Luis Castillo

[JohnBriggs12]

Twins are now 9 back, 7 back in Wild Card. They might not quite be ready to throw in the towel but another bad week just might do it.

 

Castillo would be the perfect rent a player.

[hauser42]

What spot would he fill on this team? We have Counsell, Graff and Weeks to play there. Castillo is second baseman, and that is it.

 

Unless you thinks Weeks is shot for the season there is no way Brewers should be looking at Catstillo.

[JohnBriggs12]

"Unless you think Weeks is shot for the season there is no way Brewers should be looking at Castillo"

 

The questions you have to ask yourself hauser42, is can the Brewers afford to wait any longer for Weeks to show a sign of life? Judging from the lineups that Ned has been using, the answer apparently is no.

 

Now Graffy and Counsell are decent fill-ins, but Castillo is an everyday top of the order type 2nd baseman. Plus when you start Graffy or Counsell, your bench is weakened. Another factor to consider is that Counsell may be needed more to spell the slumping Hardy as he did yesterday.

 

The purpose of renting players at the trading deadline is to upgrade for two months. I think Castillo would be an upgrade.

[bsglorydays]

What is his contract status? Hopefully he is a free agent at the end of the year...

[hauser42]

Now Graffy and Counsell are decent fill-ins, but Castillo is an everyday top of the order type 2nd baseman.

 

He has an OPS of 714 compared to Graff 745. Castillo would add some speed at the two spot., but he is no the stick that Graff is. Remeber Graff started off terribly this season also. Right now I would let Graffy be the starting 2B about 80% of the time and fill in with Weeks and Counsell.

 

Plus when you start Graffy or Counsell, your bench is weakened.

 

Weeks is on the bench and he would take the place of the other. He may only play 2B, but the other guys can move around when he plays.

 

Another factor to consider is that Counsell may be needed more to spell the slumping Hardy as he did yesterday.

 

Counsell will spell him here and there, but that will not be a major deal IMO.

[DrWood]

castillo is a slap hitter who is running on bad knees. not an upgrade over existing guys, except maybe on defense.

[igor67]

I doubt even that he's an upgrade on defense Counsell seems to keep rating well when I see ratings. Castillo does have a superior OBP to Graffy, but it's almost the same as Craig's and he has just a little more power from having the higher battign average. I concur on passing. I think if you want a guy to let you send Weeks down to sort hiself out Loretta is a better fit for a variety of reasons.

[Brian the Automator]

His SB%, one of his better assets, has pretty much gone down the crapper.... probably due to less than optimal health.

 

Given that we'd have to actually give up something of value to obtain him given the fact that he's .309 and there's going to be at least another GM that values BA more than Melvin does, I'd stay away.

[dadofandrew]

He's basically Eric Young, a speed guy who has little speed left. He'll get a 1-2 year reputation contract, but at the end of the day, he's Gwynn Jr. without the ceiling.

[And That]

If talking with Terry Ryan about Luis Castillo would get Doug in the door for Matt Guerrier, I'd be all for it. I'd take both of them for a pretty decent package.

 

Castillo would be a great fit for this team in the #2 spot in the batting order. However, I probably wouldn't take him alone because Ryan would want too much for him. The Twins have made no bones about needing another big bat or two in the lineup... how about Jenkins, Aquino, Escobar, and a A-level pitching prospect for Castillo and Guerrier?

 

Or more simply, how about Jenkins for Castillo? I doubt Ryan would go for it, but maybe with a prospect thrown their way?

 

Further Edit: The Twins may even value Joe Dillon a little bit. Nick Punto has been wretched this year at third for the Twins. The Brewers aren't going to trade them Braun, Counsell or Graffy, but they are in such a bit there a guy like Dillon could actually look appetizing to them.

[MNBrew]

Castillo is a singles/doubles hitter, which is why his OPS is lower than Graffanino's. Castillo is a .300-type hitter who gets on base, which is what you need the leadoff hitter to do. I'm not saying one's any better than the other. I'm simply pointing out that this is an apples-to-oranges comparison, and thus, at least for leadoff hitters, that OPS is not the best measuring stick. The leadoff hitter's job is to get on base and get around to score. Castillo tends to do his job in that way.

 

Lots of teams would love Neshek or Guerrier from the Twins. But Terry Ryan is always hesitant to make deals in the first place. And last week on the radio, he explicitly said once again that he's always very reluctant to deal pitching. Asking the Twins for Neshek or Guerrier these days is like asking the Brewers for Gallardo or Villanueva.

 

The RH bat names you hear the Twins possibly considering are Ty Wigginton, Dmitri Young, and maybe Kevin Mench or Jeff Conine. They'd love it if Cirillo could play everyday, but it seems his balky knees really aren't a good match for playing on turf so often. If it came down to adding any bat, and maybe being able to make a deal aound Geoff Jenkins for Joe Nathan, the Brewers would certainly need to sweeten the deal a bit and probably pay a little salary, too. Aquino adds little to any deal, and I strongly believe that Alcides Escobar is overrated as a prospect on this board. Maybe something like this:

 

Twins get:

Jenkins

Jackson

a strong low-level prospect

a bit of salary relief

 

Brewers get:

Nathan

a B-level pitching prospect

 

(The Twins are quite thin on real strong position player prospects.) Even then, though, I don't know if Terry Ryan takes a deal like this seriously unless the Brewers add a more substantial upper-level prospect to this. Then again, who knows?

[endaround]

Why would the Twins take Jenkins? They aren't going anywhere this year and would balk at his contract next year. And the Brewers need Jenkins.

[dadofandrew]

Jenkins for Castillo would weaken the Crew immensely. I'm not sure what possible benefit it would be adding a 700 OPS guy and losing an 850 one.