Castro

[Lenny]

even with the small sample size Russells UZR is way better than Castros

 

Russell's had TWO chances at shortstop at the major league level.

 

And Deeg - you have no idea if Baez AND Russell are better shortstops. Baez may be more "athletic" but he's much less sure-handed than Castro. Russell, I don't know enough about.

 

We've seen plenty enough of both Russell and Baez at SS to see that they're substantially better than Castro. Russell has much better range and hands, Baez slightly better range and a much stronger arm. If Castro were a star, I could see the case for not wanting to rock the boat - but this is a guy with a lifetime .730 OPS. He's not a star and never will be, and two of the last three years he's been abysmal offensively. He may recover and get his season numbers back to his career norms - or he may not - but there's no development curve. There's no sign of sustained improvement.

 

http://reactiongif.org/wp-content/uploads/GIF/2014/08/GIF-incredulous-my-god-oh-my-god-OMG-shocked-Steve-Buscemi-WTF-GIF.gif

[KingCubsFan]

Castro is the most criminally underappreciated Cub since Aramis Ramirez.

 

Eh, maybe, but he's not really close to Aramis in that regard.

Yeah, Aramis was legitimately awesome and people completely ignored that. Castro is above average most of the time but people view him as a detriment to the team's success.

[ConstableRabbit]

Castro is the most criminally underappreciated Cub since Aramis Ramirez.

 

Eh, maybe, but he's not really close to Aramis in that regard.

Yeah, Aramis was legitimately awesome and people completely ignored that. Castro is above average most of the time but people view him as a detriment to the team's success.

The delta between what they are and what fans think they are is about the same.

[jersey cubs fan]

Castro is the most criminally underappreciated Cub since Aramis Ramirez.

 

Eh, maybe, but he's not really close to Aramis in that regard.

Yeah, Aramis was legitimately awesome and people completely ignored that. Castro is above average most of the time but people view him as a detriment to the team's success.

The delta between what they are and what fans think they are is about the same.

 

Maybe, but a lot of people actually thought Aramis was a detriment to the team's success.

[ConstableRabbit]

Castro is the most criminally underappreciated Cub since Aramis Ramirez.

 

Eh, maybe, but he's not really close to Aramis in that regard.

Yeah, Aramis was legitimately awesome and people completely ignored that. Castro is above average most of the time but people view him as a detriment to the team's success.

The delta between what they are and what fans think they are is about the same.

 

Maybe, but a lot of people actually thought Aramis was a detriment to the team's success.

I remember people thinking he was lazy, but I don't recall that sentiment. Maybe I blocked it out due to my Aramislove.

[Sammy Sofa]

I remember plenty of people saying he was lazy, not a leader, terrible at defense (like, to the point they had to get rid of him because it was crippling the team), and whenever they were bad he got plenty of the ol' Sammy-"he's not clutch/only hits home runs when they're losing/nobody on." The last one would vanish when the Cubs were good, but the first three never went away.

[toonsterwu]

This seemed like the best thread to go with this for now ... A totally off the wall crazy idea that briefly crossed my mind was whether or not the Cubs could ... trade for a shortstop. Before I go any further, I think the chances of this are quite minimal.

 

Let's say, though, that the Cubs

 

a) Bullpen solidifies with Ramirez returning, such that they have the ex-Rangers (Ramirez/Strop/Grimm) as good setup options to Rondon. Maybe they add a spare piece here or there, but nothing costly.

 

b) Several lineup pieces kick it up a notch.

 

c) They are satisfied, short and long term with Kris Bryant at 3rd.

 

d) They find an improvement for LF offense, internally or externally.

 

Then, the major issue we'd be looking at is the rotation. Say the Cubs went the route I would probably go at this point - trading 2nd tier pieces for an impending FA starter, not an elite guy, but a solid 3rd piece to Lester/Arrieta and slotting in front of Hammel (thus allowing us to go after a top FA starter in the winter and keep our elite pieces). They are "in the race", and believe they could perhaps go for it all. What else could be an important upgrade? On paper, upgrading shortstop defense would come to mind. Now, let me be clear, don't think they would sell low on Castro, particularly not in-season. If he was hitting well (which would make it that much tougher to move him) ... could they pull a complex dynamic off where they ship Castro off for top young talent, get a short term defensive upgrade at shortstop (it's not like I've contemplated who, or even said option would exist ... ), open up shortstop for Russell in 2016, and keep the pipeline super-stocked?

