Should the Cubs deal Castro?

[dabears253313]

OK, MOST overrated might be a stretch.

But definitely overrated.

Someone just said he was a top 3 shortstop probably. He isn't even close to that.

CBS Sports player rankings have Castro rated as the 10th best SS in the majors based on his actual production.

Yes the last two years he has led the league in total chances, but he has also played a significant amount more innings than any other player at the position. In 2011 Tulo had roughly 60 fewer chances than Castro but played in about 190 less innings.

It was noted that Tulo improved as he got older, well Tulo has always been an excellent defensive SS. Never more than 11 errors in a season.

Right now Castro's contract is probably still team friendly, but in a couple years when it kicks up to being $7M, $9M, $10M and $11M, if he continues to be the same .270ish hitter with little power and terrible defense that he is currently producing, it will not be a good deal at all paying top five money at the position.

You don't think he's top 5, that's fine. Can you name us the shortstops that have consistently been better than him since 2010 other than Troy Tulowitzki or Jose Reyes?

Lol same .270ish? Wtf man he batted .300 his first two seasons and dropped to .280 last season. He's batting .270 this year and they aren't even two months into the season so that must mean he will bat .270 for the rest of his career?

 

[chibears55]

so some want to trade a 23 yo established major leaguer who may or may not of reached his potential for what? prospects?
plus If you think he not good enough to stay with the cubs, what you think you might catch a team "dumb" enough to overpay for him or give up someone better?

 

[brett05]

(what) are you talking about? Leading the league in total chances in no way equates to him getting "worse".

You said he's lead the league,. but this year he's a million miles from it pulling in at #15. No where near #1. So worse. :shrug:

 

[Parade_Rain]

Why would anyone trade Castro? My goodness, the starting rotation looks to be much improved. There just needs to be a bit better relief pitching and some more bats in the lineup. Trading away a bat from the lineup makes no sense. as for Castro's defense, I do believe he is movable to a different spot and I'm not even sure that is in the infield. He is fast enough to cover the turf in LF or CF once a true defensive wiz gets a call up in another year or two.

 

[Willrust]

The Cubs trading Starlin Castro (along with any player) is about what they would get in return and if management believes they can replace his position with a player of similar value within a reasonable time. If the Cubs are to trade a 23 year old, 2 time all-star, who is locked up to a team friendly deal; they had better get a minimum of 1 MLB top 20 prospect and at least 2 additional prospects in that organizations top 10. The Cubs gave up about that much for Matt Garza (Archer was BA's #27 prospect in all of baseball plus Guyer & Lee were in Cubs top 10).

Anyone that questions Starlin Castro's defense at SS and thinks that Javier Baez is the solution should really take a second look at Javier Baez. The kid has amassed 24 errors so far this season. He is on pace to have well over 60 errors in 2013.

Rather than trading away a SS that has the talent to be a 25/25 guy, why not actually work with him to correct the issues in his plate approach. Looking at fangraphs, he is not making enough contact with pitches and according to foxsports.com's hit chart he is going to the opposite field too much. Looking further into the numbers, you will notice the increase in FB's thrown to Castro. If you put together his increased tendency to hit the ball to the opposite field with the increase in FB's; you would likely see that he is late on the FB's. If this is the case, then the Cubs should work with him to alter his plate approach. Could be something as simple as lowering his hands (like the Cubs did with Rizzo and are currently doing with Jackson) or could shorten his leg kick. Based upon his increase K rate and lowered BB's, I would vote to lower his hands a bit to increase his bat speed through the plate.

http://www.fangraphs.com/statss.aspx?playerid=4579&position=SS
http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/player/starlin-castro/hitchart/720275?q=starlin-castro

 

[KBisBack!]

You don't think he's top 5, that's fine. Can you name us the shortstops that have consistently been better than him since 2010 other than Troy Tulowitzki or Jose Reyes?

Derek Jeter and Asdrubal Cabrera have been better. I would say it would be close with Elvis Andrus (less power, more speed, better defense)

Because of injuries Hanley Ramirez stats havent been better, but I would take him in a second over Castro.

I'd probably take Ian Desmond over him.

As I have stated before, considering their differences in contracts and not that huge a difference in production over the last 1 1/4 I would probably take Alcides Escobar over him as well despite Escobar's massive slump lately.

Those are just right off the top of my head.

Lol same .270ish? Wtf man he batted .300 his first two seasons and dropped to .280 last season. He's batting .270 this year and they aren't even two months into the season so that must mean he will bat .270 for the rest of his career?

Guess you were unable to comprehend the meaning of the word 'if'.

You don't think there is anything to be alarmed about a player who hit .300 his first two years and has dropped each of the last two??

 

[KBIB]

If I am trading Castro, I am asking for Giancarlo Stanton.

Castro has peaked, get somebody who puts a huge presence in the line up. Baez is the future SS anyway.



Laim

 

[mountsalami]

Package Castro with Hemmoroidys', "high ceiling", and the sky's the limit on a return. Right ?

These guys are great or might be !!!!!!

Other teams will salivate at that kind of talent from a one hundred loss team like the Cubs.


:fap::fap::fap::fap::fap::fap::fap::fap::fap::fap:

 

[mountsalami]

If I am trading Castro, I am asking for Giancarlo Stanton.

