The Mets have traded Miguel Castro to the Yankees for Joely Rodriguez, per Joel Sherman of the New York Post. As noted by MLBTR’s Steve Adams, Rodriguez was signed as a free agent this offseason and thus ineligible to be traded prior to June 15th without his consent. He and his agent gave that consent in exchange for a $500K assignment bonus, which will be paid by the Mets as part of this deal. (Twitter links) Rodriguez is represented by Daniel Szew of LA Sports Management.
For the Mets, they have had an extremely busy offseason, upgrading their lineup with the likes of Starling Marte, Mark Canha and Eduardo Escobar. They also added Max Scherzer and Chris Bassitt to their rotation and Adam Ottavino to their bullpen. However, the one area of the roster they hadn’t really addressed was left-handed relief. With Aaron Loup joining the Angels, the only southpaws on the roster were candidates for the starting rotation. The club gave minor league deals to veterans like Chasen Shreve and Alex Claudio, but they clearly view Rodriguez as a meaningful upgrade, based on the fact that they were willing to give up Castro to get him.
After a couple of seasons with the Phillies in 2016 and 2017, Rodriguez headed overseas for a stint with the Chunichi Dragons of Nippon Professional Baseball. After two solid seasons in Japan, Rodriguez was able to come back to North American via a two-year deal from the Rangers. In the shortened 2020 season, he put up an ERA of 2.13 over 12 2/3 innings. Things seemed to be going in the wrong direction last year, as his ERA shot up to 5.93 in July. However, the Yankees seemed to believe that was a small sample blip, as they acquired him as part of the Joey Gallo trade. He fared much better after the swap, with a 2.84 ERA in 19 innings in pinstripes. At the end of the season, the club declined their $3MM option in favor of a $500K buyout, but then quickly re-signed him to a $2MM salary, saving themselves $500K. With this trade and the assignment bonus, Rodriguez has made back that difference.
The Yanks evidently felt they had enough lefties to part with Rodriguez, given the presence Wandy Peralta and Lucas Luetge, along with closer Aroldis Chapman. For their part, they are receiving Miguel Castro, a right-handed reliever. Despite being just 27 years old, he has appeared in part of seven MLB seasons thus far in his career, spending time with the Blue Jays, Rockies, Orioles and Mets. Those first couple of seasons were a bit shaky, which is not surprising given that Castro was just 20 and 21 years old during that time. However, over the past five seasons, he’s established himself as a quality big league reliever. Since the start of the 2017 season, he’s thrown 321 innings with an ERA of 3.93. His strikeout rate was just 14.6% over 2017-2018, but has jumped up to 25.2% over the past three campaigns. Walks have been a concern, with his annual rate coming in between 10 and 15% in each of the past five seasons. He and the Mets agreed to a $2.62MM salary for this season, his final arbitration year before hitting free agency at the end of this year. He will slot into a bullpen that will be headlined by Chapman, Jonathan Loaisiga, Chad Green and Clay Holmes.
Oh hell nah..
Puzzling trade for the Yankees. Big names being dealt and Yankees have the prospects to get a couple big names. Cashman hugging the big prospects like usual. Must be getting set to give Judge all Hal’s extra precious dollars. The old Yankees of George would’ve added Olson or Freeman no doubt. When will Yankees fans have enough?
I think Ca$hman knows his job’s in jeopardy, after the trade with the Ranger’s yesterday. They’ll be plenty of $ to sign me now. I just went up to $35 million annually.
Spot on. as Chris more likes to say, Yankees know that rooting for your team is like an addiction, no matter how bad it gets you never seem to have enough, and they just keep raking in the bucks ,even though they’re pleading poverty lol
It might be a puzzling trade in the grand scheme of things, but as a Mets fan, I would say the Yankees won this trade. Castro is more effective than Rodriguez. I don’t really have any idea why the Mets did this deal.
Yanks definitely got the better end of this deal. My guess is maybe the Mets feel a deal with the Padres is back on based on the trades today by both teams, with Pagen part of the deal as originally discussed.
As a Mets fan I am not happy at all about this.Shreve was pitching well this spring and Rodriquez numbers frankly suck!
The lost a lot already from their bullpen and now lose Castro?
Joely Rodríguez is a no value add even if you picked him up for nothing?
As a long time Mets fan this consistent insanity from GM to GM and from owner to owner just doesn’t seem to want to end!
I am done done done long time or not I am done!
It’s getting old now. Stop watching if having a 250 million payroll is not enough.
Exactly. I want Fidel not Miguel.
@Highest IQ- thinking Fidel, would be a lot harder to detain then Miguel?
Dennis Castro
Ramon Castro
Dwayne
Dennis is still rolling crepes for the Mandelbaums.
NY Tankees
Get the Hell out of my office.
only after I relieve myself on your desk and floor.
Oh boy now that’s a needle mover. Lol
This is a solid move for the Yankees. Castro has nasty stuff out of the pen, while Joeley is merely average. The Mets were desperate for a LH reliever so it appears that they overpaid to get Rodriguez. I would have liked Boston to get him for Darwinzon.
Wut?
Mets get their lefty and he has plenty of team control
Whoever said” the Yankees and the Mets can’t make trades?”
I actually like it for the Mets.
Good trade for both sides on the surface. The final proof will be in who performs best I guess
Thanks. Didn’t think of that
deweybelongsinthehall
Then obviously you are not a Mets fan
The Mets traded a reasonably effective guy who can pitch almost every day for a lefty who has not shown any ability to be consistently effective. Not a fan of this deal and think the Yankees won it hands down. Neither of them are very valuable but I think the Mets will miss the flexibility and innings Castro provided.
Hey txt….you’re absolutely right! Yanks stole the kid… 70-75 appearances… with double headers, very valuable addition… you know he can perform in NY…
Rodriguez and Castro are both free agents at the end of the upcoming season…
Since when is controlling player vs his ability. Castro was good more than he was bad. Pitch nite than 1 inn. Rodriguez is just another lefty like the ones they’ve been auditioning.
