Starlin Castro has lost his starting shortstop job to Addison Russell and is now facing a move to (or even a platoon role at) second base, but Castro is positive about his new position. “Whatever helps the team win. We don’t think about (ourselves). We think about us as a team,” Castro told reporters, including CBS Chicago’s Bruce Levine. “I just want to play. I just want be in the lineup. It does not matter if it’s at second or shortstop.” While there has been lots of speculation about Castro’s future with the Cubs, his agent Paul Kinzer said that “sometimes a change can help everyone. When a team goes in a different direction, there are opportunities elsewhere. In that case, it doesn’t make anybody the bad guy. Starlin would hate to leave Chicago. The one thing he is adamant about is being a team player and not becoming a distraction to this very good team.”
Here’s more from around the NL Central…
- Though he has experience in the Brewers front office, manager Craig Counsell told reporters (including MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy) that he is “not a candidate” for the team’s vacant GM job.
- Counsell’s job will likely remain safe no matter who takes over as Milwaukee’s GM, as owner Mark Attanasio made clear in yesterday’s comments to the media (including Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel). “We were very careful in making that manager choice. If somebody comes in and thinks they can come up with a better name, they would probably do that at their peril in the interview,” Attanasio said.
- Outgoing Brewers general manager Doug Melvin ultimately lost his job due to three factors, Fangraphs’ Dave Cameron writes in a piece for FOXSports.com. The team didn’t draft well, they both gave away too much talent to acquire Zack Greinke and then didn’t recoup enough when dealing him away, and Milwaukee wasted a lot of at-bats on sub-replacement players.
- With the Cardinals raking in the revenue, Jeff Gordon of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch suggests a few ways the club can spend some of that money this offseason and in years to come. Re-signing Jason Heyward is a good fit, as is picking one of John Lackey or Jaime Garcia for next year’s rotation, and planning extensions for young core pieces like Kolten Wong, Michael Wacha, Carlos Martinez and others.
Wondering who Cameron interviewed that explained the situation to him.
It is amazing that you can be a professional reporter and be paid to communicate a complete non-understanding of events to millions of readers. His article leaves only two possibilities: Brain damage, or an axe to grind
Melvin is appx retirement age and it was time to back away from the job. I’d place it as a mutual decision that’s been coming for quite awhile.
Weighing in on the Cardinals future…
I agree Heyward is a nice fit, however, I don’t view him as a necessary long term investment. With the (hopefully continued) development of Stephen Piscotty, he is making Heyward more expendable. The pressure to resign Heyward might be a bit more than usual, given that the compensation pick will likely be taken as discipline for the Astros computer breach.
The Cardinals are on the hook for Holliday’s contract until the end of next season (and possibly 2017 if he bounces back). Randal Grichuk looks to be a mainstay in CF, and Piscotty, as stated before, is developing nicely. Add a recovered Jon Jay, an arbitration controlled Bourjos, a cheaper alternative can be found outside of Heyward (perhaps a run at Cepedes)
On the second topic, I personally think Lackey and Garcia will not return. Lackey, like Heyward, would best benefit the club’s future as a compensation pick by signing elsewhere (discipline aside). If Garcia stays healthy and improves his stock in the coming weeks, I could see him being traded in the offseason. He has two team friendly option years for 2016 and 2017. This could be attractive to teams that are willing to take a risk for a front of the rotation arm, and fetch the Cards a decent prospect (or two) in return. In 2016, the rotation will likely be Wainwright, Wacha, Martinez, Lynn, with either Marco Gonzales or Tim Cooney rounding out the rotation as I would guess.
The main goal, however, is the last part, keeping the young core in tact. Wacha, Wong, Martinez, Grichuk, and Piscotty are the future of Cardinal baseball at the big league level now, I think all of them will have extensions by the beginning of 2017.
All the OF’s you bring up don’t play their positions well. Upton is an anchor in RF. Take him out of the OF and continue playing Peralta as SS (which they will), and the pitchers are going to feel it.
Upton? Where does Upton have anything to do with my comment? Grichuk has above average range factor and fielding percentage in CF. Jay is an above average corner outfielder and a capable CF reserve, Bourjos is an above average CF. Piscotty plays a solid OF as well. Holliday is average at best. The Cardinals weren’t suffering defensively before getting Heyward either….I didn’t see them “feeling” it then.
First, i don’t see a compensation pick being necessarily the penalty the Cards could/would get, mainly because it isn’t a for sure penalty unless Heyward ultimately signs elsewhere and that could be very late in the off season. I also highly doubt that Lackey will be offered the, what is likely to be over $16 mil, 1 year contract. I think they are more likely to allow him to walk. I can definitely see Garcia coming back, as he hasn’t really been healthy enough to garner much via trade. He’d be worth more if he can stay healthy next season.
If Heyward is re-signed, then Jay is very much expendable with both Bourjos and Piscotty being 4th & 5th OFers on the club.
Honestly, i have a gut feeling that Lynn is going to be shopped this off season. He evidently has no desire to further develop his secondary pitches, which makes him easier to dial in by hitters. He also would bring back more than say Garcia, if for no other reason than health. Packaging him with Jay would be a smart move imo and Mo has never been shy about taking chances.
that scenario could fit, however, I don’t think they will ship Lynn out with 2 more affordable years left vs. those of Garcia. Working for MLB has taught me one thing, most teams will gamble on someone of Garcia’s calibur.
I always hate when a team is looking for a new GM and tells him he has to keep the manager. A GM should be free to bring in their own people.
Castro, his agent and the Cubs are all saying the proper cliches….
Translation – he’ll be traded in the off-season.
Unless Heyward hits 10 HRs by October and does something incredible in the post season.. I would let the guy walk. Doesnt anyone else besides me see that his issue is he is afraid of the ball when hitting??
He may go. But he is a solid dependable player. He leads the team in BA and is 3rd in OWAR. He is a smooth player that seldom makes mistakes on the field, and a cerebral player which fits perfectly with what the Cardinals want. Try to calculate the cost of finding another player like him.
.289 / .344 / .430 / .774
You’re comp makes him very similar to a younger Alex Gordon… Reasonable to expect his next 4 seasons are similar to Gordons age equivalent seasons. The trick will be in the contract breakdown. 4 with a couple of options maybe? Maybe he just wants 4 to reenter the market. With little back loading a team could make a longer contract team friendly… figuring inflation. He needs to stick with a that can contend by keeping him in the 2 hole or so. Could see him in Stl…also maybe the Yankees
If it was my choice, I would have traded Alex Reyes, Marco Gonzales, and another prospect to the Rockies for Cargo. He has 3 more years of control before you have to pay him. Then let Heyward walk, use the money to go out and get a top tier pitcher in the offseason like Jordan Zimmer or even David Price next year. Wainwright, Zimmerman/Price, Wacha, Lynn, Martinez. – Line up: Carpenter 3B, Wong 2B, Holiday LF, Cargo RF, Adams 1B , Peralta SS, Grichuk CF, Molina C, Pitcher – Thats a deadly rotation and line up.