The Cuban Defectors Thread

[Tangled Up in Plaid]

Who knows how much can be read into this report, especially since it says "could," but it is, nevertheless, a sourced report.

 

A source familiar with the Cubs' thinking told David Lennon of New York Newsday that Starlin Castro shouldn't be expected to be traded this season.

Plenty have assumed that the Cubs' recent acquisition of Addison Russell in the Jeff Samardzija/Jason Hammel deal means that Castro will go on the block, but the team is obviously in no rush to make a deal. The source also told Lennon that the club could move Castro to third base for 2015. Of course, the Cubs have one of the top third base prospects in the game in Kris Bryant, but the outfield hasn't been ruled out as a possibility for him. There are a lot of moving pieces here, so things could change if the right offer comes along.

castro only gets traded if they really believe bryant can play 3B

Edited August 5, 2014 by Tangled Up in Plaid

[Guest]

as russell ages, the less of a gap between him and castro at SS, yet the opposite is likely true for 3b. castro is merely a liability at ss; he'd be a [expletive] show at 3b. if it were just a matter of one over the other at ss than yes, you're right. unfortunately, someone who is not kris bryant is going to have to play 3b and it absolutely should not be castro

 

what the hell?

[Tangled Up in Plaid]

since when did 3b become harder to play than SS?

[seanimal]

no one said that

[Tangled Up in Plaid]

well it's kind of implied if castro turns into a [expletive] show by going to 3b

[Guest]

- 3B is not a longer throw than SS

 

- Castro may be a better 3B than SS because more plays involve simply reacting instead of thinking about your approach to the ball, stepping into your throw, etc

 

- You keep Javy at 2B for a bunch of reasons: you preserve a little more positional scarcity at 2B, 2B is closer in movement to SS than it is to 3B, 2B are more involved than 3B which might be beneficial for someone with Javy's intensity, and he's the smallest of the group so he's less likely to grow off the position and its agility needs.

[seanimal]

not really; it could just be that his deficiencies would be exasperated by getting closer to the plate and farther from 1b

[seanimal]

well it looks farther

[seanimal]

- Castro may be a better 3B than SS because more plays involve simply reacting instead of thinking about your approach to the ball, stepping into your throw, etc

 

come on the "you gotta think more" at ss is nonsense. it's all reaction and situational awareness of the same degree in the if, let's not pretend that there's some magic thinky sauce that separates ss from 3b

[Guest]

Who knows how much can be read into this report, especially since it says "could," but it is, nevertheless, a sourced report.

 

A source familiar with the Cubs' thinking told David Lennon of New York Newsday that Starlin Castro shouldn't be expected to be traded this season.

Plenty have assumed that the Cubs' recent acquisition of Addison Russell in the Jeff Samardzija/Jason Hammel deal means that Castro will go on the block, but the team is obviously in no rush to make a deal. The source also told Lennon that the club could move Castro to third base for 2015. Of course, the Cubs have one of the top third base prospects in the game in Kris Bryant, but the outfield hasn't been ruled out as a possibility for him. There are a lot of moving pieces here, so things could change if the right offer comes along.

castro only gets traded if they really believe bryant can play 3B

 

i think the trade part of it was just brought up in response to the rampant speculation that we somehow needed to trade a SS after the russell trade.

 

i was more posting it because it is an actual allegedly sourced report that castro might be moving to 3B

[Guest]

- Castro may be a better 3B than SS because more plays involve simply reacting instead of thinking about your approach to the ball, stepping into your throw, etc

 

come on the "you gotta think more" at ss is nonsense. it's all reaction and situational awareness of the same degree in the if, let's not pretend that there's some magic thinky sauce that separates ss from 3b

 

i think he means that there are far fewer slower developing plays to 3B. balls that go that way are hit harder more often. i have no idea if this is necessarily true but it certainly seems intuitive.

[Tangled Up in Plaid]

they haven't called it the hot corner for a million years for no reason. meatbally, but true.

[Guest]

it also occurred to me that it makes even more sense for castro to continue to hit the weights and put on muscle because he's never gonna be a big OBP guy with his hitting approach, so the best way to take advantage of what he is is for him to hit the ball harder more often rather than hitting a bunch of singles or w/e.

 

that's another thing i just sorta made up in my head, though...so it might be dumb.

[Guest]

they haven't called it the hot corner for a million years for no reason. meatbally, but true.

 

they call plenty of things dumb things for a million years

 

that doesn't mean it's not true, just means the fact that they've called it that doesnt necessarily mean anything

[seanimal]

- Castro may be a better 3B than SS because more plays involve simply reacting instead of thinking about your approach to the ball, stepping into your throw, etc

 

come on the "you gotta think more" at ss is nonsense. it's all reaction and situational awareness of the same degree in the if, let's not pretend that there's some magic thinky sauce that separates ss from 3b

 

stepping into the throw... that gives me the questions. do we know what % of balls are successfully fielded to a ss's left or right? i'd assume that hit data could be used to know this but i've never explored. time to find out i guess

[WrigleyField 22]

Well 3B is closer to home than SS so even if balls we're hit with equal strength and with an equal distribution across the field, it's gonna arrive, on average, quicker to 3B than SS. So unless you can prove hits to a certain area are hit with more force, hits to the 3B develop quicker.

[seanimal]

- Castro may be a better 3B than SS because more plays involve simply reacting instead of thinking about your approach to the ball, stepping into your throw, etc

 

come on the "you gotta think more" at ss is nonsense. it's all reaction and situational awareness of the same degree in the if, let's not pretend that there's some magic thinky sauce that separates ss from 3b

 

i think he means that there are far fewer slower developing plays to 3B. balls that go that way are hit harder more often. i have no idea if this is necessarily true but it certainly seems intuitive.

 

i think that's probably true just as a function of distance from the plate, whether or not the balls are hit harder (i doubt they are, on average). what i disagree with is the notion of the fast-twitch play as starlin's strength

 

edit: wrigleyfield22 beat me to it

[Guest]

it seems like you're more likely to hit a weak grounder to SS (i.e. pulling an outside pitch) where as if you get it down the line it was probably hit with more authority.

 

but yeah, even if that's not true, the plays will develop faster just as a function of proximity to the plate

[NDCubs]

Silly me, I saw a bunch of new posts today and thought "oh boy some news on Rusney! {fingers crossed}" Now I know as much as I did yesterday about Rusney. Lol thanks guys for getting me excited about nothing.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

Silly me, I saw a bunch of new posts today and thought "oh boy some news on Rusney! {fingers crossed}" Now I know as much as I did yesterday about Rusney. Lol thanks guys for getting me excited about nothing.

 

You're welcome.

[Rob]

Silly me, I saw a bunch of new posts today and thought "oh boy some news on Rusney! {fingers crossed}" Now I know as much as I did yesterday about Rusney. Lol thanks guys for getting me excited about nothing.

 

You're welcome.

[ctcf]

Cubs working out Rusney RIGHT NOW

[ctcf]

 

Ben Nicholson-Smith @bnicholsonsmith

On vacation touring Wrigley Field, where #Cubs are working out free agent OF Rusney Castillo as we speak #MLB

[Sammy Sofa]

Oh God, Wrigley is like the thing you DON'T want to show him.

[Guest]

that looks almost looks photoshopped