They should’ve never ever let Loup leave. He was their & the NL best reliever, & totally consistent.
davidk1979 dude as a long time Mets fan the Mets get a guy who is left handed thats ALL he SUCKS! and we give up a quality reliever in Castro!
Castro “he’s established himself as a quality big league reliever.”
The Mets get Lowely Rodriguez.
PRINT EM!
why
Meet the Mets meet the Mets step right up
and ……. the Mets. Well you know the rest
Hey Mets, can you distract the Yankees while the A’s trade Manaea? Thanks.
Hey, mets fan. Who is Castro this guy?
At least they could have added a link. I know next to nothing about this guy.
I’m not sure how this trade benefits the Yankees really. Castro has a 52% GB rate vs Rodriguez 60%. Castro has also a significantly higher BB%.
One thing I absolutely trust Cashman to do is assemble a good bullpen. Particularly with our present core. Aside from ’20 when he focused on the rotation instead, he has always over-engineered it.
I think maybe Blake is helping him too. Peralta & Holmes proved to be nice additions. & we still have plenty from the left in our pen: Chapman, Peralta, Luetge. I have been waiting for him to add a RH arm. You know Cash just can’t help himself when it comes to relievers, man.
Yeah, I’m thorough confused. We need a SP & they trade for Castro, while the A’s trade Manea? Again, Cashman’s the best GM ever – so good that he’s in a different stratosphere, or he needs to go away.
Best case scenario here is an incremental improvement over Joely. Worst case, we have another RHRP who’s Joely Light.
Or view it as they traded a player that was waived last year who the mets could have picked up for free instead they get a lefty reliever that will cost nothing.
What does one deal have to do with the other? As were not going to take Joely for Manea.
Castro replaces Abreu and has a higher ceiling than Joely.
A good bullpen is a cheat code for a good pitching staff. Especially in this era of every game being a parade of relievers (doesn’t anyone finish what they start anymore?).
Rodriguez doesn’t throw 100 mph.
Castro does. Again: in a vacuum I like this trade. Hell. Even outside of said vacuum I like this trade.
However – also again – it does naught for the offense. At least Brian seems to have woken up from his little nap though.
So there’s that.
I wasn’t addressing this trade as much as I was the huge swing-and-miss on Manea, who went for a #12 & #36 prospect, which is…..nothing the Yanks couldn’t handle and keep their entire farm & all its high-leverage performers in tact.
Oh, I know, Clip.
It’s nice to see Brian take some time away from his Sunday coupon clipping to do some baseball stuff. Value, value, value. Those prospects & their precious value. Clutch them ferociously to your bosom, Cash.
After all. Farm system rankings are extremely important to Yankee fans. Who cares about pennants when you can boast of MLB’s 13th best farm. I know how much that excites me personally.
That’s puzzling why the Yankees couldn’t beat what Oakland got in that deal.
Yeah, and then in two year Gomez will be given away for a backup to a backup because he’s out of options and there’s no roster slot available for him. It’s confounding.
Confounding.
I have absolutely no idea what Cash is doing right now. None. I’m hoping that this is all some next level **** & that I am just not nuanced & savvy enough to tumble to the thought process. It all seems so slapdash & uncoordinated.
Because: yes. That is just stupid to have not exceeded that price. At least to me.
@Clipper- and then Gomez, who can throw 100 miles per hour will be traded for a backup catcher, like Abreu.
@ducky. Well I am quite confused with the Yankees actions so far. I think IKF was a great add. While I love Donaldson he is 36 now and often injured. I find it mind blowing the Yankees couldn’t match what Manaea just got dealt for (I know it’s only for 1 year control for Manaea but he is a very good SP and the Yankees could definitely use him). I can only imagine a Massive Judge extension is coming soon. Something like 10 years 350 million or 7 years 245 million.
Fellas. Check it out. @McGriffHOF isn’t even a Yankee fan & he’s saying the same stuff we are. Man. That’s just great.
There isn’t a single move Cash has made since Tauchman for Peralta that I haven’t liked in & of itself, @FMGftHOF. Perhaps the Voit trade. Which is really just a personal thing. It actually was a good return. I was just hoping for another bat for the 26 man somehow. Wishful thinking, most likely.
I just don’t see anything besides our bullpen that is overbuilt for True Championship Aspirations. The rotation is nice. But we’re a mid rotation starter away from a pretty dominant looking one.
& the lineup. Boy howdy. That bottom third looks like it could be really bad. Maybe we get a hundred or so games out of Hicks. That certainly would answer some questions. Maybe Higashioka has really found a next level to his power & somehow makes a sub .200 BA & sub .300 OB% somewhat palatable.
Yanks finished 19th in scoring last year.
I am not all that convinced we have done enough to improve upon that. It’s really weird as a Yankee fan to think we may not score enough runs. I don’t know if I can remember that ever happening before. & I’ve been a Yankee fan for a pretty long time, man.
FredMcGriff; Ducky: True story, man. Very perceptive, but that doesn’t surprise me because you’re one of the good non-Yankee commenters…
I agree that the Judge extension is forthcoming & they seem confident it will get done, but I don’t see how that affects their ability to get Manea – they would still be under the third tier, it would just give them less room.
It’s cheaper than getting a good starting picture, so it fits their budget. Also as you said ducky, cash is better at assembling a good bullpen then starting rotation
It’s a tough “what if”. Put Manaea in this rotation & we may very well have the best starters in the AL.
They are counting on rebounds from Sevy and Taillon, two injury prone players, so who needs montas or manea lol. So they have a whole new conditioning staff, so maybe they’re counting on that also
Ducky, right again. Even if the pitching is so incredibly awesome, which I doubt personally, that they’re in adequate offense is enough to carry them through, it still will be frustrating and excruciating to watch on game to game basis ,as it was last year ,waiting for that Run to show up.