 

Again ... this is probably a less than 1% chance of happening, as it requires so many things to go our way, but I was bored this morning.

[ConstableRabbit]

I remember plenty of people saying he was lazy, not a leader, terrible at defense (like, to the point they had to get rid of him because it was crippling the team), and whenever they were bad he got plenty of the ol' Sammy-"he's not clutch/only hits home runs when they're losing/nobody on." The last one would vanish when the Cubs were good, but the first three never went away.

I guess that's true. And you had Kaplan and Rosner. The Castro hate/detrimental myth is a national story, though, across both fans and (mainstream) media. Which is especially annoying to me.

[Guest]

I remember plenty of people saying he was lazy, not a leader, terrible at defense (like, to the point they had to get rid of him because it was crippling the team), and whenever they were bad he got plenty of the ol' Sammy-"he's not clutch/only hits home runs when they're losing/nobody on." The last one would vanish when the Cubs were good, but the first three never went away.

 

Kind of along with some of that, there was the sentiment that he'd suck for a while when the team needed him most at the beginning and then he'd rebound and put up numbers when they were out of it.

[KingCubsFan]

Don't forget when Steve Stone said he'd trade Aramis for Cesar Izturis.

[Clem Fandango]

I'll always remember when the Cubs FO told Aramis not to hustle on routine ground outs because he had recurring hamstring issues and didn't want to aggravate the injury so they could keep the bat in the lineup, and that was public knowledge, and then the very next play where that happened he didn't hustle down the line, because he was obviously instructed not to, and the Chicago media roasted him for being lazy and not hustling.

[Sammy Sofa]

Bob Brenly also talked [expletive] about Aramis, and he's been doing the same [expletive] with Castro and was doing it again this series:

 

http://www.chicagonow.com/cubs-den/2015/05/analyzing-bob-brenly-the-way-he-analyzes-starlin-castro/

[treebird]

Bob Brenly also talked [expletive] about Aramis, and he's been doing the same [expletive] with Castro and was doing it again this series:

 

http://www.chicagonow.com/cubs-den/2015/05/analyzing-bob-brenly-the-way-he-analyzes-starlin-castro/

 

kind of embarrassed it didn't occur to me to write that first.

[Sammy Sofa]

Bob Brenly also talked [expletive] about Aramis, and he's been doing the same [expletive] with Castro and was doing it again this series:

 

http://www.chicagonow.com/cubs-den/2015/05/analyzing-bob-brenly-the-way-he-analyzes-starlin-castro/

 

kind of embarrassed it didn't occur to me to write that first.

 

Brenly and Len had a cool chemistry, but Bob meatballed the [expletive] out all the damn time. JD's analysis tends to be MUCH better, plus he and Len also get along just fine. Upgrades all around; go shave on your stupid mustache, Brenly.

Edited May 25, 2015 by Sammy Sofa

[weis21]

Bob Brenly also talked [expletive] about Aramis, and he's been doing the same [expletive] with Castro and was doing it again this series:

 

http://www.chicagonow.com/cubs-den/2015/05/analyzing-bob-brenly-the-way-he-analyzes-starlin-castro/

 

kind of embarrassed it didn't occur to me to write that first.

 

Brenly and Len had a cool chemistry, but Bob meatballed the [expletive] out all the damn time. JD's analysis tends to be MUCH better, plus he and Len alos get along just fine. Upgrades all around; go shave on your stupid mustache, Brenly.

Pretty much this exactly. I appreciated about 90% of Brenley's work and he and Len did have nice chemistry. But I could never really get over or forgive him for the 10% of the time he was a total meatball/closet-racist in regards to the Latin players. It's like I just wanted to shake the [expletive] out of him and tell him to stop being so judgmental and stereotyping, but I guess he's too old and set in his ways to change (not that that is an excuse, of course).

