The Chicago Cubs are mired in trade rumors as of late and shortstop Starlin Castro still remains one of the most talked about names as the deadline approaches. What is the team planning to do with the 25-year-old?
Castro started off the season well. In April his defense appeared to be improving, as he vowed to be more aggressive, and his bat was hot (.325/.349/.410 with 9 runs scored, 2 home runs and 12 RBIs). However, it's been a different story ever since.
He has committed 10 errors and is batting .234 with 12 runs scored, 2 home runs and 15 RBIs since the beginning of May. Rumors have suggested the Cubs could make Castro available before the trade deadline, but his declining performance has not helped his value and it's perhaps affecting the team's long-term plan with fellow middle infielder Addison Russell.
"I know from talking with executives with other teams, they're watching the Cubs and [Starlin] Castro very closely because they're absolutely convinced that in two years Castro will not be their shortstop and Addison Russell will be," said ESPN Insider Buster Olney on the Baseball Tonight Podcast.
Olney's guest on the podcast, Jesse Rogers of ESPNChicago.com, provided his insight on the whole situation with Castro.
"I'm pretty down on him and I think a lot of fans are as well," said Jesse Rogers of ESPNChicago.com. "His defense has really struggled ... a guy that can make the fantastic play, but can't make the routine one, and this is happening over and over ... I think it's really scary if this team gets to October and has a player like that ...
"At the plate he's just not getting the hard contact maybe he had earlier in his career ... a lot of rolling over ground balls to shortstop, not really getting the hard hits to the gaps we've seen before, not hitting the home runs ...
"I can't imagine other teams are looking at that and feeling he's trustworthy, however, there aren't that many great shortstops and if he gets hot at the plate he'll look a lot more attractive."
The Cubs are 32-26 and are keeping the MLB's top club, the St. Louis Cardinals, in sight. They sit six games ahead of Chicago for the NL Central division lead. Despite their second-place standing in the division, the Cubs lead the Pittsburgh Pirates by a half-game for the second wild-card spot. If they can maintain their contender status then their plans with Castro could change.
"Do you think that the fact that they're in a position to make the playoffs this year could accelerate their decision making with Starlin Castro?" Olney asked.
"It's possible. I can't tell you for sure," Rogers said. "I think part of their plan is to trade Castro whenever they get the best deal. I don't think they're saying 'let's wait this out.'"
Rogers makes an interesting point because the Cubs don't really have a reliable option to fill in at second base (Russell would move to short) right now if they were to trade Castro. Prospect Javier Baez was heating up at Triple-A Iowa and looked like he could be a candidate to return to the Cubs' roster, but he broke his finger last week and is out for 4-8 weeks. It's not clear if they'd be willing to roll with Jonathan Herrera or Tommy La Stella (once he returns from the DL) for a short while before they figure out a long-term solution.
One thing we know for sure is that the Cubs will need Castro to pick up his play after an awful month of May if they want a shot at trading him and getting decent value in return. If not, the situation is going to get more complicated because the Cubs may no longer see him as a long-term fit at shortstop and neither will other MLB clubs.