As already been discussed, they are expecting a resurgence from a whole bunch of hitters also to help them. We’ll see if Hicks can play more than 10 games before he’s inevitably injured, or Gleyber finally shows what everybody’s been hoping for, or DJ rebounds s etc. And that’s all assuming that judge and Stanton can remain healthy again the entire year like they did last year, if not we’ll really be in trouble. That’s a lot of if’s to pin your hopes on in my opinion
There’s also the fact that fans like to see an exciting team, not just a team that manages to squeak through somehow.
Agreed
Guy that will get lit up at that stadium.
Throws hard tho but he’s control is iffy
Bucky, he can eat innings at an average ERA. Decent at best, but useful in today’s game of 40 pitchers per team. – YAZ
Power sinker type who Blake may be able to help harness his control, Ala Holmes.
Castro is Chapman light. At times, looks unhittable, other times he can’t find the strike zone and gets ripped. When he gets in a good groove he’s super effective and can get anyone out. But his outings are hit or miss.
You don’t remember him as the opening day blue jays closer in 2015? He was 20 years old at the time, didn’t last long unfortunately
Yanks won the trade… great bullpen piece… will be part of bullpen throughout the yr…
Really flexing your IQ Albert Obvious. Great breakdown of f-all. Anticipate your post on water being wet.
Castro wasn’t the same reliever after the sticky stuff crack down. Hope he has adjusted.
@whyhayzee- the Yankees actually wanted, Manaea? That’s news to me. The preference has always been Montas. My guess is he’ll get traded to the Twinkies.
Montas is obese (BMI > 30) and has one year of 100+ innings. He’s a train wreck waiting to happen.
Montas is a much better pitcher and has Ace stuff. Manaea always choked in big games. So down playing Montas will not make him any cheaper to get. Watch him get traded during trade deadline for a top prospect.
Agreed, Montas will be much more expensive than Manea, without question. He’s not only younger, he’s ostensibly better, & has two years of control remaining v one for Manea.
No offense whyhayzee but you seem obsessed with BMI. I think I remember many comments of yours over a long period of time on different articles with more BMI stuff. If I remember right you are a marathon runner? I can see why your into all that. I did track and cross country in high school myself. But I gave up running years ago. It’s to hard on the joints I prefer walking now.
Yes, I’ve run over 20 marathons and I’m right at BMI= 25. 6 foot 2, 195. It just occurred to me that there are so many more injuries now and I think players have mistakenly bulked up. I played for 8 years in my thirties and I added a little upper body (I was a pitcher). I also played 5 years of soccer in my twenties. That destroyed my legs for running so I stopped. I was able to run competitively for about 30 years without any problems. Then the wheels started to wobble and now they’ve fallen off. It was a good run while it lasted ( pun intended).
Actually really surprised about this one because they’ve always seemed really high on Castro. But it helps the need for a lefty in the pen
I think Clipper is onto something. Another beard bites the dust.
Yep, “cleaning up” the league one bears at a time. Great job Cashman!
Yes, just glad this Castro isn’t another back-up catcher.
Cashman probably misread Fangraphs & though he saw a “C” somewhere.
And, “bears” should read, “beard”…. Autocorrect nonsense.
I like Citi Field better than Yankee Stadium, so good four Joely I guess.
Not to Joely about this trade.
*ROCHESTER RABBITS
It’s the Red Wings. What’s your issue with Rochester anyway?
Castro’s roster spot was convertible.
Interesting move i guess. Castro expendable rodriguez is a lefty so… not a starter though
I like Castro a lot for the Yankees. Anther left handed pitcher for the Mets does not hurt either. A good trade for both teams.
I’m trying to muster up a strong opinion on this, but I’m at a loss. Joely Rodriguez was solid for the Yankees, and they re-signed him, so they wanted him back, so I’m surprised they traded him for a righty, an area where they have plenty of bullpen options. I get why the Mets made this trade, but I’m less sure on the Yankees side.
Bro, put it this way, using a general analysis (unspecific & probably a bit heavy on the Yankees side) they could’ve received Manea for Yoendrys Gomez & Hans Montero or similar. That’s nothing. Fail for Cashman – huge miss… unless the A’s asked for something insane which they’ve done before.
Basic righty-lefty reliever swap. Castro’s inconsistent, but has more talent. Mets needed a lefty in the pen and the Yankees had one to spare.
bad trade for the Mets!! Castro was one of our best relievers…..
Does this mean Manny B is making the team for the Yankees? So much movement lately by Cashman but nothing moves the needle. The Yankees are afraid to make the big trade that includes Torres or Judge. Still think biggest mistake was not going all in on Olson
I don’t know. I have a feeling that going all-in on Olsen might have up been a mistake, too. But only time and his performance will tell.
There was a “wink-wink” agreement for Olsen to go to Atlanta. He was born there and signed long term there. He was never going anywhere else, unless someone severely overpaid. The A’s didn’t get as much as they should have been that’s on them. Let’s just enjoy the baseball season. We never know what will happen.
@Y4L
Why would the As trade him to Atlanta for less than they could get elsewhere? They don’t care where he wants to go. He didn’t have a no trade clause.
And the braves gave up serious prospects to get him. In time this will help both teams.
The A’s wanted more from the Yankees, and others, than the Braves gave up. Olsen wanted to play for the Braves so when other teams didn’t overpay, he went to Atlanta. The BEST prospect the Braves gave up was ranked in the 70s or 80s. Oakland wanted the mlb’s overall #10 ranked prospect from the Yankees. Atlanta won that trade, Oakland got fleeced.
@Y4L
If it makes you happy then some of the A’s players can join the celebration when the Braves win another World Series.
The Braves overachieved last year. I seriously doubt they make the playoffs this year.
@Y4L
That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard. The Braves have won the NL East four years in a row. They lost Acuna, Ozuna AND Soroka for the season. They also played three months without d’Arnaud and Anderson spent time on the IL as well. That’s why they were .500 at the deadline.
