Could Castro be Ready?

If two of the following three (Baker, Theriot, Fontenot) go down with injuries, I believe Castro will be called up. I hope we don’t see Castro in Chicago until at least September, if at all this season.

 153-G 663-PA 589-AB 88-R 174-H 30-2B 19-3B 9-HR 114-RBI 12-SB 5-CS 51-BB 36-K .295-BA .352-OBP .457-SLG .808-OPS 107-OPS+ 269-TB 0 MVP-14

Gary Scott.

No

With Theriot, Baker, Fontenot and arguably Blanco ahead of him, at least one (probably two) would have to be injured, traded or in Blanco’s case sent down (assuming he cleared waivers).

I think it’s very possible one will be gone by end of spring training, depending on what it takes to land another bullpen arm or if only one MI makes the bench. Then once regular season starts, the injury bug could hit at any time.

I still doubt Castro would be promoted, even if he was doing well, unless… the rest of the Cubs are killing the ball. If Soriano and Soto are back with a vengenance, Byrd is everything he was last year and more, ARam and DLee are their usual badass selves, Dome’s OBP is .400+….

In other words, if all Casto has to do is play defense and not worry about offense, then he could come up and stay up. Otherwise Barney is the stopgap measure until Hendry finds another solution and Castro stays at Iowa and continues to develop.

Yes, he has said point blank that only an injury to Theriot would punch Castro’s ticket north. It would be a shock for any player, much less a 19 year old, to SUCCESSFULLY jump from rookie to HIgh A/AA to the Majors in two seasons. But it wouldn’t be unprecedented.

So, to answer your question – I think “Yes” – he could be ready, but it’s still too early in ST and it would be very, very rare. The ONLY reason he would come up is as a starter, because at his age he needs the experience of playing every day. The current team is not built around thinking Castro is good enough to supplant Fontenot and/or Baker as an every day player.

Barring injury (in which case, all bets are off for his return to Iowa), the Cubs would face the ? of who to displace on the roster. I doubt that will be a pitcher, so, assuming that the other starting 7 are staying (Riot, Dome, Lee, Ramirez, Byrd, Soriano, and Soto), which of these do you cut?

Fonenot, Nady, Hill, Baker, 5th outfielder (Fuld), ALL of the rest (Blanco, Millar, Tracy, Hoffpauir, Colvin). You might say Font or Baker, but then you lose them forever, and the insruance behind Castro that goes with them. You could keep both, but who backs up 1st? The decision is well beyond castro, who can be safely stored in Iowa for a few months, continuiing to make his (currently thin) case, while you decide if Font and Baker are really a detriment to the team.

/sarcasm

It looks like one of Millar, Tracy, or Hoffpauir has to make the team. That means that one of Blanco or Fuld AND two of the three above don’t..

I could see him being called up.

There’s no point in rushing him. Theriot is fine. It’s not like we Cesar Izturis at SS. If we did, this would be a different conversation. But Theriot is more than adequate. Let Castro develop a little more in the minors and actually be prepared for the bigs. No point in bringing him up to start the year.

Come July we’re one player away and a team comes calling with that player for us.
Do you even consider trading him if that’s who they want?

I have mixed feelings about this. Yes I don’t want to give up a kid like this but if what we got for him got us the world series Castro could win the next 10 MVP awards.

The expectations here are way overblown. Castro is a good prospect but even if you look at his comps, they are people like Edgar Renteria and Tony Fernandez. He is not the next A-Rod. Some of the projection lists have him in the middle of the top 100, some in the teens. No one has him in the top 10. Of course, he could exceed some expectations but he is not A-Rod or likely even Hanley Ramirez.

He is 19 or 20. The number of players that make the majors at that age are very few and usually you are talking about the superstar talents like Griffey and A-Rod.

I don’t care if he hits .400 in Spring Training. Send him down for another half season in the minors and reassess at that point.

he should start the season in AAA or maybe even AA, depending on whether he needs to face some better prospects. I predict we’ll see him in September at the earliest. Let this kid develop mentally and physically. In other words don’t screw this up.

But few Cubs prospects have performed as well as Castro has early in the games. When he smacked a first-pitch home run to left in the fifth inning, Piniella looked at bench coach Alan Trammell with a wild-eyed grin on his face.

to seeing him play in Memphis this year if he starts with Iowa…So I wouldn’t be FURIOUS if he played in AAA for awhile…

An earlier commenter mentioned Tony Fernandez. I’d be thrilled if that was the case. Tony Fernandez was hitting .300 when he was 37 years old…

The Cubs are going to start the clock on Castro this year in any event. If the team is good, he’ll be here on September 1 for the playoff push. If the team is bad, he will be here on August 1 (or earlier) after some guys get traded.

What I think they should do is bring him up on June 22 when the Cubs have 6 DH games in a row 3 @ SEA, 3 @CWS and can therefore go with one less pitcher. Have him start the 22nd, 24th (getaway day), 26th (night game before a day game), 28th, and 30th (day game after a night game). Then SEND HIM DOWN NO MATTER WHAT, and reassess the ballclub, and decide if you’re going to bring him back after the ASG, on August 1, or on September 1. In fact, they should announce when he comes up that he’s going down after the June 30 game.

This gives him 5 games (so 16-20 PA) that matter against big league pitching, including a game against the White Sox, and he can go back to AAA and continue to work on things.

1) Is it possible he’s ready? And if he is, what does that mean?
Yes – it’s possible, and if he is ready, it means he’s incredibly talented. Being incredibly talented doesn’t mean he’ll have a long, great career, nor does it mean that we’ll see him hit his peak in the next 6 years.

2) Hypothetically speaking, will we be rushing him if we start him in the MLB too soon?
Historically, as the point has been made, it would probably be rushing him. But as MPH73 has also said, Castro’s his own man and doesn’t rise or fall only on how the Cubs treat him. No one knows the answer to this question for sure, but the odds are Castro would benefit from more time in the minors.

3) Realistically speaking, will the Cubs rush him?
It doesn’t look like it. The Cubs’ quick insistence that Castro’s going to AAA is a good sign – assuming you agree that Castro is ready for AAA. Plus, even if there’s an injury, the Cubs have Barney to bring up.

that the Cubs are just trying to avoid what happened with the Giants/Lincecum deal and not bring him up too early? or am I comparing 2 differnt things here.