Re: Starlin Castro promoted (!)

[KaiserCesar]

Paul Sullivan asks and answers some questions with regards to this move...

 

http://www.chicagobreakingsports.com/2010/05/castro-decision-brings-many-questions.html

 

Is this a harbinger of future moves?

 

There's not a whole lot the Cubs can do with the starting lineup, but sources said Andrew Cashner, who was promoted to Triple-A Iowa, may be headed to the Cubs' rotation soon. That would mean Randy Wells or Tom Gorzelanny is on the spot. At the very least, the Cubs hope it lights a fire under Wells, who appears too comfortable in his second season in the rotation.

 

Not only would they demote Wells, which is dumb in and of itself, but they wouldn't use Zambrano to replace him? What a [expletive] bunch of people we have running this organization.

 

Holy hell, this sounds dumb.

 

That is all kinds of stupid, Zambrano in the pen, Cashner starting and Wells/Gorz demoted. Great.

[Northside Blues]

What a stupid move.

[JGalt73]

I know this will add little to the discussion as a whole, but I think this marks the first major fail of the new ownership. The Cubs have little to no shot at anything this year and are wasting arbitration and potentially jeopardizing development for NO GOOD REASON. This is a terrible bit of management for an organization that has floundered epically for 100 years.

[Guest]

Hopefully his "source" was a suggestion from Kaplan.

 

Yep, consider that it's Sullivan.

[Banedon]

Hopefully his "source" was a suggestion from Kaplan.

 

Yep, consider that it's Sullivan.

 

It's the only thing that gives me hope.

[Sammy Sofa]

I don't think they're jeopardizing his development just by bringing Castro up and he gets regular playing time. Worst comes to worse he can always go back to AA or AAA.

[dew1679666265]

Paul Sullivan asks and answers some questions with regards to this move...

 

http://www.chicagobreakingsports.com/2010/05/castro-decision-brings-many-questions.html

 

Is this a harbinger of future moves?

 

There's not a whole lot the Cubs can do with the starting lineup, but sources said Andrew Cashner, who was promoted to Triple-A Iowa, may be headed to the Cubs' rotation soon. That would mean Randy Wells or Tom Gorzelanny is on the spot. At the very least, the Cubs hope it lights a fire under Wells, who appears too comfortable in his second season in the rotation.

 

Not only would they demote Wells, which is dumb in and of itself, but they wouldn't use Zambrano to replace him? What a [expletive] bunch of people we have running this organization.

 

Is that just Sullivan speculating? It sounds like it.

 

And I don't know that Wells is "too comfortable" in the rotation. His ERA and WHIP are too high, but he's improved his K/BB (5.66 last year to 7.56 this year) and his xFIP is nearly a run better than last year.

[Guest]

Where was the AA team playing yesterday? When are they expecting Starlin to arrive or is he in Cincy already? Can we expect to see him in today's line up?

[jersey cubs fan]

I don't think they're jeopardizing his development just by bringing Castro up and he gets regular playing time. Worst comes to worse he can always go back to AA or AAA.

 

It's still a risk. If he spends a few months sitting too frequently, then gets sent down, burning an option, then that puts a little more urgency into the situation.

[scarey]

Paul Sullivan asks and answers some questions with regards to this move...

 

http://www.chicagobreakingsports.com/2010/05/castro-decision-brings-many-questions.html

 

Is this a harbinger of future moves?

 

There's not a whole lot the Cubs can do with the starting lineup, but sources said Andrew Cashner, who was promoted to Triple-A Iowa, may be headed to the Cubs' rotation soon. That would mean Randy Wells or Tom Gorzelanny is on the spot. At the very least, the Cubs hope it lights a fire under Wells, who appears too comfortable in his second season in the rotation.

 

Not only would they demote Wells, which is dumb in and of itself, but they wouldn't use Zambrano to replace him? What a [expletive] bunch of people we have running this organization.

 

Holy hell, this sounds dumb.