The loss of Freeman could be more significant than anyone realizes. Maybe they have a good season, It’s just my opinion
Freeman is a very good player but he had been there since 2011 and they never even got out of the NLDS until the ‘20s. He definitely contributed but it’s not as if he was the missing piece this whole time. The lineup is still stacked. When Ronald comes back…
Acuna
Olson
Albies
Riley
Ozuna
Duvall
Rosario
d’Arnaud
Swanson
Presuming everybody has the same year they did last year, yes, it is a good lineup. That’s why they play 162 games though. I think Riley could have a really good year. The Mets, Phillies and Marlins got better so it will be a very competitive season.
At one point for several weeks last year the Braves actually had an outfield of Abraham Almonte, Guillermo Heredia and Orlando Arcia with Kevan Smith at catcher and they still won the World Series.
I’m not guaranteeing a World Series title this year but I will be shocked if they don’t make the playoffs. The Mets are already breaking down.
@Y4L The Braves are perennial playoff contenders who were a few outs away from eliminating the Dodgers in 2020. There was no overachieving. In fact, they’re poised to be better in 2022. Let’s not disrespect the Braves because they’re a smaller market. They own the NL East.
Incremental Improvements Count and they Add Up. I don’t know what many see but what I see is the Team has improved in several areas. No huge signing or trade but every move has improved a area of need.
So many were on the different Blogs talking about the “Many Areas” the Yankees needed to improve and how One Big Signing wouldn’t fix what was wrong, they were right.
Cashman is doing the right thing by upgrading multiple positions without giving up the Farm or Big Dollars.
Whether we agree on the pieces obtained is a different matter. The team has upgraded the Catcher Position which might be one of the Best in Baseball Defensively which also Improves the Pitching Staff.
SS has been upgraded too and though IKF doesn’t hit for a lot of Power or Walk a lot he also doesn’t Strike Out a lot and he’s a decent Hitter walks aside.
We’ve upgraded 3B with a Better Bat and Glove. We’ve upgraded the Defense at 1b. these moves also Improve the Pitching Staff
The Bullpen as Ducky said is what Cashman does Best and I suspect the pieces that has some scratching their Heads will prove to be Good.
By improving the Defense which improves the Pitching, we won’t need to score as many runs because we won’t be giving up as many.
Signing Judge will be a Cherry on Top and we still can get another Starter.
I heard Manny B, will be the waterboy this year?
If you were being paid $700k, you would be happy to be the waterboy too.
@Y4L- $700,000? I’m gettin’ $35 million-a-year, soon. So that $700,000 is chump change. You can keep it.
IF you knew AJ, you would know he doesn’t need to be the highest paid.
IF you read the post, I was referring to Manny B being paid to be the waterboy.
I don’t have to be the highest paid. $35 million a year makes me the highest paid player? I knew you we’re referring to Manny B, making $700,000 this year or whatever.
Olsen definitely would have been nice
just not true
Yanks win big time in this trade, Castro is a constant in bullpen, will make 70- 75 appearances, a workhorse… Mets have a history of making stupid trades in Spring training… This type of trade is under the radar, but Yanks will hit, but the bullpen is the key to this team. Starters only go 5 innings these days.. will have double headers this year.. great move for Yanks… I THINK THE YANKS HAD A VERY PRODUCTIVE OFF SEASON… LET SOME OTHER OWNER PAY THE FUTURE MONSTER CONTRACT TO CORREA… They have to finish up JUDGE CONTRACT TO SAY IT WAS A TERRIFIC OFF SEASON…
I would have been happier with a front of the rotation starter but over all they have a lot of flexibility with the squad. I still there there will be a bigger trade along the way though.
KnickerbockerAl’s burner account
Why does the Manaea trade keeping popping up at the top of the feed? We all know the Miguel Castro-for-Joely Rodriguez trade is more important.
Castro came out with the Jays, always liked him. Has a very good arm. There’s definitely talent there.
Yanks get Trevino and Castro for Abreu and Rodriquez.
Meanwhile the Padres get Sean Manea. Wonder if Mets or Yankees continue pursuit of Paddock?
Mets also paid Castro an extra $500k to leave.
Wow. Terrible trade by the Mets. Castro is only 27 and coming into his prime. Potentially elite reliever who throws 100
Rodriguez is…terrible…just because a guy throws left handed doesn’t mean you ought to deal one of your best relievers for him
A total fleecing by Cashman of Eppler
@Camden453- You sound like me in regards to Abreu, he’s only 26. Thanks for the scouting report though.
I wouldn’t say Rodriguez is terrible. He’s a solid mid innings reliever.
Castro is the much better arm. Just look at the video. Yankees got the much better pitcher. It’s that simple
You understand this is Miguel Castro. Elite?
@jdgoat Potentially elite. Throws 98-100 with potentially pinpoint control and good command..nasty slider with insane movement
Gaining better command at 27 yet still has velo
Plus he’s got good makeup. Gets out of jams, gets K’s when needed
Mets just got robbed
Yeah.
That’s how I see it too. We swapped out a redundant LH reliever whom looked to be 4th in that particular pecking order, for a RH reliever that had a better year in ’21 & throws some Real Gas.
This is a good trade for Cash. No idea what the mets were thinking here. But that happens a lot with the mets.
“Potentially pinpoint control?” – 353 IP 174 BB , 15 HBP and 32 WP. is your idea of pinpoint control? Last year he walked 43 in 70 IP with 6 HBP and 8 WP..
In all honesty, this is a scary guy to pitch in Yankee Stadium, since he puts people on and gives up HR too.
The stuff is real, the control is nonexistent.
Beg to differ, @barryr.
Control is there. Command is non-existent.
@barry He has good control. Command is the problem. But he’s at the age where some command starts coming in
77 K’s in 70 innings. Obviously he can throw strikes.
There really aren’t a lot of true power pitchers that have command. That’s why most end up in the ‘pen. Pitchers like Verlander are so rare. When Luis Severino was at his best he had command & the enormous FB.
I can’t really think of a reliever known for their command. There’s a reason for that. Guys like Castro are it.
Joly also has some type of Shoulder Issue that might come back. I have a Pinched Nerve in my Left Shoulder and most of the time it’s fine but it does come back to bite me every now and then.
