Tag Archives: Cubs

Time to trade Castro

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I have seen enough from Starlin Castro. This guy started his career looking like he would become a perennial all star, but those visions are quickly disappearing. This Cubs team is not winning anything this year, they won’t win anything next year, and who knows what may happen in the years after that. The key to their success in the future is going to be building a very good farm system and developing their top prospects into good MLB players. If you trade Starlin Castro right now, you would help yourself achieve those long term goals.

Castro has shown through his first three and a half MLB seasons that he is capable of being a very good hitter. He had 207 hits in 2011 and batted .307 for the year. Those are very respectable stats. However, he has not gotten any better since then. In fact, he’s only gotten worse.

I challenge anyone to give me an area of Castro’s game in which he is better at today than he was the day he stepped into the Majors. Good luck finding one. He started his career as a weak defensive player, and maybe he has gotten better there over the last 3 years, but hardly. Here’s a good stat for you:

Of all active MLB players, Starlin Castro already ranks 38th in career errors, and he’s only been in the league for less than four total seasons! In his first three and a half seasons in the big leagues, Castro has a whopping 98 errors at shortstop. That is hard to comprehend.

What put me over the top regarding Castro is what took place in yesterday’s (Friday) game at home against the Pirates.

Starlin came up in the bottom of the 8th inning with the Cubs trailing 6-2 and doubled to left-center field. He then proceeded to get picked off of second base by Pirates catcher Russell Martin in the ensuing at-bat, and Castro looked like he had no clue what just happened. 

Here’s my point. There have been WAY too many times since Castro came into the big leagues in which he has been caught not paying attention to what is going on in the game. Just complete dumb, mental mistakes.

Last month in a game against the Angels, Mike Trout hit a hard ground ball to Castro at shortstop. Castro took his time fielding it and was in no rush to get the ball to first base. What happened? Trout beat out Castro’s throw for an infield hit. It was as though Castro had absolutely NO CLUE who just hit him the ball (If you are unaware, Mike Trout is arguably the fastest player in the Majors). If a guy like Mike Trout hits a ground ball to you, you better get that ball to first base as quickly as possible. In this case, either Castro was unaware of who was batting, or flat out made a lazy effort. Either way, this was unacceptable.

Recently, Castro has been criticized for not running hard from second base to home plate on a ball hit to left field in which he should have scored on. Instead, he was thrown out at home and the Cubs lost the game 1-0.

Things like that are what have put me over the top with Castro. Winning teams do not have players who are lazy. They don’t have players who are unaware of the situation in the game. Castro has proven time and time again that he is both of those. Even though I strongly believe that Castro has some of the best talent in the Majors, his attitude and continuous mental mistakes are not what this Cubs team needs moving forward.

Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer should trade Castro now and get as much as they can in return for him. I’d be willing to bet that at least a few teams would give up a few top prospects and draft picks for Starlin Castro.

If you’re wondering what the Cubs would do with that open spot at shortstop, look no further than Javier Baez. Baez is the Cubs’ top prospect right now, and he is a shortstop. I’m not saying that the Cubs would promote Baez to the Majors right away if they do trade Castro, but Baez will be Major League-ready in the next 2 years. Even if the Cubs don’t trade Castro, I believe Baez will push Castro out of the shortstop position whenever he does make his MLB debut.

The bottom line here is that Starlin Castro is not getting any better at baseball since he first came up three and a half years ago. This is by far his worst year at the plate (.236, 4 HR, 26 RBI), and his fielding is not where it should be for a MLB shortstop. His value is still high enough to where the Cubs could get something good in return if they trade him, and that is exactly what they should do.

Top 10 MLB Jerseys

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10. Minnesota Twins

I like the pin stripes on their home jerseys, and the navy blue and red go together very well on both tops.

9. Milwaukee Brewers

The colors are what make these jerseys as good as they are. The font that is used on the front of their jerseys is nothing unique, but it looks good.

8. Baltimore Orioles

A lot of teams have tried to pull off the orange and black look in sports (professional and collegiate), but the O’s own that look.

