There seems to be a growing idea that the Mets catching situation will be a platoon, but my guess is if they wanted Ramon Castro to play more they would have kept Paul Lo Duca.

Yorvit Torrealba is younger, and will need less time off, and I happen to think Castro will play less, not more than he did when Lo Duca was here.

I could be wrong, but thats my analysis.

I’d be curious what you guys think. I set the over/under at 40% of the at bats, and i’m going with the under for Castro.

Trey Coppola gives her take on CoppolaSisters.com

I asked some of the other Hot Foot writers, and here’s what they thought :

Gary Grund…

Under.

I don’t see Willie benching a guy with a $5 million base salary until at least August if at all.

Matt Matros…

I really hope you’re wrong, because at this point in their careers Castro is a much better hitter than Torrealba. Yorvit has posted a 678 OPS away from Coors since he’s been a Rockie, a two-year span. Castro, meanwhile, has posted an 805 OPS over that same period, and that’s with half his at-bats coming at Shea (his OPS away from Shea was 80 points higher than his home OPS last year, and 300 points higher in 2006).

Unfortunately, given the sizes of the contracts each player signed, I fear you’re right and that Torrealba will get the bulk of the playing time. Oh well, I guess he’s still at an age where there’s hope for a breakout season–which we might need if he’s going to get 60-70% of the at-bats.

Jason Mollica…

I get the feeling that, yes, Torrealba will get the bulk of the playing time. But, I think you have two guys who really seem to be good handlers of a pitching staff. As long as the duo can give the Mets 10-15 HRs and 60-70 ribbies between them, I’ll be happy.

Andrew Smith…

Lo Duca couldn’t be re-signed because he was too stubborn to ever be a part-time player. I never understood the love affair with Dukes, but this is not the forum for that. I really think this signing was just to add depth to a generally league-wide weak position. After Posada, Martin, Mauer, Martinez, and McCann the cubbard is bare. There is no harm in having two of the 25 best catchers the league has to offer, and it seems that 14 million dollars is what was necessary to get, sadly, the best free agent catching option on the market.

Playing time will figure itself out, and Willie will not give Torrealba the benefit of the doubt if he bombs.

William Radie…

Agreed 100% here. I think Castro’s health will also play a factor in playing time, but I really like the catcher to be a good catcher first and a good hitter second. Calling a good game every night is more important then putting up 5 more HR or 10 more RBI’s. I am not saying that Pauly didn’t do this, but you want a calm and cool catcher to help avoid a big inning. That Pauly was not.

For the record, I wouldn’t have minded at all if we kept Pauly but I think the writing was on the wall from day one of this past season and I am not upset or surprised by the situation in any way.

JUST CALL GOOD GAMES AND CATCH THE BALL!

Steve DiMartino…

Well, the fact is that I can’t seem to remember when Castro has been healthy for a whole season, so if this was going to be a platoon situation then the reality is that Yorvit is going to get at least 60% of the at bats.  Yorvit may become a solid addition to this team, but since we haven’t seen a lot of him, it is hard to say right now.  He seems to have a reputation on handling young pitchers which would be very helpful for Maine, Perez, Pelfrey, and Humber.