For those keeping score, LaMar gets the error

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By GARY SHELTON

© St. Petersburg Times, published April 17, 2001

It helps us to believe the fallacy of failure as a solitary creature. That way, it allows the rest of us to think we can keep our distance.

And so it is with Vinny Castilla, disappointment.

The mark is on him now. When historians write in their scorebooks, the shortcomings they remember will be his. Castilla has been labeled as unacceptable by his team, a designation that shoves one aside without cutting him adrift.

But when you talk of the error of Vinny Castilla, know this:

You have to charge general manager Chuck LaMar with one, too.

This isn't just Castilla's failure. It also is an organizational failure by the team that invested too much in him. By pointing out Castilla's shortcomings, the Rays also are admitting their own. It is Castilla's fault he failed. It is the Rays' fault he did it here. That's the thing about disappointment. In truth, there is plenty to go around.

And, yes, it is fair to start at the office of the general manager.

A team hires a Chuck LaMar to be certain things such as this don't happen. He is supposed to keep this kind of player out of the lineup, this kind of paycheck off of the books. If you attempted to describe the job to someone who didn't know baseball, it is this: "Castilla-Buster."

Yes, it is a tough job. Everyone else works in hindsight, but a general manager has to operate in foresight. It is his job to analyze, to project. Who knows? LaMar may have felt pressure from above, and he may have gotten bad advice from below. But, in the end, the general manager is responsible for the acquisitions of a team. In the end, it is always his office that is blame.

Think of a GM as the team stockbroker. He takes the money available, and he invests it into assets (players). If he overpays, as he has with Castilla, and with Wilson Alvarez, it hurts. Take the $16-million given to them this year and you could hire a heck of a ballplayer.

Instead, you have what will be remembered as one of the most exasperating, expensive trades in Rays history. At least, we should hope it is remembered that way, because otherwise, some really rotten deals are going to come down in the months ahead.

No, it isn't that the Rays gave up Rolando Arrojo for Castilla. Arrojo's a pitcher, so maybe they could have gotten a little better for him. Maybe not.

In Castilla, however, the Rays have tied up $13-million over two seasons for seven home runs. That's $13-million less than they could have had to put into the bullpen, the infield and reducing the price of Cracker Jack.

Should LaMar have known Castilla's career was about to dip? Well, yes. Everyone in Denver seemed to know it. You could walk down the street, and someone would bump into you, and he'd say, "A shame that Vinny's on the downslide, isn't it?" Hey, the Rockies weren't turning loose one of their more popular players because he was such a bargain. They were doing it because he wasn't. That alone should have been a warning signal.

Let's be fair. When it comes to the farm system, all of us agree LaMar has done a great job. Almost every list of minor-league prospects loves the kids the Rays have. And while LaMar's trading acumen has been criticized, it should be pointed out he hasn't been dealing from strength.

What is a concern, however, is the size of the contracts he gives. A personnel guy once explained the basic rule of sports economics this way: You never, absolutely never, pay A-level money to a B-level player, or B-level money to a C-level player, etc. If you do, you are destined to beat yourself to death with your cash register.

The Rays have a tendency to pay much for very little. Take Alvarez, for instance, who is overpaid even by baseball standards. Even if he were healthy, he isn't worth half his $9-million a year. Take Castilla. Take Kevin Stocker. If it had been up to the Rays to rebuild Col. Steve Austin, they would have offered the doctors $17-million instead of $6-million.

Frankly, the Rays never are going to be a good value until they recognize one themselves. It's hard enough to compete with a $56-million payroll. When a third of it isn't playing, you have no chance.

And so it is the Rays return to dine upon their own contracts. Remember, it was only 11 months ago they told Stocker to walk the plank. Now, nine games into the season, they have told Castilla to sit on it. No, they haven't released Castilla, but you figure if another team will pay part of his salary, it can have him for a bag of peanuts.

That is the bothersome part of the timing of the demotion. In a perfect world, Castilla would have been the All-Star he was with the Rockies. In a break-even world, he would have at least come back to put up enough numbers (.260, 15 home runs) to get someone else interested. In the Rays world, he's Alvin Harper.

Nine games, and by the end, you wondered why the Rays waited so long. Castilla's glove was so wooden, you'd think it had been corked. His bat was so slow, it might not yet know that it has been benched. It doesn't matter how much Castilla complains, he needs to be honest enough to admit he didn't do the job.

That's true for the player.

It's true for the team, too.

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