Miguel Castro traded to Mets for LHP Kevin Smith and SS Victor Gonzalez

[OrioleDog]

Reliever for prospect SP evokes Miller/Eduardo a little bit, though store brand.

[BohKnowsBmore]

“Smith was a seventh rounder in 2018 out of Georgia. He’s a big lefty who sits around 90 with a three-pitch mix, but he was used in a number of roles in college, so nobody was really pounding the table for him. Well, maybe they should have been: he carved up Low-A after being drafted, then did the same to High-A and before pitching well at Double-A as a 22-year-old in his first full season. The stuff still isn’t great, but his slider flashes above average, his fastball has a solid spin rate and overall characteristics to go along with some deception and the feel to get the most out of his stuff. The intangibles seem to be driving the success here and the tools aren’t bad, so a big league look in 2020 or 2021 now seems likely.”

Per FG - 

reference to spin rate 

[weams]

 

[interloper]

3 minutes ago, OrioleDog said:

Reliever for prospect SP evokes Miller/Eduardo a little bit, though store brand.

Yeah. I'm not sure what the Mets are doing. I mean I guess Castro is under control for a bit, but he's about to get very expensive if he continues to pitch well with that near-14 k-rate. I guess they really feel like they can compete next year. 

Who's the O's comp for Smith? No matter who you say, I'm going to probably hate losing that guy to get Castro. Who, by the way, we got for cash.

[ArtVanDelay]

3 minutes ago, interloper said:

Yeah. I'm not sure what the Mets are doing. I mean I guess Castro is under control for a bit, but he's about to get very expensive if he continues to pitch well with that near-14 k-rate. I guess they really feel like they can compete next year. 

Who's the O's comp for Smith? No matter who you say, I'm going to probably hate losing that guy to get Castro. Who, by the way, we got for cash.

Lowther?

[weams]

6 minutes ago, interloper said:

Yeah. I'm not sure what the Mets are doing. I mean I guess Castro is under control for a bit, but he's about to get very expensive if he continues to pitch well with that near-14 k-rate. I guess they really feel like they can compete next year. 

Who's the O's comp for Smith? No matter who you say, I'm going to probably hate losing that guy to get Castro. Who, by the way, we got for cash.

 J Happ? Oh you said Orioles. 

[interloper]

1 minute ago, ArtVanDelay said:

Lowther?

Yeah, good one. I guess it really depends how close you are to competing. The Mets at least got a guy with some years of control. Would I give up Lowther for Castro? Tough one man. Is Castro for real or not? 

[Sports Guy]

Great deal.  Getting a top 10ish guy is exactly what I said they couldn’t turn down.

Again, Castro was definitely a potential non tender guy next year.

[survivedc]

1 minute ago, Sports Guy said:

Great deal.  Getting a top 10ish guy is exactly what I said they couldn’t turn down.

Again, Castro was definitely a potential non tender guy next year.

No he wasn’t a potential non tender guy. He would have commanded at most 4mil. 

[Beef Supreme]

BA ranked Smith at #9 for the Mets.

[interloper]

Just now, survivedc said:

No he wasn’t a potential non tender guy. He would have commanded at most 4mil. 

I agree, 2022 is when he gets too expensive IMO. 

[Morgan423]

1 minute ago, Sports Guy said:

Great deal.  Getting a top 10ish guy is exactly what I said they couldn’t turn down.

Again, Castro was definitely a potential non tender guy next year.

Exactly.  I expect us to start gearing up next year...  but not contending for a playoff spot yet.  It wasn't a bad year of Castro's services to lose. 

[Tony-OH]

Take this with a grain of salt since I just pulled video and watch about four innings of work from him in one start. 

He's a tall, lanky left-hander with an 88-91 (off video radar) fastball, a decent slider and straight change (83-84). He's a low ceiling strike thrower who doesn't look like he has the swing and miss stuff at the major league level. His slider is his best pitch and has more horizontal movement than depth. Not sure how that will play at the major league level.

I'd have him behind Zac Lowther and Alex Wells in the Orioles prospect  rankings judging by what I saw. Probably behind Zimmerman after the improvements in velocity that we saw from Zimmerman this spring.

[interloper]

3 minutes ago, Morgan423 said:

Exactly.  I expect us to start gearing up next year...  but not contending for a playoff spot yet.  It wasn't a bad year of Castro's services to lose. 

That's a good point re: 2021. Plus, guys like Scott and Tate and Harvey have (maybe) stepped up. We turned Lakins into a decent middle reliever from nothing. Plenty of young pitchers ready to come up to the bullpen and/or rotation soon. 

[hoosiers]

Why would the Mets care that Castro might "get expensive" because he is pitching well?  Castro is a very solid bp piece.

The Os dealt Castro before he might get expensive, before he might continue to get better or before he levels off.

Kevin Smith is a pretty solid return for Castro IMO.  Some further improvement needed to be a back end SP, but it is something within reach.  Hopefully, our analytics and development guys can add value to Smith.

I am a bit surprised we couldn't deal Fry.  It would have been nice to move Cobb to save $ for next year though that is still a possibilitiy.

Time for our next generation of RP to step up - Tate, Zimmerman, Harvey and others.