Jump to content

Wow, that didn't last long. Phillies release Castillo


SammyBirdland

Recommended Posts

Phillies release Luis Castillo

Associated Press

PHILADELPHIA -- The Philadelphia Phillies released 35-year-old second baseman Luis Castillo on Wednesday, cutting him after his brief tryout as a fill-in for injured star Chase Utley.

The NL East champions announced the move before they played the Pittsburgh Pirates in their final exhibition game. The Phillies open the regular season Friday at home against the Houston Astros.

The Phillies signed Castillo to a minor league deal March 21, three days after he was let go by the New York Mets. Utley is out with a knee problem and there's no timetable for his return.

"We wanted to give him an opportunity to be a contributor on our club," general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said. "He was extremely professional about his business, well-liked in the clubhouse. We liked everything about him except we felt like, with the personnel we have here, we're comfortable keeping what we have here moving forward. We decided to let him know that he's been released."

The move leaves Wilson Valdez as the likely starter while Utley is out. It also means Rule 5 pick Michael Martinez has an excellent chance to make the team, along with either Pete Orr or Delwyn Young.

A three-time All-Star and former stolen-base champ, Castillo had lost a lot of range in recent seasons. He reported to the Phillies' spring training camp a full day after he signed, perhaps taking more time to join the team than some expected.

"Basically when we brought him in here, that was a short time," Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said. "We'd already gone through spring training and got to see who we had. The way our team lines up, the fact that Valdez played such a good role for us last year and can play multiple positions and Martinez was very intriguing in spring training, that's about what it was.

"He can play for a period of time, but he does get tired," Manuel said. "I also like that Wilson and Martinez can play all of the outfield positions."

Castillo had two hits, scored twice, drove in a run and stole a base Tuesday night against the Pirates.

The Phillies hope to have Utley back within the first two months of the season. Valdez filled in admirably at shortstop for Jimmy Rollins last season and received positive reviews for his defensive work. He has never played regularly.

Castillo hit .235 last year and sat much of the second half after returning from a heel injury. Already a target of Mets boo-birds, he was among several players competing for the spot at second base this year.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/spring2011/news/story?id=6273604

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.



  • Posts

    • When did I make them a mutually exclusive thing? I've said all along that I think Elias has done a great job rebuilding this organization. I've never once not agreed with that statement.  I'm not a fan of Elias's draft strategy of basically ignoring pitching until later rounds nor am I fan of their pitching development under him, particularly the babying of their minor league pitchers with very low pitch counts. Again, I never said Elias has failed, I said his drafting philosophy has failed after the 1st round. Elias has done a remarkable job drafting in the 1st round, particularly with his top 5 picks, but I've shown many times over, his college bat philosophy has largely been a failure outside of the 1st round.  Now, the jury is still out on whether Elias has successfully fully rebuilt this franchise because he's yet to win a playoff game. Not a series, a game. Not a single playoff game win. Duquette won more playoffs games in his first full season as GM then Elias has ever won as a GM. Those are just facts.  Now I appreciate what Elias done and the fact that the International scouting under Kobe Perez is starting to look like it will start bearing fruit, that's a huge win too. But the fact remains that Elias has yet to win a single playoff game and after drafting mostly hitters in his first 5 rounds since 2019, his offense scored one run in two playoffs games as they were embarrassingly swept by the Royals and that was after an embarrassingly sub .500 second half where his offense took a nosedive. All of those college hitters taken since 2019 and how many were in the Orioles starting lineup in the playoffs? Three, Rutschman, Westburg and Cowser.  The two starters he used in the Royals series were acquired by needing to send a 1st round (Hall) and 2nd round (Baumeister) pitcher as parts of the deals. So what we know is that Elias has shown the ability to have his team be competitive for the playoffs the last two years, but now has only Eflin left of the two starters, and his team looking a lot more like the Blue Jays (With all their young hitting talent and no playoff wins) than a team ready to win a World Series.  
    • Nothings ever easy with you is it 
    • I'd rather win some playoff games.
    • Would rather play better D and win 101 again
    • And still win 90 games. 
    • I'm wondering if Elias feels Povich is neck and neck with Rogers for the 5th starter slot
  • Popular Contributors

×
×
  • Create New...