LOS ANGELES, CA - JUNE 06: Shortstop Juan Castro #14 of the Los Angeles Dodgers lunges but can’t come up with a ball hit by Pedro Feliz of the Philadelphia Phillies in the fifth inning at Dodger Stadium on June 6, 2009 in Los Angeles, California. The Dodgers defeated the Phillies 3-2 in twelve innings. (Photo by Jeff Gross/Getty Images)
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Because the market for shortstops long past their primes was suddenly short an Omar Vizquel, the Phillies simply didn’t dare wait any longer. On just the fifth day of free agency, they agreed to terms with 37-year-old Juan Castro. Sadly enough, Castro is coming off one of his better offensive seasons, as he hit .277/.311/.339 in 112 at-bats for the Dodgers. The 650 OPS was just a bit off his career-best mark of 678 from 2003. He’s a career .230/.270/.332 hitter in 2,484 at-bats over 15 seasons. In his prime, Castro was an excellent defensive shortstop, but his bat was still so weak that he’s never received more than 320 at-bats in a season. These days, his range has mostly evaporated. UZR has rated him well below average at shortstop in his limited action there the last two seasons. He can still cover second and third well enough, but so can dozens of minor leaguers capable of running circles around him offensively. The Phillies will have Castro replace Eric Bruntlett, who also wasn’t much of a shortstop or a hitter. So, it’s not a move that’s going to have any real effect on their ability to make it back to the World Series next year. Omar Quintanilla and Brian Barden have more to offer than Castro and probably would have come cheaper than the $1 million or so Castro is getting, but given that Chase Utley and Jimmy Rollins hardly ever sit out when healthy, it probably wasn’t worth spending $2 million or so to bring in a quality backup like Craig Counsell or Juan Uribe. Even if one of the two does get hurt, it’s typically pretty easy and inexpensive to acquire middle infielders during July and August.