You nailed it! Yanks won this trade big time.. Mets always make stupid trades breaking spring training, it’s their history…
I’m not sure about the rosy writeup of Castro. He’s a solid enough arm, but not elite
That said, Rodriguez was about to be at least waived, if not DFAed by the Yankees (has no one checked his LH/RH splits from last season or how poorly he’s pitched this spring?)
This is a case of Yankee trash for a what was actually one of the Mets best BP pieces last season, and thats puzzling
Mets fan here in total agreement. This is a head-scratcher of a deal for them.
26 years old and on his fifth team for a reason. 4.8 BB/9 and 4.81 career FIP.
Barely a major leaguer. Definitely not elite.
Who said he was elite? All anyone in this thread is saying is that he’s better and more valuable than Joely Rodriguez. By the way, Rodriguez is 30, walks 4.0/9, has a grand total of 90 innings in MLB (Castro had 70 just last year) and in those 90 innings, he’s pitched worse than Castro.
Castro is not elite, but he’s way better than ‘barely a major leaguer’. Rodriguez is barely a major leaguer, though.
Really? Is it too late to become a Met’s fan?
Yankees got the better of this deal, so I don’t understand what you’re complaining about.
Never heard of either these guys. They any good ? Pitcher for a pitcher..
Rodriguez is garbage
Castro is garbage
Thank the lord, Castro doesnt know where the strikezone is. One of the worst relievers I have ever seen
@LFGMets- It’s okay he doesn’t know where the strike zone is. Castro can throw 100… lol
I’m done with the Mets, man. I knew Eppler would be Steve Phillips level
A week before the season DeGrom goes down and then they choke Castro away to the Yankees
Castro was their only shot at having an elite pen with Lugo and Diaz
It’s incredibly mediocre now
This was the knock on Eppler in Anaheim. He didn’t really understand pitching. This trade shows it. Casually tossing away Castro for a ‘solid’ reliever with not as much upside proves it
Camden, i agree 100% on Eppler!! this trade made no sense at all. Shreve is better than Rodriguez all day long….smh
This trade was stupid. For both teams. When will teams learn to keep their own garbage? No one else wants it. A pox on New York. All their sports teams are useless. And so on and so forth. Blah.
Says the guy who roots for the teams in NY’s trash can of Boston!!! Lol. No offense?
@Clipper- hey just as long as he’s not banging on that trash can? Sorry, I couldn’t resist.
Nah, @hayzee.
Not how I see it. At all. Check Castro out on Savant. Cash may have been bamboozled by Falvey & Levine. But he straight schooled young master Eppler.
Okay.
Savant lists his repertoire as: sinker (42.8%), slider (35.3%), & a change up (22.2%). He ranks in the 98th percentile for velocity, so he is indeed hitting triple digits.
Pretty good numbers from last year; 69 (obligatory “noice”) games, 3.45 ERA, 70.1 innings, & 77 K’s.
Along with Green & Loaisiga we will certainly not lack for high octane RH relievers. I like this deal for the Yanks. Trade from a surplus to establish a different surplus.
As I posted above: colossal failure on Manea by the Yanks. The trade return for Manea was the equivalent of Hans Mantero & Yoendrys Gomez.
While Manaea would have been nice, I don’t see how this trade ties in to the other.
Besides: Montas is a PEDs guy. I always prefer those. Trade for Laureano while we’re at it. Let the juice flow in the locker room. Imagine Judge & Stanton all geared out. Man. The sheer savagery of it.
Yeah that would be some epic bombs…well, epic high-fives anyway. But, no, the trades dot tie together at all. It’s just that he’s making trades everywhere except the positions / players of need, ie, C, SS, & P.
Be one swole ballclub.
The first (& only) time Cash really tried to put a championship caliber rotation on the field with this core was in ’20. He skimped on the ‘pen, for the first & only time with this core too.
For us that’s probably just anecdotal.
I wonder if it’s not actually an object lesson for Cashman. He’s had better results investing in the bullpen than he has the starting rotation.
Acquiring relievers & ignoring starters might be some kind of pavlovian response by now. Like an e-collar for baseball GM’s.
ducky, quite perceptive of you, tis a conditioned response, he has been rewarded for it so he continues it. As far as building up a quality starting rotation, well we’ve seen the results of that, not so good but, some of that is because he goes for these under the radar guys or marginal pitchers because they are less expensive after he spent all his allotted Money on the bullpen and other areas.
you nailed it Clipper. Evidently cash thought the starting rotation was pretty good last year didn’t feel the need to improve it, he never seems to anticipate injuries though anywhere and this rotation is quite injury prone ,so buckle your seatbelt when the rotation consists of Cole and king and Schmidt and Gail and Garcia
The two things we’ve been able to rely on Cashman doing with this group, is to build deep bullpens & deep high scoring offenses. Aside from ’20 he’s always just cobbled our rotations together.
I figured it was only a matter of time until he added to the ‘pen. Can’t help himself.
I guess that’s one reason why I thought he’d add another bat. I can’t believe he’s kicked his TTO habit completely. I think if he adds one though, it’ll be like this. A player we never thought of.
How is it a colossal failure? If Manaea was awful for the Yankees would you feel the same way? Manaea is very much a product of his ball park.
I don’t know how to interpret your response. So it’s not a failure because of a hypothetical future failure on a team he wasn’t traded to? I don’t get the point, but maybe it’s just me.
Omg. Is must be trolling Sunday? Very hayzee outside, today.
I know, I can’t go out in this. I’m taking a nap. My fngers are tirsd.
Didn’t this guys used to be the orioles closer or setup man? Unless I’m thinking of a different dude, but I remember he threw hard and had a decent slider. Meh whatever, let’s see where montas ends up or if the pads want to get rid Paddack. I’m personally not sold on Nestor being our 5, had a lucky year and I’d be shocked to see him replicate that.
Nestor is way better than Paddock now. Paddock has been awful since 2019.
