inevitable on Friday and cut second baseman Luis Castillo. New York will eat the remaining $6 million on Castillo’s contract.

On Friday, the New York Mets released second baseman Luis Castillo with a year remaining on the four-year, $25 million deal he signed after the 2007 season.

To be fair, the marriage between Castillo and New York was doomed from the get-go. Mets fans never really took to Castillo, booing him on Opening Day despite a strong 2009 season, and poor performance egged on by injury killed his career as a Met.

A few years ago, the Florida Marlins acquired infielder Wes Helms from the Philadelphia Phillies, who absorbed the remainder of his salary.

The Marlins only had to pay one dollar. 

Now there is another player that the Marlins can pick up for the equivalent of the Dollar Menu item at McDonald's.

This morning when I woke up and went online I did not expect to see any major news regarding the Mets.  However, I was stunned when the headline on Metsblog read, “Mets release Luis Castillo.”  I thought this day would never come.  And then the thought hit me: Maybe this new front office does have a clue. 

In a surprise decision, the New York Mets decided to cut their six-million-dollar second baseman Luis Castillo.

This came despite a respectable spring training for the 35-year-old, where he posted a .286 batting average and .355 on-base percentage.

The explanation the Mets front office gave for the sudden dismissal of Castillo was that the team was in need of cutting down the second baseman competition.

There's been no shortage of drama in Philadelphia Phillies camp, specifically in regards to the health of an aging club. When Brad Lidge and Placido Polanco joined All-Star second baseman Chase Utley on the sidelines this week, the city of Philadelphia went into what some would consider panic mode.

With little middle-infield depth, are the Phils in a bit of a bind?

I live in New York City. Well, Brooklyn to be exact. I've been a Mets fan my whole life and would consider myself fairly knowledgeable. I admit, I'm one of those guys who prefers the feel of a newspaper in my hands to the cold, lifeless feel of a computer when it comes to getting my news.

I read two newspapers each day: a New York Post, and a Daily News.