Source: Castro Agrees to 7/60M Extension (Option Year: 16M)

[TheClash]

*really* sucks

.302 obp....

 

shoulda traded him.

 

okay he doesn't suck (too much), but he's a guy who will probably never be a consistent obp threat and some idiot GMs will pay top dollar for him because he knows how to "hit".

[Guest]

ban

[jersey cubs fan]

oh, okay then

[Guest]

having a 3 war season at age 22 despite having a down year at the plate.

 

he's awesome, and the improvements he's made to his defense and power this season are way more important going forward than his uncharacteristic slump at the plate.

[Sammy Sofa]

This guy's first post:

 

You know, trading Castro would be a bright move if we got a good haul. He's a terrible defender, going to be expensive in his prime (if only because he's a shortstop who hits .310), who doesn't know that four pitches mean you get on base and will probably play third for almost all -- if not all -- of his thirties. I mean Castro's a good player and all, but he's never going to be as good as people around baseball think he is. He's a two tool player (average and speed). He's pretty lackluster outside of that and he's going to be paid because he can hit .310, even if his obp is under .350.

 

Dont get me wrong, hes a good player but he will never be a guy to build your team around and is a great guy to have around as your second or third best position player. No team will ever make the playoffs if Castro is their best player.

[Sammy Sofa]

having a 3 war season at age 22 despite having a down year at the plate.

 

he's awesome, and the improvements he's made to his defense and power this season are way more important going forward than his uncharacteristic slump at the plate.

 

Yeah, if anything this year makes me even more excited for his future. We know he can hit and steal bases...but now he can defend, too. That's a combination that equates to beast mode for a long time.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

 

Yeah, if anything this year makes me even more excited for his future. We know he can hit and steal bases...but now he can defend, too. That's a combination that equates to beast mode for a long time.

 

Agreed. I was a little suspect of his ability to consistently hit .320 or whatever going into this season, but showing the improvements in power and defense say a lot more about his long-term projection than his OBP.

[bukie]

I'm just happy that GvilleCub found a new comfort zone after the Dempster trauma.

[XZero771679666304]

I'm pretty confident Starlin will end up better for having endured this slump. I'm hoping he'll become more selective. As good as hit hit tool is, he puts his bat on pitches he has no business making contact with, which results in weak contact too often.

 

I don't ever see him being uber-patient, but if he can learn to be more aggressive on pitches he can really hit and less on bad balls, he's going to be a monster. There is quite a bit of power there, clearly. I don't think 25+ homers annually is at all out of the question as he enters his prime, especially if he shrinks his zone.

 

And the defense is really exciting, and it's looking like a lot of that worry over him needing to be moved of SS at some point was unfounded.

[davell]

This guy is obviously @Kapman.

[Guest]

Fun Facts:

 

- Starlin's power hasn't increased all that much as he's given away his gains in HR by the reduction in doubles (.125 IsoP vs .141)

 

- he only has two SB since May (at a rate of 2 for 7)

 

- his strikeout rate is the highest it has ever been

 

- his walk totals are the lowest they've ever been

 

When talking about his progression this year, I'm not sure how fair it is to talk about his increased power or speed.

 

I'm not trolling here, but if you remove the defensive gains this season has been as disastrous as it gets for Starlin. It also raises legitimate concerns about his progression.

 

Now, not to sound all gloomy - As I've noted before, the difference we're looking at is whether he'll be a really good player in his prime or if he's on a HOF track.

[jersey cubs fan]

this season has been as disastrous as it gets for Starlin. It also raises legitimate concerns about his progression.

 

Now, not to sound all gloomy -

 

Sorry Tim, but that is ridiculously gloomy. Disastrous as it gets? I could think of much bigger disasters than what Castro has done this year.

[Guest]

this season has been as disastrous as it gets for Starlin. It also raises legitimate concerns about his progression.

 

Now, not to sound all gloomy -

 

Sorry Tim, but that is ridiculously gloomy. Disastrous as it gets? I could think of much bigger disasters than what Castro has done this year.

Nice cherry picking of quotes.

 

Fine, remove the defense and it's as disastrous a season as could have been realistically expected.

 

The only offensive category Starlin has shown improvement on is HR. Every other category has regressed.

 

That's pretty [expletive] disastrous.

[Tracer Bullet]

He's been one of often just 2 decent hitters on a [expletive] team that's been out of the race since spring training. He's 22. I'm just glad he isn't playing angry birds on his iPhone while being stranded on 2b.