Well I got this dude mixed up with Givens. My bad lol. Just using Paddack cuz I’ve seen his name mentioned in some potential trades for SD. Although I’d still take a chance on Paddack being a better long term option in the back of the rotation vs nestor. Younger, better stuff, with Blake I’d feel confident in them unlocking something like they’ve done for Nestor, luetge, Rodriguez, peralta etc and Paddack would def have way more potential at being a #2/3 guy if he unlocks his stuff vs nestor. But don’t get me wrong, I like nestor, but if I had the option, I’d move on before it’s too late.
Nasty Nestor has looked good so far this spring.
@Joe Nestor has been looking decent but it is spring training. Last season was wonderful and I hope he can consistently produce at his ‘21 numbers. But, outside of last season, all his other appearances aren’t anything to be bragging about. He was a depth piece last season that paid off.
I agree is just spring training but so far he’s shown no reason to believe he can’t put up similar numbers as last year.
Agree. Let the year play out and see what happens. I hope Nestor stays nasty. I may not be sold on him yet l, but I still hope he performs well. I highly doubt cashman has a trade in mind that he’d actually pull the trigger on for starting pitching anyways. Probably waits til deadline to make a major move, depending on how the division is going.
Is Castro better than Abreu who they traded for Trevino?
@justinkm19- hell no! Abreu is my boy. He will thrive in Texas, and eventually become their closer. Castro nice power arm, that will probably get lit up at Yankee Stadium. I hope I’m wrong.
You are wrong. Abreu wouldn’t close on a little league team.
He sure would have in my Little League.
easily
See?
Dark knows what I’m saying.
I personally love when the Mets panic. Because they end up making their team worse through trades like this one. Rodriguez is awful.
Lolmets
Miguel? I want Fidel.
@Highest IQ- Nah, Cuba is not parting with Fidel at this time, sorry.
Mets hand the Yankees their a••.
Hey how about trading Joey Gallo to the Padres for a SP and then signing Michael Conforto? Any thoughts.
@Mickey777- my guess is Joey is traded for another backup catcher like Luis Campusano, who should actually be starting for the Pods.
Not bad Captain
Yankees don’t appear interested in adding payroll.
You are of course right, but it’s early Spring and a guy can hope.
No kidding
That’s really creative, @Mickey777.
Gallo for Darvish. Sign Conforto.
Ducky, I personally like Conforto, I think the change scenery Would help him to rebound this year
Castro is one of those guys that will walk the bases loaded then strike out 3 in a row. Frustrating but mostly effective.
Here we go again. Yankees love loading up on relievers, so they don’t have to spend money on starting pitchers. Unfortunately we’ve seen how that works, even the best bull pens are worn out by the end of the year.
Also unfortunately, we could say that the Yankees don’t seem to learn from their previous mistakes since they keep repeating them, but I think it’s actually worse than that. they think this is successful because it gets them into the postseason, and as we know their belief is that it’s a crapshoot at that point, even though they don’t care about having the best team possible, Which might increase the chances of winning.
You could question the moves made by Cashman this offseason but what ever mistakes that are being made aren’t repeated ones. They have moved away from the three true outcome defensively challenged mashers and gone more contact oriented with good gloves.
That is true Joe as far as that goes,but I was referring more to loading up on bullpen arms again and ignoring the starting rotation, Which has nit seen a change at all since last year.
I would like to get one more good starter as well. Too many injury questions with the current rotation. And though I’m in the minority, I mostly like the moves made this offseason with the exception that I’m very annoyed they didn’t get Semien and it doesn’t look like he was ever on their radar.
I’m with that, Joe.
There isn’t a single move Cash’s made that wasn’t a good one. Individually they are all just fine. My deal is always this: as long as the team we are heading into the season with is better than the one we finished with I’m good with it.
We’ll definitely be easier to watch. As you know, that’s not without value. I struggle to see how we have actually gotten better though.
So, yeah. For a whole lot of reasons, another starting pitcher like Manaea would have provided a definitive improvement.
I get it Ducky. It’s kinda like we were wanting all these shiny toys for Christmas and daddy Cash got us socks.
Are we a WS team right now? I just don’t know. But if they play to their capabilities, I like our chances.
Really I just wanted more presents this time.
We’re a playoff caliber team. Braves won the series as an 88 regular season win ballclub. We just seem so close to being a really good team. But there also doesn’t seem to be a whole lot of urgency in the front office to make us a really good team.
With Opening Day a few days away, I am watching it snow. A spirited little flurry. It’s much more football weather than it is baseball weather. Going to have to establish the running game I guess.
As I mentioned above Ducky, we got better by improving the Defense which Improves the Pitching. Not Headline Grabbing moves to be sure but those 2 Areas are 2 of the most important
If I remember correctly there was a team in the early 60’s that Won with Pitching and Defense and average Hitting. True they had a guys called Koufax and Drysdale .
The pitching is a constant in this equation though. Aside from Castro we haven’t done anything. Matter of fact, you could say we subtracted from what we had due to not retaining Kluber.
The defense is obviously improved. The offense as a whole is not. We weren’t starting from a good situation there either.
Still not Opening Day.
So there’s time for Cash to get us another bat. I continue hoping he does.
I agree with that Joe, and would have liked Semien also
Needs based trade.
Joely is more a lefty specialist in an era where those types of arms basically cannot exist. The Yankees used him in very good situations that helped make him successful, but at some point I think it boils down to the overall total of innings pitched. Joely is a 40-50 inning guy and Castro is 70 or so. Personally, Castro reminds me a bit of Holmes in terms of repertoire so if Blake can help convert his raw stuff into Holmes-like production, this is a steal for the Yankees. If not, Castro can provide predictable league average to slightly above average innings, especially considering the trade of Joely and Abreu. In the end, Yankees traded 2 fringe relievers and a low prospect to upgrade the ML catching depth and a reliever who is more likely to provide 70 acceptable middle relief innings. Certainly nothing to brag about but these couple prove to be very useful depth moves over the course of a full season coming out of a shortened spring.
Yanks had LHP depth, Mets had RHP depth. The trade addresses needs for both.