7. Cincinnati Reds

The thing with the Reds is that their logo has never really changed, and I like it a lot. I also like red and black together even though those are two prominent jersey colors throughout sports.

6. Detroit Tigers

The Tigers’ “D” logo is one of, if not the best, in baseball. It is a true classic logo. Their home jerseys have that old time, classic look to them that I love. The away jerseys aren’t bad either.

5. Chicago Cubs

The Cubs are one of the oldest teams in baseball to wear pin stripes. It is a very original, neat, classic look. Their alternate blue jerseys are great as well. The logo on the alternates is one of the better secondary logos in baseball.

4. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

I really like the font that they used on their jerseys. The colors are very attention-grabbing. The collars on their jerseys are different than just about every other team in baseball in that they have a trim color.

3. Pittsburgh Pirates

I love yellow and black together. The Pirates have been using those colors ever since day one, and for good reason. Their white home jerseys definitely have a throwback look to them, while their black ones also have a throwback look as well but with a modern logo.

2. St. Louis Cardinals

This is my favorite logo in the MLB. It hasn’t changed since they started using it decades and decades ago. Their color scheme is great as well.

1. New York Yankees

This is possibly the most recognizable logo in sports. Their home whites with the navy blue pin stripes are as classic that a jersey can get. Many players consider it the biggest honor in baseball to put on that jersey.

Stay optimistic about the Cubs’ future

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While this has not been a good year for the Cubs in terms of their record, there is no reason to believe that things won’t change in the next few years or so. Just look at Anthony Rizzo.

Prior to being called up to the big leagues this season, Anthony Rizzo was being called “the next Babe Ruth,” “a future Hall of Famer,” “the second coming,” and so on. I’m not saying that he didn’t deserve those praises, but those are some tough expectations to try and live up to. As tough as it is to succeed at the Major League level, Anthony Rizzo is doing just that. In the 29 games since being called up, Rizzo is hitting .321, with 8 home runs and 20 RBI, including this past Sunday’s walk-off home run against the Cardinals. Not many players could have lived up to the hype that surrounded Anthony Rizzo prior to his Cubs debut, but Rizzo has done that and more.

Aside from Rizzo, the Cubs have guys like Starlin Castro and Darwin Barney already producing at the Major League level. In the minor leagues they have players such as Brett Jackson, Josh Vitters, Jorge Soler (a recently signed Cuban outfielder), and Albert Almora (their number 1 pick in this year’s draft). While those guys still have yet to prove themselves at the Major League level, their futures look pretty bright.

Jed Hoyer and Theo Epstein went into this season’s trade deadline with a sole purpose of acquiring young talent, especially in the form of pitchers. Monday night, Reed Johnson and Paul Maholm were dealt to the Atlanta Braves for 2 minor league pitchers, one of which was rated the Braves number 3 prospect last season. Also on Monday night, they traded Geovany Soto to the Texas Rangers for another young pitcher. Today, Ryan Dempster was traded to the Rangers as well, but the details involving the trade have not fully come out yet.

As I have stated before in previous blogs, I have total confidence in Epstein and Hoyer. They know what they are doing when they trade for, sign, and develop young prospects. Just look at what they did in Boston if you need proof. Odds are that the Cubs will not be too good next season, or the next season, or maybe even the next season. But if you give Epstein and Hoyer time, there is no reason to believe that they won’t fulfill their promise of putting a winning team on the field. In the mean time, we can all sit back and watch the whole future develop right before our eyes in players such as Rizzo and Castro.

Stay optimistic Cubs fans.

They don’t do the “Wave” at Wrigley Field

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Over the years, Cubs fans have taken pride in the fact that they don’t do the wave during Cubs games. It’s a senseless, distracting, and annoying disturbance to a ballgame when fans do try and start the Wave.

I have been to a countless number of Cubs games at Wrigley Field, and not once have I ever seen anyone try and start the Wave. Cubs fans go to games to watch baseball, not to amuse themselves by creating their own source of entertainment. When at Wrigley Field, people should respect the park and its rich history and tradition of baseball by paying attention to the game. Why do you think Wrigley is the only park without a jumbo-ton? It’s because Wrigley Field is an old-time, traditional baseball stadium where people go to watch baseball.

