New York Mets second baseman Luis Castillo is unhappy with his team. Can you blame him? The 34-year-old veteran was recently replaced by rookie Ruben Tejada for the starter’s position. Castillo has been struggling somewhat this season, his numbers are down from what they’ve been in previous years, but you’d be hard-pressed to find a good major league baseball player who has not had at least one bad season to his credit, despite Castillo’s advanced age.

Castillo has played in just 62 games this season.  He has a measly .241 batting average, 50 points lower than his career average. His RBI production sits at 15 and has scored 20 runs. Not known as a power hitter, he has only six extra-base hits; none of which are home runs. On the defensive side, he has committed just one error 241 chances. It has been five years since he last won a Gold Glove Award, but a .996 fielding percentage is among the best in the league.

Mets general manager Omar Minaya seems ready to concede defeat in 2010. Going into Saturday’s games, New York was only nine games behind first-place Atlanta and seven back of San Francisco for the wild card position, but that seems enough for Minaya, who is now giving his future second baseman a chance to get some every day playing time in order to evaluate what he has in the middle infield. The Mets’ depth chart is thin up the middle and needs some strengthening.

It also seems that the thinness that is the Mets’ middle infield will get thinner this offseason. Castillo has told the media that he will not be with the Mets for next season. He still has one year left on his contract worth $6 million, but he wants to play every day, and if he can’t do that in New York, he’ll ask for a trade to a team where he will get what he wants. Castillo is a three-time all-star and three-time Gold Glove winner; he deserves to be given another chance.