Eppler is apparently betting that last year was an aberration for Castro, because he was more effective against lefties than righties in 2021. I’m not sure what Cashman was betting on.
He’s probably betting that Castro puts something together to make his nasty stuff work for him.
He’s kind of like Familia in that when he’s on, he’s dominant. When he’s not… it’s a painful slog.
From a pure stuff standpoint, anyone would take a flyer on Castro. In this case, the cost was minimal.
I do remember him getting worse after the sticky stuff was “banned” again… but his splits don’t seem to bear that out. I guess we’ll see.
I wonder if/when the classification with shift from “lefty” to “guy who gets lefties out.” *shrug*
Eppler is a complete moron; he got nothing back for Castro nothing!
I sort of remember Castro from his Orioles days. He was effective sometimes, sometimes not. Personally, I wouldn’t have swapped a guy with a career 3.87 FIP for a guy with a career 4.81 FIP. I also wouldn’t have swapped a guy with an 0.8 HR/9 for a guy with a 1.1 HR/9 to pitch in Yankee Stadium, especially after Joely gave up only one HR in Yankee Stadium last year across 50 plate appearances. This smells like some from front office overemphasis on lefty-righty splits prompted by the analytics department. Looks like Blake has his work cut out for him.
Another head-scratcher is that B-Ref has Joely’s 2022 salary at $2M and Castro’s at $2.62M. Kind of odd that the Yankees would spend more for a lesser pitcher.
Well, there’s this: under Blake’s tutelage, Joely substantially cut down on free passes. That’s obviously something Castro needs to do. This could be a good trade for the Yanks if he’s able to do that.
I have begun looking at bullpens the way I do position groups in football. Meaning: looking at how the pieces compliment one another as opposed to merely a collection of arms (or players).
With Luetge & Peralta effective LH middle relievers, Chapman at closer, & – ideally – Cortes as the long guy, our ‘pen was kind of overloaded with lefties. Cash has cycled through so many LH relievers over the past few years that just didn’t work out for whatever reason.
Finally stuck paydirt last year. Several times over.
Rodriguez was redundant.
I think what Cash is betting on here is that 100 mph fastball. Suddenly, we now have three RH relievers that all throw Big FB’s, man. Our own “stable” of them. So to speak. If the Ray’s want to go down that road. I think Castro is a cleaner fit. I also think he compliments our bullpen more than Rodriguez did.
This particular iteration of our relief pitching is definitely the deepest it’s been for this core. Which is saying something. He also seems to have swapped out that Big 3 endgame model & instead fashioned an A’s/Ray’s model of a pen that goes 6+ deep.
Our pen is going to be an obstacle for anyone who plays us. It’s the one aspect of our team that actually looks championship caliber.
They have Loaisiga, Holmes, Green, King, Ridings, Gil, Schmidt, Garcia and Marinaccio, all righties on the 40-man roster. Chapman, Luetge, Paralta and Sears are the only southpaws on the 40-man not slated for the rotation. Cortes is going to start.
I think you’re right that Cashman is focused on Castro’s strikeout stuff; but if Castro keeps yielding free passes at his accustomed rate, he’s going to be a problem. I can imagine that Cashman’s brain trust is looking at Castro as a potential setup man to replace Loiasiga when Jonathan takes over the closer’s role from Chapman next year. I can see how Blake’s success with Holmes may have emboldened them to take a chance on a pitcher with stuff sans control. It’s done now. We can only hope.
I’m not sure what the plan for him is. I think he was an opportunistic acquisition. Cash saw a way to get a little bit better & took it. Incremental, marginal, & depth upgrades are still upgrades nonetheless.
At least he’s been a little active again lately.
As of now, I would pencil Chapman into the 9th & Loaisiga into the 8th. Everybody else just helps build the bridge from starter to endgame. I’m sure more set roles will eventually emerge. But for now we have a pen that’s going to keep us in a lot of games & protect a lot of leads, man.
Still hoping to see another bat yet. I wonder if that’s even on Cash’s radar.
Yes, I’m assuming Chapman keeps the ninth unless he stumbles. I also think he’s probably gone after this season when his contract expires.
I’m doubtful that Cashman is going to acquire another bat unless there’s some way he can do so without going to the next level of the luxury tax that Hal obsesses about needlessly and foolishly (a championship more than pays for the tax hit).
This was Mike Axisa’s projected lineup:
1B Anthony Rizzo
RF Aaron Judge
LF Joey Gallo
DH Giancarlo Stanton
3B Josh Donaldson
CF Aaron Hicks
2B Gleyber Torres
SS Isiah Kiner-Falefa
C Kyle Higashioka
Bench: C Ben Rortvedt, IF DJ LeMahieu, IF/OF Miguel Andújar, OF Tim Locastro
They’ve since added Jose Trevino, and Rortvedt’s injured. I’m pretty sure Marwin is going to make the team.
There’s a lot of wishful thinking there, but Cashman does that sort of thing.
Bounce-back seasons from LeMahieu, Torres, Gallo, Hicks and Andujar are in the hopeful column. I’m doubtful that Andujar makes the team anyway, but they’ll still be hoping for a bounce-back year for Marwin too.
I’m cautiously optimistic that Higgy is going to be a lot better at the plate this year. He’s been picking Donaldson’s brain, and he says that Donaldson was his model hitter when Kyle was in the minors. Having the man in person should help.
If the gamble on all the bounce-backs pays off, and Higgy takes another step offensively, they could have enough offense. Or it could be as bad as last year or worse. We’ll start to know soon enough.
There’s also this Cashman factor, Ducky: Joely throws 95, Castro throws 98 – Cashman says deal. It’s like crack for him.
Joking aside, one crucial factor to consider is that Blake worked wonders with a virtual copy of Castro’s pitch type – Clay Holmes, a hard-throwing sinker guy with control problems. Blake helped him locate and he was money. I think that was a main factor in this deal. Cashman’s confidence in Blake is really high & hopefully that is well-placed. I think we all know if he can do the same with Castro the Yanks ‘pen just got a lot better, if for no other reason than giving Green, etc, some relief during the season.
