Instead of Trading Something Major for Willi Castro, Cubs Should Try Dealing for the Next Willi Castro

[Matthew Trueblood]

Much in need of a utility man with athleticism and upside, the Cubs have been linked with the cash-strapped Twins and their out-of-nowhere All-Star. For multiple reasons, though, they should turn their attention south instead.

Image courtesy of © Jim Cowsert-Imagn Images

Two years ago, the Minnesota Twins caught a huge break. The then-backward Detroit Tigers non-tendered talented but frustrating utility man Willi Castro in November 2022, paving the way for Minnesota to swoop in and sign him to a minor-league deal. Castro, then 25, hit a messy .241/.284/.367 in 392 plate appearances for the 2022 Tigers, and that adjective isn't just a euphemism for 'bad'. Castro was obviously talented, with a plus arm, plus speed, average-plus defense at multiple positions, the ability to hit the ball over 111 miles per hour, and a feel for hitting it on a line. His approach, however, was a literal mess. He swung at everything, and it interfered with his talent so badly that the Tigers gave up on him.

After signing him to a non-roster deal but squeezing him in quickly, the Twins immediately fixed that. They got him making much better swing decisions, and the results followed perfectly. For the last two seasons, Castro has been a high-volume, average-plus hitter, to go with his valuable legs and glovework.

At first, Castro gave up some of his aggressiveness within the zone in order to avoid expanding it, but as you can see, he even reclaimed some of that in 2024. He's still chaotic, as a player, but he's no longer truly messy, and his numbers are downright pretty. One of the league's most versatile defenders, he's a perfect Cubs target, because he could be the injury stopgap for Nico Hoerner, the insurance policy for Matt Shaw, and a capable backup and rest provider for Pete Crow-Armstrong, all at once. As the offseason has progressed, an increasing number of denizens of the Cubs-loving internet have begun pining for Castro.

Alas, the window to get him might have already closed. Initially reported to be fairly desperate to cut salary, the Twins now seem to be in a more comfortable situation. They could trade Castro, but it doesn't seem like they truly have to. Getting him would probably be annoyingly (and therefore prohibitively) expensive, un;ess he were enfolded in a larger trade that also included one of Pablo López, Griffin Jax, or Jhoan Durán—and at that point, we're really stretching toward fantasyland.

Besides, Castro becomes a free agent this fall. That's no dealbreaker; it's fine if he merely rounds out the positional side of the roster for one season and then hits the market. However, it would be nice to find a player who could be acquired more cheaply than Castro—not to save money, though it would do that, too, but to avoid forking over the young talent Castro would cost—and who would be around longer than he will be. He's such a good fit, though. It would be hard to find someone else who checked the same boxes, right?

Well, yes. But we found one anyway.

Ezequiel Durán is almost exactly the same age Castro was two years ago. Castro turned 26 in April after signing with the Twins; Durán will turn 26 in May. He's coming off a season in which he hit a messy .246/.288/.321, but he, too, has shown the capacity to hit the ball very hard; is a plus runner and defender; and can play all over the diamond. Like Castro in 2022, his problem so far is a consistent track record of swinging way, way too much. That chase rate on pitches outside the zone, hovering around 40%, is one of the highest in the league, and sometimes, hitters simply can't fix that. In this case, though, it's hard to ignore the fact that Castro was having the same problem at the same stage of his career—and then almost instantly fixed it.

The Rangers were not as foolhardy as the Tigers this fall; they didn't cut bait on Durán. Before you heap them with praise, though, know that it's really only because he's yet to hit arbitration eligibility. Durán has four years of team control remaining, and he can still be optioned to the minor leagues for one more year. The Rangers really don't need him, though. They have Marcus Semien and Corey Seager on the middle infield; Josh Jung and Josh Smith at third base, with Smith an exceptionally versatile utility option, to boot; and a full complement of dynamic starting outfielders, with the athletic Leody Taveras available to back up all three. They even have extra depth on the 40-man roster at the spots where Durán is most valuable. He's not in line for much playing time in Texas.

Therefore, the Cubs should try to pull their own swoop, offering the Rangers a prospect or two or one of their bevy of depth arms to realign some things and snare Durán. Whether he'll ultimately turn out to be as adaptable and savvy as Castro or not is tough to forecast, but Durán's tools are extremely comparable, and he's a controllable player with youth and the suite of skills the Cubs need most. When you identify a player you'd like a team to trade for, it's often advisable to pivot away from them and find the guy most likely to become the next version of him, instead. This just might be one of those times.

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