With the Indians and [especially] the Tigers struggling lately, the past couple of weeks would have been a perfect time for the Twins to make a big run towards the front of the division. Instead, they've just sort of been staying place, which is frustrating, especially losing 2 of 3 to the Royals.
Once again, Matt Garza had an outstanding performance, only to get no run support. That means that in 4 of the last 5 games the Twins have scored 1 run or less. On Thursday it was the always unbeatable Kyle Davies that shut them down.
And this lack of offensive punch certainly can't be blamed on the fact that Luis Castillo is no longer with the club. His replacement, Alexi Casilla, was the only Twins to have more than one hit.
Even so, the Twins right now are only 5 games behind Detroit, and 6 games behind Cleveland pending their game later Thursday. The pitching appears to be really coming together, as the starters have put together a lot of nice performances lately. Now they just need the hitters to start carrying their weight.
Showing posts with label Alexi Casilla. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Alexi Casilla. Show all posts
Thursday, August 09, 2007
Friday, October 13, 2006
Trade Luis Castillo
If I was Terry Ryan, this is something I would look into. Trading Luis Castillo.
Don't get me wrong, Castillo did everything the Twins asked him to do this year coming over in the trade from Florida. Castillo was solid at the top of the order, getting on base, taking pitches, and playing decent defense at 2B. But at $5.75 million, he's become too expensive.
Consider, he's getting older, and his knees have been a problem for him, especially playing on turf half of his games. His game has always been predicated on speed, and he simply doesn't have as much of that as he used to, thanks to age and the chronic knee problems. There's also the matter of his defense. At one time he was a Gold Glover. That time has passed. He's not bad out there, but he simply doesn't have the range that he used to have.
And the reason we can trade him is that the Twins have other options. Mainly, two of them:
1) Alexi Casilla. The Twins got him in the JC Romero deal, and he's been superb. He looks like a younger Luis Castillo... not a lot of power, but a good eye, hits for a good average, plays good defense at 2B, and has great speed. However, he may not quite be ready to start in the Bigs, which is ok becuase we have...
2) Nick Punto. He was very good defensively at 3B, but his offensive production there is supbar. He played 2B when he was younger, and that might let him take more advantage of his very solid range.
Plus, we could use money freed up from getting rid of Luis Castillo's contract, Brad Radke's ending contract, etc. to go after a real 3B, of which there are some out there. This is basically a pipe dream, but I would pretty much be able to die happy if the Twins somehow got A-Rod, as Seth talked about a few days ago.
But anyway, there's no time like the present... Castillo's value probably won't ever be higher than it is now for the rest of his career. I hope this isn't all just a pipe dream.
Don't get me wrong, Castillo did everything the Twins asked him to do this year coming over in the trade from Florida. Castillo was solid at the top of the order, getting on base, taking pitches, and playing decent defense at 2B. But at $5.75 million, he's become too expensive.
Consider, he's getting older, and his knees have been a problem for him, especially playing on turf half of his games. His game has always been predicated on speed, and he simply doesn't have as much of that as he used to, thanks to age and the chronic knee problems. There's also the matter of his defense. At one time he was a Gold Glover. That time has passed. He's not bad out there, but he simply doesn't have the range that he used to have.
And the reason we can trade him is that the Twins have other options. Mainly, two of them:
1) Alexi Casilla. The Twins got him in the JC Romero deal, and he's been superb. He looks like a younger Luis Castillo... not a lot of power, but a good eye, hits for a good average, plays good defense at 2B, and has great speed. However, he may not quite be ready to start in the Bigs, which is ok becuase we have...
2) Nick Punto. He was very good defensively at 3B, but his offensive production there is supbar. He played 2B when he was younger, and that might let him take more advantage of his very solid range.
Plus, we could use money freed up from getting rid of Luis Castillo's contract, Brad Radke's ending contract, etc. to go after a real 3B, of which there are some out there. This is basically a pipe dream, but I would pretty much be able to die happy if the Twins somehow got A-Rod, as Seth talked about a few days ago.
But anyway, there's no time like the present... Castillo's value probably won't ever be higher than it is now for the rest of his career. I hope this isn't all just a pipe dream.
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