This was somewhat discussed in another thread, but I feel like a player like Soto deserves his own thread.

I proposed Soto as a trade candidate for a few reasons:

- He's a big piece in the teams that disappointed last decade.

- At 28 and as a former All Star catcher, teams will be very interested.

- He's a partial DH right now and hasn't caught 110 games in a season in forever.

D'you think that the Cubs might be willing to part with Soto? What do you think they'd expect in return?

Now, you can't discuss the possibility of Soto as a trade chip without talking about Wellington Castillo. Castillo is seen as a similar prospect to what Soto was, in that he's got a good glove who's bat has shown flashes in the minors. I read a scouting report on Castillo a while back here:

http://www.baseball-fever.com/showthread.php?84785-Scouting-Report-on-Welington-Castillo

It's from 2008, but besides that it's well detailed and a stronger analysis than you'd get in most places. His minor league stats aren't eyepopping, but there are many stretches where he would rake and show some real potential with the bat. The Cubs showed a ton of faith in Castillo by letting him come up last year for some ABs and also by choosing to trade Chirinos and opening the door for him to be the first catcher that would get called up this year in a pinch.

So, d'you think Castillo has the talent to push Soto? If he does, how would that change your stance on Soto as trade bait?

I specified the Red Sox as a match for a Soto trade btw in the past discussion. They have a black hole offensively at catcher, and Salty/Varitek isn't even all that good defensively. It 's just a dead position there. A healthy Soto can catch the majority of the games and add a RH bat into a lineup that only has Youk as a strong RH bat. Can't really think of another candidate...Mets and Dodgers are out...the Rangers could definitely fit.