Timing of Castro Promotion to Bigs - An Arbitration Explanation

I hope we see him on September 1.

It was written so even my mom a caveman could understand it.

Thank you for the excellent summary

I would rec if I could from my Iphone. On a business trip in Cape Girardeau, MO.

Castro will not become eligible until after 2013 and won’t be eligible for free agency until after 2016. Look at what the Mets did with Ike Davis. I’m not sure when the date will be for Super Two status as it depends on when other players are called up, but as of now all minor leaguers can be called up without earning the required 172 service days and will now be under team control until 2016.

we only know if a player is in the 17% grouping at the end of the season. That makes the drop dead date questionable.

The thrust is simple: If a team parks a player in the minor leagues for at least 20 days to begin the season, it can delay his free agency by one year. Teams looking to save money go a step further and keep players down for about two months, which prevents them from gaining the Super 2 status that gives the top 17 percent of any service class an extra year of salary arbitration.

Because of the service-time rules, the Nationals could save upward of $20 million by keeping Strasburg in the minors until their June 4 series against Cincinnati.

Link

And another good article with all the numbers etc. Link

However, could his fielding be a reason why he’s not up yet? Not saying it is or isn’t.

Maybe this should be added as a sticky some place

It would be nice if Theriot were playing better, so the big club didn’t feel as if it needed to rush Castro. There is the issue of a young player still developing needing to play every day to get better. With all due respect to Castro, who I believe will be a good MLB shortstop for many years to come, I don’t believe at this particular moment in time that he is better than Ryan Theriot. I do think Castro will end up becoming a much better player than Theriot. Castro just isn’t at that point currently. I’m concerned that if he were called up to the big club right now that he wouldn’t get much playing time.

I believe the best thing for Castro would be to finish the first half of the season as an everyday player with Tennessee before getting called up to Iowa, where he could still play every day and develop. Then, depending on how well he does at Iowa, consider him for a September call-up. I understand the concern over Theriot’s lack of production, but I don’t think the Cubs need to overreact and rush Castro.

taking the common “baseball business” approach with Heyward but chose to keep him on the opening day roster giving them the best chance to win NOW.

let him stay in the minors until Sept 1…this way he has a shot at the RoY next year…unless he is just absolutely lights out in AA come May 20 then promote to AAA for 2 weeks and up to the bigs where you then trade Theriot, Fontenot and Gorzo for a middle reliever come July 31.

Castro is our best defensive shortstop. He is also OPS’n 1.000+ in a prospect dominated league. The idiots (and yes you are idiots if you think he needs to go to AAA where he will OPS 1.300) who think he need to go to AAA dont understand this kid. This kid can straight up hit. CAN RUN (which no one else on this team can. And can play SS. We are a better team with Starlin Castro on the field.

And i am just gonna send this back to all the nay sayers. Al has said repeatedly in all of the Big Z to the bullpen threads that you cant complain until we see how it works. Well i frickin guarantee this is a better use of resources then sending 18 million to pitch 60 innings. SO in the words of AL “we dont know how it will work i think its a great idea”

dying laughing.

Castro to SS>>>>>>>>> idea than >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Z to bullpen

Castro has all the makings of being an all star shortstop there is no doubt. But he is still very young, and still very impatient at the plate.

To borrow from many others who have stated this, the Cubs have a history of rushing players who are impatient at the plate (Pie, Patterson, etc.).

If they did bring up Castro this soon, which I dont think they will, it will be nothing more than a panic move ala Zambrano to the bullpen. I think the Cubs are fine right now. The starting pitching has been decent, the offense and bullpen just needs to get things in gear. No need to rush a promising young player at this point.

If Castro does well enough offensively to get a promotion to Iowa by June/July and then can tear up AAA the 2nd half of the summer, I see no reason to hold Castro back. But right now I think its too early to consider bringing him up to the major leage club, arbitration constraints or not.

let’s assume for a moment that Castro turns into a star. Once he gets his full 6 years, he will command a monster salary, which will limit Ricketts’ ability to pay somebody else. In that regard, he will no longer be anything special, because he will be earning the market rate. Given that you only get 6/7 years of bargain prices, I think you should maximize his value by making sure that he is ready to produce at a high level. He just turned 20. I suggest a September callup, and bring him up for good in July 2011, then keep him cost controlled through 2017. I call this “long term planning”, something that is rarely used in the same sentence as “Chicago Cubs”.

That would be June 22-27. Get him 3 starts during interleague play (the first game, the thu afternoon SEA getaway game, and the Sunday game) and one start at Wrigley the following week, then send him back to AAA until the ASB.

Until then, I would like to see Castro work on trying to get a few walks, even if his batting average suffers a bit. He is C-Pat-esque in his aversion to them, and we all saw what happened when Patterson faced real MLB pitchers who could control the high fastball on the top of he strike zone.

But if Castro hits .350 in May, they will have no choice but to send him to Iowa, even if Darwin Barney’s feelings get hurt. Of course, one corresponding move would be to outright Chad Tracy and promote Barney to the big league club on 6/1.

in order to save money. I get that its a business, but that doesn’t mean i can’t bitch about it. Then again, it pays to let even a “sure thing” like Castro bubble for a while. Two words: Billy Beane.

I say we definately need to wait until he is not eligible for the “Super Two” status. I do not think when he first comes up he will be THATT much better than Theriot, at least he wont be to the point of $10 million we could use to sign another great player.
So definately wait on him to maybe even develope even more, and then bring him up, until then Theriot will be fine.