I have no reservations whatsoever about Jose Castillo losing the third base job, but the way it happened has me scratching my head. The only thing harder to imagine than why the Marlins ended the Jose Castillo 3B experiment after a career-improving .273/.293/.418 (AVG/OBP/SLG) Spring performance is why the Giants wanted him.
Let me recap the situation a bit. After trading Miguel Cabrera, the Marlins looked to Jorge Cantu, Dallas McPherson, and Jose Castillo to plug the hole at 3B (three horrible options, if I may say. The only one with any promise is Dallas McPherson, and he's still hurt).
Here are Jose Castilo's career lines, courtesy of mlb.com:
SEASON TEAM G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI TB BB SO SB CS OBP SLG AVG
2004 Pitt. 129 383 44 98 15 2 8 39 141 23 92 3 2 .298 .368 .256
2005 Pitt. 101 370 49 99 16 3 11 53 154 23 59 2 3 .307 .416 .268
2006 Pitt. 148 518 54 131 25 0 14 65 198 32 98 6 4 .299 .382 .253
2007 Pitt. 87 221 18 54 18 1 0 24 74 6 48 0 0 .270 .335 .244
There is nothing here whatsoever that would suggest Jose Castillo as a viable offensive option, yet the Marlins gave him a chance because of his superior defense. Then he goes out and has a marvelous Spring by his standards and gets released.
Did the Marlins simply discover the foolishness of their original move to sign him, or were they just clearing a roster space? Either way, the Marlins' loss is the Giants' gain...or is it more that the Marlins' gain is the Giants' loss. I think the latter.
Monday, March 24, 2008
Jose Castillo Gone? WHAT???
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The Marlins effectively got their bacon saved by the injuries the Giants have suffered to their middle infielders.
They went out and spent $650K on a no-hit utility infielder under the guise that he could somehow play third base -- an offensive position -- on a regular basis.
Castillo goes out, and as you mentioned, exceeds people's very modest offensive expectations and the Marlins all of a sudden didn't want anything to do with him.
What does this say about the front office? They spent $650,000 on a guy who did outperformed and his track record and they then realized he sucked? Do they know anything about players not on their team? Did they just see the name "Jose Castillo," think "former starter," and shell out the money willy-nilly?
For a franchise which is supposedly cash-strapped, this is a troubling sign of incompetence.
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