 

That is all kinds of stupid, Zambrano in the pen, Cashner starting and Wells/Gorz demoted. Great.

 

The thing here that's all kinds of stupid is that people are buying into a made up story by Sullivan.

[jersey cubs fan]

The thing here that's all kinds of stupid is that people are buying into a made up story by Sullivan.

 

Who was it that reported Castro's promotion was imminent?

[dew1679666265]

I don't think they're jeopardizing his development just by bringing Castro up and he gets regular playing time. Worst comes to worse he can always go back to AA or AAA.

 

It's still a risk. If he spends a few months sitting too frequently, then gets sent down, burning an option, then that puts a little more urgency into the situation.

 

The move in and of itself won't hurt his development, though. It's the handling of him after the move that could.

[JGalt73]

Rob Neyer's take:

 

No, the Cubs aren't panicking. Not at all.

 

Here's what I wrote about Castro a few months ago (riffing on Bryan Smith's comparison of Castro to Garry Templeton):

 

For the younger among you, "the Templeton model" refers to Garry Templeton, an All-Star who once was traded straight up for Ozzie Smith (you know how that deal worked out).

 

Templeton was statistically similar to Castro in the minors, and returned to Double-A after a short stint there in the previous season. Four months and three outstanding (for a shortstop) slash stats later, the Cardinals jumped Templeton past Triple-A into the majors, where he soon established himself as a young star.

 

The Cubs aren't a joke. They should be trying to win games. At this point, Starlin Castro's probably not their best shortstop; Ryan Theriot is. But if Castro plays well in the minors and the Cubs are out of the race -- as the Cardinals were in 1976 -- then sure, call the kid up and let him get started. Right now, though? There's absolutely no reason to rush things.

 

 

Theriot's doing really well. Fontenot's not doing so well; that .296 batting average is almost completely empty. Still, Fontenot might be forgiven for wondering "Why me?" when Derrek Lee's hitting like a shortstop and Aramis Ramirez is hitting like a Double-A shortstop.

 

Look, the Cubs need to get younger. Aside from 27-year-old Geovany Soto, the youngest every-day Cub is Fontenot, who turns 30 next month. I don't know if Castro's better than Fontenot right now, but if not he will be soon.

 

I just don't understand why now, when Castro: 1) hasn't played a single Triple-A game yet; and 2) gets an early start on his arbitration clock. Does he really improve the Cubs' postseason chances so much that they can't wait just a few more weeks?

[Outshined_One]

Where was the AA team playing yesterday? When are they expecting Starlin to arrive or is he in Cincy already? Can we expect to see him in today's line up?

 

They were in the Knoxville area, which is about a four hour drive from Cincy. There should be a good chance of seeing him in tonight's lineup.

[dew1679666265]

The thing here that's all kinds of stupid is that people are buying into a made up story by Sullivan.

 

Who was it that reported Castro's promotion was imminent?

 

Bruce Levine said it could happen "at any point." I haven't seen anything from Sullivan on it.

[BeerHere]

Was Cashner promoted to Iowa?

[jersey cubs fan]

I don't think they're jeopardizing his development just by bringing Castro up and he gets regular playing time. Worst comes to worse he can always go back to AA or AAA.

 

It's still a risk. If he spends a few months sitting too frequently, then gets sent down, burning an option, then that puts a little more urgency into the situation.

 

The move in and of itself won't hurt his development, though. It's the handling of him after the move that could.

 

Which is where the jeopardizing comes into play and where most of the concern has been placed.

[Banedon]

The thing here that's all kinds of stupid is that people are buying into a made up story by Sullivan.

 

Who was it that reported Castro's promotion was imminent?

 

Bruce Levine said it could happen "at any point." I haven't seen anything from Sullivan on it.

 

Some dude from ESPN Deportes reported it first via Twitter....then everybody else grabbed it.