Castro has peaked, get somebody who puts a huge presence in the line up. Baez is the future SS anyway.



Laim

Ask all you want. I'm sure the Marlins give you the stink-finger in return.

 

[mountsalami]

so some want to trade a 23 yo established major leaguer who may or may not of reached his potential for what? prospects?
plus If you think he not good enough to stay with the cubs, what you think you might catch a team "dumb" enough to overpay for him or give up someone better?

Why not ?

The Pirates did this for about twenty years and look how great they are today.

 

[CSF77]

Castro is regressing.

2010: .300/.347/.408 463 AB 29 BB 71 SO
2011: .307/.341/.432 674 AB 35 BB 96 SO
2012: .283/.323/.430 646 AB 36 BB 100 SO
2013: .271/.303/.376 218 AB 9 BB 37 SO

His SO to BB ratio has been 3:1. Not good for a non power hitter. Worse ratio this year. Every thing else is all time lows.

Even before his plunge his OBA was low for a 1-2 hitter and slg low for a 3-5 hitter. He is a 6-7 hitter on a quality team.

I belive it is because the Cubs have a lack of talent peeps are over valuing him.

 

[CSF77]

I wouldn't anoint Baez either. 24 errors at a D position is not good. I believe he would be better in LF. He played CF in HS. His power project there.

 

[X]

You said he's lead the league,. but this year he's a million miles from it pulling in at #15. No where near #1. So worse. :shrug:

how many opportunities a defensive player has to make an out doesn't make him better or worse. wtf are you talking about?

 

[CherokeeReds]

Castro ... does not strike me as a player who is motivated to perform to his peak potential

That sums it up pretty well.

Give a 23-year old kid millions of dollars and a multi-year contract and surround him with a lousy team, that's what you get.

A little maturity, a more competitive team, I think you see better production out of Castro. I don't think he's reached a peak.

 

[mountsalami]

That sums it up pretty well.

Give a 23-year old kid millions of dollars and a multi-year contract and surround him with a lousy team, that's what you get.

A little maturity, a more competitive team, I think you see better production out of Castro. I don't think he's reached a peak.

Unless Castro is just dumb. Which I believe he is.

A higher level of maturity should, at the very least, be displayed on the field by now.

Most games are only around three hours long. He should be able to buckle down and do his job.

He has played in enough games and there should be little excuse for the dropoff in production.

He's getting worse at the plate, swinging at just about everything, and spitting profusely, just like another Cub that plays in left field.

But with Big Rob Deer helping out in the batting cage and Castro's numbers much better than anything Rob was able to put up.........

This is a success story.

 

[brett05]

how many opportunities a defensive player has to make an out doesn't make him better or worse. (what) are you talking about?

X,
Has someone hijacked your account? You talked about how he's a total chance leader since what, 2010? I showed that this he's average at #15. TC has a correlation to range. Everyone talks about how many more balls Castro gets to. The Total Chances says he gets to an average amount.

 

[chibears55]

Everyone talks about how many more balls Castro gets to. The Total Chances says he gets to an average amount.

i dont think a players range really has a lot to do with their TC.. their range factor for a SS , is basically how far they can go to their right, left, back on a pop fly, etc.

i guess yea in some ways it can add up to more chances, but chances comes to just balls hit in your general direction..
total range factor is just how far a player could move about from his position to field a ball, some days they could just get a couple chances other day a lot more
but it really has little factor in the range they have.

 

[X]

X,
Has someone hijacked your account? You talked about how he's a total chance leader since what, 2010? I showed that this he's average at #15. TC has a correlation to range. Everyone talks about how many more balls Castro gets to. The Total Chances says he gets to an average amount.

First off, I never said he "gets to more balls" than other people. I think his range is above average, but not as excellent as a lot of people tend to believe. Secondly, TC does have a correlation to range, but it's not a direct correlation...and you're going based on less than two months of action. My point was, given his RECENT history, he's likely going to end up much closer to top 3-5 in TC than #15. And please, for the love of God, don't bring up the argument that he ranks that high because he plays more innings. Of course that's the case -- and I don't see it as a negative that one of the best players on the team rarely misses a game.

 

[KBisBack!]

how many opportunities a defensive player has to make an out doesn't make him better or worse. wtf are you talking about?

Well you have completely ignored the point about him generally playing many more innings than almost all other SS which is a great advantage in a counting stat like total chances.


Edit....

OK I read further and you didn't ignore it lol

Of course it isn't a negative that he doesn't miss any time.

But in strictly a counting category, the fact he plays far more innings than almost all players at his position has a huge impact on the rankings.

I mean last year Dan Uggla ranked 2nd in TC for 2B. I don't think anyone is going to rave about his defensive skills or range, but he did play the most innings at 2B

 

[KBisBack!]

That sums it up pretty well.

Give a 23-year old kid millions of dollars and a multi-year contract and surround him with a lousy team, that's what you get.

A little maturity, a more competitive team, I think you see better production out of Castro. I don't think he's reached a peak.

Matt Harvey is a 24 year old kid surrounded by a lousy team. He seems pretty motivated.

There are lots of young players that have come up on lousy teams that have the fire to succeed and improve.

I just don't see that in Castro.