12/7/18

R.I.P. - Luis Valbuena and Jose Castillo



Tragic news has come out of Venezuela.

Los Angles Angels' infielder, Luis Valbuena, and former Pittsburgh Pirates Jose Castillo, were killed in a car accident in Venezuela.

Valbuena has played for five major league clubs (Seattle, Cleveland, Cubs, Houston, LAA) and had a .226 major league batting average over 11 years. He was 32-years old.

Castillo formerly played infield for the Pirates, Giants, and Astros from 2004-2008 (5/yrs - .254). He has been playing in the Mexican league since 2011. He was 35-years old.




4 comments:

Tom Brennan said...

Sad - I wonder if driving in Venezuela is far more treacherous that the U.S.?

Mack Ade said...

This is being spinned as delibrate.

Rocks were placed in the road to cause the ' accident'.

Tom Brennan said...

Dangerous country.

Anonymous said...

Just Another View

On the JT Realmuto love affair...

I could see maybe trading Conforto, Matz (or Lugo or Oswalt) and either shortstop Rosario or Gimenez to Miami to get JT, perhaps in a three-way Yankee inclusion fetching back here Realmuto and reliever Betances.

The lack of decent MLB catchers in today's game is beyond staggering, we all know this. It is obvious.

I suggested here yesterday, acquiring Wilson Ramos and a kid catcher who could quickly perhaps be developed for here, either Austin Allen or Francisco Mejia from the Padres. This later idea is almost equally solid as the trade mentioned above for Realmuto. It lends depth too.

With this suggestion, the Mets would have Wilson Ramos, Travis d'Arnaud, and a kid catcher developing at Syracuse AAA (Allen or Mejia).

Then go out and do a direct trade for one more stud reliever to add in with Diaz, maybe even Betances. Who knows.

Win for Mets either way.

There is nobody out there on the free agent list to replace Noah Syndregaard though, so try not trade him is good advice. And how many teams in MLB can afford to trade the Mets (in another deal) someone equal to Noah, who really is an ace starter. It's important here not to overestimate Matz, Oswalt, and Lugo, as suitable replacements for Noah Syndergaard. They are not. And the cupboard at AAA is bare right now.

The Washington Nationals are revamping their whole team right now. They will probably lose Bryce Harper (NYY, Cardinals or Phillies most likely). The money they save by not spending it on Harper, they will use to add in other players to dominate the conference with. With Noah as a NY Met, starting pitching could play a significant role in playing the Nationals and Braves.

With Noah Syndergaard not traded, adding either catcher Wilson Ramos (free agent) or JT Realmuto and then one more homerun guy (OF Yasel Puig Dodgers), I do think that these additions along with the recently added in Robinson Cano and Mets rookie first baseman Peter Alonso, that the NY Mets will have enough offensive ammunition and pitching to compete with any MLB team.

Take a look and see what you think...

1B Alonso 2B Cano SS Rosario or Gimenez 3B McNeil LF Puig CF Lagares RF Nimmo C Ramos or Realmuto

(I'd trade Conforto only because he tends to be a little bit streaky batting.)