Mr Axisa is typically pretty good at that kind of thing. So.
As far as the lengthy list of guys who need to bounce back I don’t think it’s quite that onerous.
We really need just one of Gleyber/DJ to rebound. Both would be great. Neither would be a problem. But I will take that bet.
I don’t know if Gallo should be included here either. That’s just who he is. After the trade his OPS dropped by about 30 points – but that’s probably just SSS noise.
Andujar is the one whom needs the most bounce. Been awhile since he’s been decent. His live bat would certainly be adding offense – if we get it. & he is probably that 26th man. So I don’t foresee a huge role for him anyway. However: Miggy could be the bat I have been hoping for.
Higgy. Well it is what it is. I doubt his BA will break a buck ninety. I doubt his OB% cracks .285. He does however have a .399 career Slugging%. Hope for homers.
Hicks: if we can get ~ 100 or so regular season games out of him of just regular Aaron Hicks stuff that would alleviate a lot of pressure. The problem there is not having a viable safety net in CF. Again. Also, hoping for 100 games is starting to look like a fool’s errand.
So when I break it down Hicks is the Big Gamble.
Followed by Higashioka & in a pretty minor way Andujar. Which isn’t all that wild.
As far as “adding a bat” goes for me, that merely means an established, proven, above average hitter. Clip’s guy Naquin would fit the bill. Offensively Naquin > Locastro. Playing for a bit over $4MM. So: inexpensive. I am sure there are other players whom fit the criteria but I can’t really come up with any specific names.
I fully realize that I am more than likely overreacting to last season’s offensive collapse. That was some pretty rugged stuff though. I have felt all off-season that we just simply needed more volume there. I still do.
I doubted Cash could go an entire off-season without adding a reliever. I posted as such. I also have a hard time believing that he has kicked his TTO habit entirely. I am now pinning my hopes on that.
So I stubbornly continue to hold out hope that he will add just one more piece of offense. If he added one, I think I would be swayed towards seeing us as “improved.” As we sit, I see a whole lot of shuffling things around but no real actual improvement.
I think that is a very cogent summary of what it is Ducky. I read yesterday that the Yankees have a top-3 rotation in MLB, with everyone healthy, & I believe it.
So, your point about bats? Yep. IF Marwin’s (yuck) bat has started to come to life what a valuable piece for the Yankees he’s going to be. But one bat, & Naquin solves 4 issues: CF, speed, LH, offense – and the fifth (Cashman’s most important) – he’s cheap.
I’m also with you in Gallo. The Determjbatkr Series, which I LOVE, especially when compared with the results of the Shredder, has him #6 overall I believe. He’s super valuable, one of the best defenders in the game, & one of the best 7-hole hitters you could ask for, unless you need a sac fly or base hit.
Add Naquin to the mix & via he, Gallo, & Higashioka/Rortvedt that would probably equate to 90+ jacks out of the bottom half of the lineup. That’s a ton of firepower. I also see it as rather necessary firepower.
The Real Problem is that it’ll cost some kind of prospect to get done. For example, on BBTV Deivi for Naquin works perfectly. It makes sense in the realm of Common Sense too.
Now. Personally I pull the trigger there, man. Unhesitatingly so. Have a hard time seeing Cash letting Garcia out of his sweaty little grasp though. With a value of $0.1MM Naquin really won’t cost much. But after watching Cash add a reliever in lieu of Manaea yesterday…well, Cash is obviously squeezin’ ’em tight. Very, very tight. Hugging ’em to death here, man.
Manaea + Naquin & we would have probably been the AL East favorite. As is we have continued to not do anything to really separate ourselves from the pack. But we do have the 13th best farm in MLB. So that’s real neat.
As a Met fan, YANKS, won trade with Castro, a workhorse… after living through the Jon Franco years as a Met reliever, the Ups & downs, especially when older… confident Castro will flourish as a Yankee, only reason they made the trade for Rodriquez was a lefty reliever was missing from Met bullpen…
That’s how I see it too, man.
That being acknowledged, he is a portable sawmill when it comes to LH bats. He holds them to an OPS well under.600 & he has given up just one jack (all the way back in his rookie year) to a same handed hitter in his MLB career.
With Peralta & Luetge he was superfluous.
But Cash’ll always add a Big FB to his bullpens. So I think we came up here. Might help the mets too, though.
I agree with you again Ducky. The bullpen is a strength. I am concerned with the lack of depth in the starting rotation though as you are, many of them are injury prone. And we both have bemoaning the fact that the offense seems only minimally improved if that and it was a weakness big time last year.
It’s laughable at this point that the media reports the Yankees in on every big and small free agent or trade, but lately they only seem to pull the trigger on marginal players that they could scrape out from under a rock.
I agree clipper, unfortunately the Yankees do these bizarre things like put a guy like gallo who hits 200 and strikes out a bunch as a cleanup hitter or number three hitter, And that could be a problem
You are correct Ducky. Regarding Hicks, I will just add that I’ve observed in recent years he spends the bulk of his season trying to get back into his form from his injuries ,and then follows that up by getting injured again. So there is that. I don’t expect much from him. I expect DJ to rebound I do think he was injured last year. As far as the rest I don’t know.
I think Gallo is a guy who is what he is, he’ll hit 200 get a lot of walks, and hit a lot of homeruns. And I think that will be fine, as long as the Yankees don’t try to change him into something else as is their wont. And I also fear they will do with him what they did with him last year and bat him as the cleanup hitter or even third ,which will be a big problem because he’ll strike out most of those times .if he bats lower in the order he’ll be fine in my opinion.
If….”If and but’s were candy and nuts”… we’d all have a Merry Christmas
I suffered through Eppler out here in Angel Honk land and now I have to suffer with him as my childhood Mets GM. Eppler is an absolute moron and when the Mets finish 3rd or 4rth I hope Cohen wakes the hell up and fires him!
At least nobody will have to move.