Agent Oscar Suerez states the Phillies and veteran utilityman Juan Castro have agreed on a contract, and will likely finalize the agreement with a physical next week.   There were strong indications a one-year deal would be announced next week, pending the results of the physical.   I wanted to see the Phillies acquire Omar Vizquel for multiple years.  The Castro acquisition would be beneficial for the team, but hardly is a long term proposition.

Castro, 37, is a .230 hitter, with a .270 on-base percentage, in 15 major league seasons. In 57 games with the Dodgers last year, he batted .277, while playing shortstop, second base, third base and left field.  He makes a suitable replacement for Bruntlett though he has not turned any unassisted triples plays !  He can also spot Jimmy Rollins since he has experience at shortstop, and a better arm than Bruntlett had.

Manager Charlie Manuel is normally not one to fully use his bench players,  he stated that he wanted a utility player who could start in place of Rollins and Chase Utley.   Bruntlett batted .171 in 72 games last season and clearly never gained Manuel’s trust.  Castro may have slightly better offensive statistics than Bruntlett, but it seems obvious that the Phillies are more interested in acquiring a utility player with a good arm, who can think on his feet and not commit errors.  With their power and run production laden offense, an additional bat is not the highest priority at this time.

Rollins and Utley will both be 31 next season, and would benefit from regular time off. Rollins played in 155 games last season; Utley 156. The second baseman in particular endured a rough September, batting just .204. He later admitted to suffering mental and physical fatigue late in the season.  Rollins on the other hand heated up as the season wore on and could have used a couple games of relief early on when mired below the Mendoza line.

It is good to see the management working on the mix on this roster, even though they made it to the World Series and came up slightly short of back to back championships, Amaro and Manuel are smart enough to realize they need to keep imrpoving and adding to this team to make sure they remain competitive.  castro is a fair start, but there are other free agents out there that I believe would benefit the team more.  Specifically relief pitchers and closers, the two positions most likely to blame for the Phillies falling to the Yankees this year.