Tom Glavine is headed to a Brave old world – back home to Atlanta, where he intends to finish his Hall of Fame career – but the Mets won’t be losing second baseman Luis Castillo.
On the same night Glavine was taking a one-year deal from the Braves worth $8 million, according to an industry source, ending the left-hander’s five-year Mets tenure, Castillo reportedly accepted a four-year offer from the Mets worth $25 million.
Glavine, whose signing will be announced today with a press conference in Atlanta, will be returning to the organization into which he was drafted in 1984 and spent the first 16 years of his major league career.
Though Glavine had designs all along on returning to Atlanta, where he makes his offseason home, it wasn’t until late last week that it became clear a deal could be struck. The Braves made an opening bid of $6.5 million for next season and upped the offer by $1.5 million after Glavine and his agent, Gregg Clifton, made a counterproposal. Glavine joins a staff that includes John Smoltz, Tim Hudson and potentially Mike Hampton, who missed last season rehabbing from Tommy John surgery. It would give the Braves maybe the deepest rotation in the NL East.
The 41-year-old Glavine went 13-8 with a 4.45 ERA for the Mets last season, but was a disappointment over the final month, including the season-finale against the Marlins when he was shelled in the first inning of an 8-1 loss.
Glavine went 61-56 during his five seasons with the Mets, his most memorable moment coming last August when he beat the Cubs at Wrigley Field for his 300th career victory.
Castillo was believed to be the Mets’ first choice at second base, but rumblings in recent days had suggested the club had interest in free agent David Eckstein, with the idea of converting him from a shortstop to a second baseman. Castillo, 32, was acquired by the Mets at the trade deadline and hit .296 with one homer and 20 RBIs for the team after spending the previous 1½ seasons in Minnesota.
The Mets are left to search for a starting pitcher, as it seems unlikely general manager Omar Minaya would be content to enter the 2008 season with a rotation of Pedro Martinez, John Maine, Oliver Perez, Orlando Hernandez and either Phil Humber or Mike Pelfrey. David Wells is one name that is expected to be pitched to the Mets. The 44-year-old free-agent left-hander finished last season with the Dodgers.
Wells is considering retirement, but the Mets are among the teams for which he would consider pitching. The Mets still could enter the Johan Santana sweepstakes should the Twins ace be made available, and free agent Livan Hernandez, in whom Minaya has shown interest in acquiring via trade in recent seasons, figures to remain on the team’s radar.
But Minaya’s most pressing need is finding a starting catcher, after the free-agent signing of Yorvit Torrealba was nixed on Saturday for unspecified reasons. With a lean market for catchers, Minaya may have no choice but to extend Paul Lo Duca an offer. Minaya indicated last week, before the Torrealba fiasco, that Lo Duca was still being considered as an option.
mpuma@nypost.com