You know, I really don't like the Luis Castillo trade, and all anyone does is rave about it. I mean, they canned Ruben Gotay when he was red hot for a guy who was OPB-ing .356 while Gotay was hitting .356.

Looks like a very happy man, ne?

What's the opposite of a man-crush? That'd be my feeling toward Castillo (or, because I'm not a man, does it have to be the opposite of the opposite of a man-crush? I digress).  My undying hatred for him has sort of gone unsaid lately because Castillo has been solid since coming over-- .324/.377/.394 with a .281 EqA-- but the law of averages has nothing good in store for him. His career numbers are unimpressive, complete with an admittedly impressively average .264 EqA.

At the time of the trade, here are how the offensive numbers stacked up:

Castillo

OBP: .356
OPS: .708
EqA: .252 (eight points below league average FTW)
VORP: 4.8 (he's creating 4.8 more runs than some call-up guy would)

Gotay

OBP: .382
OPS: .871
EqA: .300 (!)
VORP: 13.5

Oh, and Castillo has zero home runs. None. Zero. At all. This season. In about 30 fewer games, Gotay has 4.

Regardless, it's obvious that Gotay is an offensively superior player. But, says everyone who I have spoken to, he is a veteran who is obviously better defensively. That the 'veteran' argument could be used to keep Shawn Green in the lineup over Lastings Millege notwithstanding, let us compare them defensively:

Catillo FRAA: -8 (So, he's prevented -8 runs more than the average player. No, this is not good.)
Gotay FRAA: -3

Gotay's isn't good by any stretch of the imagination, but it's better than Castillo's.

So, we've replaced a good offensive and average-to-below-average defensive player with someone who is all-around... worse? What?

Heat Up

Good hustle Beltran, good hustle.

If Carlos Beltran stays this hot for even just two or three weeks-the rest of the season notwithstanding-the Mets should cruise into the post-season. Finally, they're getting something they haven't been getting all season: production out of the cleanup spot. Has anyone else noticed that the Mets improved when Delgado was out of the lineup? Does anyone else realize why? 

Chill Out

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At the time of my writing this, the Mets are tied with the Red Sox for biggest lead over second place in their division with a 5.0 game lead, and are third (BoSox, Angels) in the majors in winning percentage. So as people continue to wonder what is wrong with the Mets this season, I'm inclined to answer: nothing. 

Seriously, it's ridiculous to compare this season with the joke that was last season's division race. Not only are the other two really competitive teams (Braves, Phillies) much better, the frontrunners in the other divisions (Cubs, Diamondbacks) are better. You can't expect to have a 15-game lead on second place every season. Your team is not going to go 162-0. 

The Mets are on pace to win 93 games, only 4 short of last season.

 FTW

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Did anyone else notice how many times Rose and McCarthy messed up on Tuesday's radio broadcast? They confused Beltran and Delgado at least twice, forgot how many out there were at least once, and said Beltran was hitting 'leadoff' when it was obviously supposed to be 'cleanup,' among several other things. I'm a stickler, but I can deal with mental lapses once in a while... Tuesday night was just plain strange.

Random

The Rangers will not sign Mike Peca. The Rangers will not sign Mike Peca. The Rangers will not sign Mike Peca. 

I'm going to just keep repeating that to myself and hope that it comes true. 

It takes some ego to contact a team people are predicting to be hella good and ask them to sign you.