The 2nd Base Saga

So Mets' 2nd baseman, Luis Castillo has reported to Tradition Field in great shape (17 pounds lighter than Spring Training last season). Luis Castillo has a new lease on life. Luis Castillo is embarrassed by his 2008 performance. Luis Castillo has a chip on his shoulder. It's all great to hear. It really is. But you know what? Nobody in the Mets organization or Castillo himself is going to say anything different. They could say Castillo is going to bat .340 with 20 homeruns and 30 steals. The reality is that ain't happening.

What's great about Spring Training is that everything is positive. You will rarely hear anything negative come out of anyone's mouth. Baseball during the time of February through April 1st is everyone's happy place. Its a new start.

What's not so great about Spring Training is that people tend to lose sight of reality. Castillo is 33 years old. He's coming off a disasterous season in which he batted a career low .245 to go along with a dismal .355obp. He was hobbled all season long with various injuries.

One of Jerry Manuel's biggest projects of this spring is the Luis Castillo reclamation project. Turn him back into the type of player he used to be. Help him win the crowd over. Giving him a chance to lead off and be the spark plug is 1 method Jerry is using to build Castillo back up.

The question is how much rope are Jerry and the fans going to give Castillo. 1 week? 1 month? NY is a tough town to play in. If he doesn't show positive signs, things are going to get ugly. The question after that is, what is the contigency plan? Orlando Hudson is still out there now, but come April, he will be on another ball club.

The bottom line is that Castillo has 3 years left on his deal and he isn't going anywhere. We can only have faith that this guy does have some quality baseball left in him. Otherwise, there's going to be a glaring hole at 2nd base.