Cubs shortstop Starlin Castro is off to a fine start this season and is likely in position to start talking about a long-term deal with the club. However, agent Paul Kinzer told Fred Mitchell of the Chicago Tribune that he won’t seek a new contract for his client during the season.
“Maybe after the season, but I’m not really interested during the season to talk about it,” Kinzer said. “I don’t want any distractions.”
Kinzer went on to say that Castro enjoys playing in Chicago and expects to talk with the club eventually about a long-term pact. As it stands now, the All-Star will become eligible for arbitration after this season and is in line for free agency after the 2016 campaign. The 22-year-old has Super Two status, giving him an additional year of arbitration eligibility.
Didn’t realize the agent gets distracted during the season, I guess he is busy playing ball everyday….wait a second.
Who does Castro think he is, dictating the terms of negotiation like that
It was his agent talking not Castro. It is the agents job to get the deal for the client. All these won’t talk during the season stuff is such a joke. Besides it might be nice to have a little distraction from the losing season he is going through.
Sigh. Castro…dictating…I can see I’m wasting my time here
Has he ever played second base?
Not much actually. Though I don’t think it would be a very difficult transition for him.
I think that’s becoming less of a concern. Look at the defensive analysis, he’s playing pretty good shortstop this season despite the errors. As a shortstop he’s saved the most runs via range. both dWAR and UZR like him this season.
Castro needs to learn to take a walk.
Three all year.
Castro is the kind of hitter where he doesn’t need to take that many walks. He is like a Vlad Guerrero minus the power. Castro can pretty much make contact and hit anything in sight. I’m ok with him not taking that many walks right now as long as he makes consistent contact.
Not many is okay. Three is not. All I’m saying.
No, he does need to learn to be more selective at the plate. He’s had some very poor at bats this past home stand. Once he learns that he will go from being very good to great. He can flat out hit right now but some plate discipline will make him even better.
I agree he needs to be more selective, but that comes with experience. He is still young enough where he can learn how to bat in certain situations. I believe he will be fine. In the long run he will draw more walks and be more selective at the plate, just give him time to gain some experience. He’s only 22, not 30.
Hendry’s decission to bring Castro up when he did will end up costing the Cubbies quite a bit. Had he waited another few weeks, Castro would likely not have qualified for super 2 status.
Money is no object to people that are rich.
@Adam, yes the agent facilitates the deal, but by Castro declining on any contract extension talks during the season is one less distraction. It will, potentially, minimize the number of times he will have to talk about the status of a contract extension.
The media will still bring up the idea of an extension all season regardless of him declining to talk. The team is going to finish below 500 either way so I don’t understand what the extension will disrupt. It is his choice, but I really hate when players say they don’t want to talk about extensions because they are distracting. It isn’t a distraction, he should have said we will have more leverage after the season so we want to wait to make the most money. Then I would have no problem with it.
How sure are you they will finish under .500?
Have you watched them? Pretty sure.
Actually yes I do as a matter of fact. Im not saying that they are gonna be in the top 3 spots in the NL Central but they are a .500 caliber baseball team. They are 6-4 over the last 10. Where Im from that’s over .500, yep pretty sure.
Where you are from they don’t take into account the whole season I guess. Where I am from they are sitting with a 13 and 18 record but hey lets use a smaller sample size just so it fits your agenda.
Where Im from the season is also 162+ games long also. Crazier things have happened and that is why baseball is baseball and not anything else. If you’re going to already count out the Cubs then move along good sir
Sorry, I am just being realistic. The cubs are a few years away of being competitive. I don’t know anyone other than a cubs fan that thinks the cubs will be 500 or better.
Who’s your team Adam?
just watched them win 3 out of their last 4 series against the Cards, Dodgers, and Braves…all behind great starting pitching with a 2.51 ERA in the last 17 games…
I totally agree. For a team of no names besides Soriano, Soto, etc. and in the first stages of rebuilding the franchise. They’re playing alot better ball than most would expect.
Apparently you haven’t watched them!
I have watched them. I don’t read in to small win streaks. The Astros had a pretty good win streak as well. At the end of the season the Cubs and Stros will be below 500.
Last year the NL central only had two teams above 500. This year will probably be the same way. Cards and Reds. The brewers may make a push. There is no way the central has more than 3 teams over 500.