[jersey cubs fan]

this season has been as disastrous as it gets for Starlin. It also raises legitimate concerns about his progression.

 

Now, not to sound all gloomy -

 

Sorry Tim, but that is ridiculously gloomy. Disastrous as it gets? I could think of much bigger disasters than what Castro has done this year.

Nice cherry picking of quotes.

 

Fine, remove the defense and it's as disastrous a season as could have been realistically expected.

 

The only offensive category Starlin has shown improvement on is HR. Every other category has regressed.

 

That's pretty [expletive] disastrous.

 

I'm not cherry picking anything. I condensed the quote because it is a ridiculous statement. There is nothing disastrous about regression by a 22 year old in his 2nd year. Regression is perfectly normal if not expected. It's moderately disappointing at most but it's not "disastrous as it gets".

[Guest]

Castro's K and BB rates are well within what you'd consider normal variance, especially when you consider that we're trending off a slump from Castro. Language like "worst it's ever been" is particularly misleading, especially if you're going to hand wave the power improvement as a small change.

[Guest]

i find it hard to call his offensive season "disastrous" when it has been roughly league average (better?) for a shortstop.

[Guest]

Castro's K and BB rates are well within what you'd consider normal variance, especially when you consider that we're trending off a slump from Castro. Language like "worst it's ever been" is particularly misleading, especially if you're going to hand wave the power improvement as a small change.

In his rookie year, Castro hit 31 doubles in roughly the same number of at bats as this year. He currently has 14. The point I'm making on the power is that while the increase in HR is nice, the severe drop in doubles balances that out to a very great extent. I'm not hand waving anything.

 

The "worst it's ever been" comments on K's and walks are not due to his recent slump. Those rates are actually improvements over where they were at the beginning of the slump.

[Guest]

i find it hard to call his offensive season "disastrous" when it has been roughly league average (better?) for a shortstop.

Disastrous in comparison to expectations of growth going into his third major league season.

[SouthSideRyan]

Fun Facts:

 

- Starlin's power hasn't increased all that much as he's given away his gains in HR by the reduction in doubles (.125 IsoP vs .141)

 

- he only has two SB since May (at a rate of 2 for 7)

 

- his strikeout rate is the highest it has ever been

 

- his walk totals are the lowest they've ever been

 

When talking about his progression this year, I'm not sure how fair it is to talk about his increased power or speed.

 

I'm not trolling here, but if you remove the defensive gains this season has been as disastrous as it gets for Starlin. It also raises legitimate concerns about his progression.

 

Now, not to sound all gloomy - As I've noted before, the difference we're looking at is whether he'll be a really good player in his prime or if he's on a HOF track.

 

Did he age 8 years this season too?

 

He's twenty [expletive] two and baseball is not played on a bell curve.

[Guest]

Castro's K and BB rates are well within what you'd consider normal variance, especially when you consider that we're trending off a slump from Castro. Language like "worst it's ever been" is particularly misleading, especially if you're going to hand wave the power improvement as a small change.

In his rookie year, Castro hit 31 doubles in roughly the same number of at bats as this year. He currently has 14. The point I'm making on the power is that while the increase in HR is nice, the severe drop in doubles balances that out to a very great extent. I'm not hand waving anything.

 

The "worst it's ever been" comments on K's and walks are not due to his recent slump. Those rates are actually improvements over where they were at the beginning of the slump.

 

The point is the magnitude of the improvement/decline in his BB rate, K rate, and IsoP is quite similar, yet the language was severely tilted towards the negative. One could re-write the same post, using "best it's ever been" to describe his IsoP and HR rate, while talking about how the BB and K rates "haven't changed all that much". It'd be just as accurate and have the complete opposite implication.

[Sammy Sofa]

Jesus, Tim; you don't need the traffic THAT badly.

[C.C.]

I'm with ya Tim.

[Z38Cubs]

I feel like I'm reading the Cubs facebook page. It's gunna suck when this "Castro is bad at defense" myth continues for the next few years. When will @Kapman try running him out of town? I'll say 2015.

[Guest]

I feel like I'm reading the Cubs facebook page. It's gunna suck when this "Castro is bad at defense" myth continues for the next few years. When will @Kapman try running him out of town? I'll say 2015.

 

makes me glad i live far away from chicago and can easily avoid this stuff.