[Sammy Sofa]

I don't think they're jeopardizing his development just by bringing Castro up and he gets regular playing time. Worst comes to worse he can always go back to AA or AAA.

 

It's still a risk. If he spends a few months sitting too frequently, then gets sent down, burning an option, then that puts a little more urgency into the situation.

 

The move in and of itself won't hurt his development, though. It's the handling of him after the move that could.

 

Right. Promoting him in and of itself isn't necessarily detrimental to his development. I mean, I don't even understand why Gooney had to point out it would be detrimental if he didn't get regular playing time when I put that caveat clear as the day in the post he quoted.

[Outshined_One]

I don't think they're jeopardizing his development just by bringing Castro up and he gets regular playing time. Worst comes to worse he can always go back to AA or AAA.

 

It's still a risk. If he spends a few months sitting too frequently, then gets sent down, burning an option, then that puts a little more urgency into the situation.

 

The move in and of itself won't hurt his development, though. It's the handling of him after the move that could.

 

That pretty much sums it up for me. Castro has the kind of game that should adapt well to the majors, but he still needs to make adjustments and improvements in order to become a successful every day regular. If he gets playing time and a long enough leash, he should be fine.

[Outshined_One]

Was Cashner promoted to Iowa?

 

Yep. Vitters also got booted up to Tennessee after a good, but not great, start to the season in Daytona along with Marwin Gonzalez. Flaherty got kicked down to Daytona after a lackluster start in Tennessee.

[jersey cubs fan]

I don't think they're jeopardizing his development just by bringing Castro up and he gets regular playing time. Worst comes to worse he can always go back to AA or AAA.

 

It's still a risk. If he spends a few months sitting too frequently, then gets sent down, burning an option, then that puts a little more urgency into the situation.

 

The move in and of itself won't hurt his development, though. It's the handling of him after the move that could.

 

Right. Promoting him in and of itself isn't necessarily detrimental to his development. I mean, I don't even understand why Gooney had to point out it would be detrimental if he didn't get regular playing time when I put that caveat clear as the day in the post he quoted.

 

Because the jeopardy is they are exposing him to Lou. The problems won't kick in until the next step happens, but that's what everybody has been saying all along. Caveat or not, that's where it all hinges, which is why it's risky.

[dew1679666265]

I don't think they're jeopardizing his development just by bringing Castro up and he gets regular playing time. Worst comes to worse he can always go back to AA or AAA.

 

It's still a risk. If he spends a few months sitting too frequently, then gets sent down, burning an option, then that puts a little more urgency into the situation.

 

The move in and of itself won't hurt his development, though. It's the handling of him after the move that could.

 

Which is where the jeopardizing comes into play and where most of the concern has been placed.

 

Right. And if they call him up and stick him on the bench, I really don't like this move. However, Nuts&Gum said it doesn't jeopardize his development if they call him up and play him. You refuted a point he didn't make.

[dew1679666265]

The thing here that's all kinds of stupid is that people are buying into a made up story by Sullivan.

 

Who was it that reported Castro's promotion was imminent?

 

Bruce Levine said it could happen "at any point." I haven't seen anything from Sullivan on it.

 

Some dude from ESPN Deportes reported it first via Twitter....then everybody else grabbed it.

 

Yeah, Enrique Rojas first reported that he was called up. I thought gooney was referring to an earlier column reporting "sources" saying that Castro's call-up was eminent. That's why I posted that link and mentioned Levine.

[Banedon]

The thing here that's all kinds of stupid is that people are buying into a made up story by Sullivan.

 

Who was it that reported Castro's promotion was imminent?

 

Bruce Levine said it could happen "at any point." I haven't seen anything from Sullivan on it.

 

Some dude from ESPN Deportes reported it first via Twitter....then everybody else grabbed it.

 

Yeah, Enrique Rojas first reported that he was called up. I thought gooney was referring to an earlier column reporting "sources" saying that Castro's call-up was eminent. That's why I posted that link and mentioned Levine.

 

Oh...maybe he was...