joe table wrote:FTN just posted some valid analysis as to why he likes Wood, well Delwyn Young has a lot of similarities to Wood

-Hit a lot at every minor league stop. Now he didn't get the chance to be as young for his level as Wood was, but he still hit at age appropriate levels (22 at A+, 23 at AA, etc). .303/364/514 in 3066 PA his MiLB career, vs .284/.352/.536 in 3356 MiLB PAs for Wood. Both logged a lot of PCL ABs which skeptics can point to as inflating the numbers

-Neither hit in the bigs, but in limited samples. Young has been .709 OPS in 779 big league PAs, vs .458 OPS in 479 PAs for Wood. Both K'ed too much (+25%) in the bigs

I'm not saying Young is a potential 2B of the future because he is almost 30 now, but he's a guy who has some upside IMO based on his MiLB track record and an inconclusive big league sample

I think Young would have been a decent gamble and I'd have been fine with it. I'm also fine with Castillo.

FTN, thanks for the write-up on Wood.

Guess the Castillo signing means that it's definitely not going to happen (not that it was likely to before). Surprised somebody like the A's doesn't take a flyer on him though. It's not like Kooze has that locked down or anything.

Castillo seems no different than the Juan Castro signing to me. If it works, sweet, but otherwise, they wouldn't be afraid to let him go.

A Psalm of reconciliation

What hath thou done, O Ruben?
What has brought about this action?
Many in the city cry out
They cry out for reasoning and righteousness.

Thou hath repaired our rotation
It gleams like four shining candles;
Four candles that burn through the night
and never fail to light our way

But Utley hath fallen
His knee has been dashed against a stone
Like a well used loincloth or a mother of twenty children;
His body has given all that it can.

But now, O Ruben, you seeketh out a savior
Your fans cry out, how long, how long will we be without Utley
But we fear he will not come back with the vigor of old.
We fear his best days have been behind him.

You raise your hand before the large crowd
You say, "patience, patience, my children,"
And then we hear murmurs of an enemy of long ago,
Of the one known simply as Castillo.

If only, O Ruben, if only you could find it in your mighty heart
to retrieve the sacred one known as Wright,
And return Polanco to his natural lot in life.
But no, you bring about this scorned one we call Castillo.

How long, O Ruben, how long must we endure this?
We fear what might transpire in the days to come,
we fear the old enemy that has not arrived in bright colors,
Bright colors of red and white.

But O Ruben, we must remember your mighty acts,
Mighty acts of days not so long ago,
when we praised you for the coming of the one we call Lee,
and the arrival of the one known as Doc.

We will give thanks to you, O Ruben, for thou hast forsaken us not,
We will give alms to thy mighty name.

JSalisburyCSN
Source confirms Phils have offered Castillo a minor league deal. Awaiting answer.

ACTUAL REPORTING

JSalisburyCSN
Answer is in. Phils getting Castillo, sources confirm.

CONFIRMATION

Thank god Salisbury exists

Minor league deal is good. I'm on board.

I'm fine with this.

At least he'll get on base more than Valdez, Orr, or Barfield. Gives Chuck some lineup versatility too. Could see Castillo hitting 2nd at some point, maybe Rollins and Shane get moved around a bit, etc. More flexibility in where to spot Polanco too. It's low risk. I have hated the guy for about the last 8 years, but I won't mind if he pans out for us.

I probably like Young better, but Castillo for free is fine and someone on the roster is going to make that 414K. It doesn't matter to the total payroll if its Castillo or if its Young.

Minor league deal is even better.

All these guys are lottery tickets. If they don't win, you try a different one. No loss with this signing.

jerseyhoya wrote:Minor league deal is good. I'm on board.

Yes, this is good. Absolutely no incentive to keep him if (when) he sucks. I think he will be a minor upgrade on Valdez, and that's about it.

jerseyhoya wrote:Minor league deal is good. I'm on board.

Oh yeah, I don't have any problem with a minor league deal.

despite my earlier arguing for the sake of arguing, I'm on board with this as I am with most signings/keepings of crappy players at low prices. depth is always important, and baseball is a funny sport where guys can play over their heads for short periods of time. We can always get lucky and get replacement level production from Castillo.

what the last 4 posts said

Yeah there is no way I can get worked up over a minor league deal.

Castillo is a Iron Pifs

I'm ready to accept last year was a total fluke. If you look at a lot of the contact numbers from Fangraphs, Castillo was still above average last year in a few different categories. He's always given a pretty good at-bat, fouls pitches off, doesn't chase too many bad balls (and when he does he seems to stay alive). Hope it works out.

im sure hes not going to AAA.

If he doesnt make the 25 man roster, he'll sit at home and collect his monies.

FTN wrote:im sure hes not going to AAA.

If he doesnt make the 25 man roster, he'll sit at home and collect his monies.

How's that? Doesn't the minor league deal mean he's the Phillies' to do with as they please for the season?

Maybe it's a deal that he has to be in the majors by a certain date or he can opt out.

I'd imagine the date is early in the season though, like May 1st or something? Serves a dual purpose. Gives the Phillies time to see how long Utley is out, and lets Castillo leave if he's back.