[ARCubsFan]

I think it's time to face facts, the meatheads were right. Starlin Castro is not a great baseball player.

 

His play this year has been horrendous and has hurt the Cubs way more than it's helped and it's not a BABIP issue right now because his BABIP is sitting right where it needs to be. His walk rate is good for bottom 10 in the league and some dude named Jose Ramirez on the Indians who is hitting .190 has a higher offensive WAR than him.

 

Ryan Theriot’s worst year with the Cubs (2007):

.266/.326/.356 0.9 WAR

 

Starlin Castro 2015:

.265/.295/.337 -0.2 WAR

[nolanwood]

I think it's time to face facts, the meatheads were right. Starlin Castro is not a great baseball player.

 

His play this year has been horrendous and has hurt the Cubs way more than it's helped and it's not a BABIP issue right now because his BABIP is sitting right where it needs to be. His walk rate is good for bottom 10 in the league and some dude named Jose Ramirez on the Indians who is hitting .190 has a higher offensive WAR than him.

 

Ryan Theriot’s worst year with the Cubs (2007):

.266/.326/.356 0.9 WAR

 

Starlin Castro 2015:

.265/.295/.337 -0.2 WAR

 

You are comparing the numbers for a complete season of Theriot (537 AB's) to Castro's measly 177 AB's (we're not even out of May yet). :banghead:

[Sammy Sofa]

Just move him down in the lineup.

[Derwood]

Rizzo has less than 10 HR this year, while Barry Bonds had over 700 for his career. Will Rizzo ever live up to the hype?

[TruffleShuffle]

starlin castro hasn't played well this year? this guy might be onto something.

[Castros trade value]

http://www.chicagonow.com/cubs-den/files/2012/10/bob-brenly.jpg

"Castro stinks"

[CubColtPacer]

It's unusual that a three quarters of a season can swing perceptions wildly on a player, but Castro seems to be at that crossroads. If he puts up 2-3 WAR over the remaining part of this season, then he still is a bargain player who can be an average player at a below average price.

 

If he stays at 0, then suddenly he's put up 0 two out of the last three years. His contract is in many ways extremely worrisome at that point, because you have a player signed for four more years that may very well need to get benched if he starts 2016 slowly.

 

Castro's risk profile is growing every day. His peripherals are scary bad. I don't think it's time to sound the alarm bells just yet, but I think his assumed safety has been overemphasized.

[jersey cubs fan]

I think it's time to face facts, the meatheads were right. Starlin Castro is not a great baseball player.

 

His play this year has been horrendous and has hurt the Cubs way more than it's helped and it's not a BABIP issue right now because his BABIP is sitting right where it needs to be. His walk rate is good for bottom 10 in the league and some dude named Jose Ramirez on the Indians who is hitting .190 has a higher offensive WAR than him.

 

Ryan Theriot’s worst year with the Cubs (2007):

.266/.326/.356 0.9 WAR

 

Starlin Castro 2015:

.265/.295/.337 -0.2 WAR

Omg this is dumb. I assume ar means Arkansas which obviously means pottymouthlanguage

Edited May 26, 2015 by jersey cubs fan

[Guest]

I was down on this guy before it was cool

[ARCubsFan]

I think it's time to face facts, the meatheads were right. Starlin Castro is not a great baseball player.

 

His play this year has been horrendous and has hurt the Cubs way more than it's helped and it's not a BABIP issue right now because his BABIP is sitting right where it needs to be. His walk rate is good for bottom 10 in the league and some dude named Jose Ramirez on the Indians who is hitting .190 has a higher offensive WAR than him.

 

Ryan Theriot’s worst year with the Cubs (2007):

.266/.326/.356 0.9 WAR

 

Starlin Castro 2015:

.265/.295/.337 -0.2 WAR

Omg this is dumb. I assume ar means Arkansas which obviously means dumbassmotherfucker

Using stats and facts isn't really dumb