I have been to 17 different MLB stadiums, and I can tell you that in over half of those stadiums, I have seen fans try and start the Wave. Last summer, I took in a game at Fenway Park. I went into Fenway expecting to see some of the greatest baseball and sports fans in the world who respect the game and its integrity as much as any other group of fans on the planet. Well, guess what? They did the Wave that night, and I have seen them do it again on TV since then. I lost a lot of respect for those fans that night. Just this past weekend I was in St. Louis to check out the new Busch Stadium. Cardinals fans are often referred to as some of the “best baseball fans in America.” Can you guess what I’m about to say next? Yep, they started the wave in just the second inning, and continued to try and start it all the way through the end of the game! In crucial parts of the game, fans were actually trying to start the Wave. I couldn’t believe it.

With the Cubs not being such a great team this year, less fans have been showing up at their home games.  A few nights ago, I was talking to someone who was recently at a Cubs game at Wrigley, and they said that a small group of fans in right field actually tried starting the wave. They were never able to get it going (because the rest of the fans actually had heads on their shoulders), but this still disturbed me, and it prompted me to write this blog post.

To all Cubs fans who may read this at one point or another:

Please, stay respectful to the game, the Cubs, and Wrigley Field by never starting the Wave. It has been an unwritten rule ever since the Wave was invented that it shall never be seen inside the walls of the Friendly Confines. Regardless of how good or bad the Cubs might be, starting the Wave at Wrigley Field is always a bad option.

I would give anything for the Cubs management to put signs up around the park that read, “Wave Not Allowed.” If anyone tries to start it, they should instantly be ejected from the game. It’s a complete and total distraction and annoyance to everyone in the park and on the field when fans begin doing the wave.

So again, be smart Cubs fans. Be proud of the fact that your team plays at Wrigley Field, and NEVER do the Wave.

Soriano At Lead-off?

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Dale Sveum was asked a few days ago about the possibility of putting Alfonso Soriano back into the lead-off spot in the Cubs’ batting order to start the season. His response has me a little worried. Sveum, in so many words, said that “Soriano is not a bad lead-off hitter and that his statistics prove it.”

Over the last 2 seasons, Soriano’s on-base percentage has been bad. In 2010, his OBP was .267, and in 2011 it was .231. In my opinion, on-base percentage should be the most important factor when determining who should bat first in the order. Based on Soriano’s on-base percentage over the last couple of years, he shouldn’t even be considered to bat lead-off. And given his age, don’t expect his numbers to get any better.

It has been obvious that ever since joining the Cubs, Soriano’s legs have completely given out on him. He was once considered to be one of the fastest guys in all of baseball, but now is far from it. The past few years that he has spent with the Cubs have consisted of multiple leg injuries that have only helped to weaken his leg strength. Given his bad on-base percentage and the fact that he no longer has good legs under him, he should not be batting lead-off.

I understand that Dale Sveum is going to evaluate all of his options in deciding the batting order to start this season, but experimenting with Soriano in that spot of the order should not even be one of his considerations. Personally, and based on the way it worked out last season, I like either Darwin Barney or Starlin Castro batting first in the order.

Wait ‘Til Next Year…..Or The Next

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With Spring Training now fully underway, we are inching closer and closer to Opening Day. For us who love baseball, there may not be a better day of the year than Opening Day. It is a day of new hope (especially for Cubs fans) and total optimism. However, Opening Day on the North Side this year is going to feel a little different than it has in recent years past.

Cubs fans never expect the Cubs to win the World Series, but in the back of our minds, we always believe they might be able to pull it off. This year I think it is fair to say that we have no hope whatsoever. Since bringing in Theo and Jed Hoyer, the Cubs MLB roster has been pretty well dismantled. We’ve seen Marshall get traded to the Reds, Zambrano to the “new look” Marlins, Ramirez has signed with one of our biggest rivals up in Cheeseland, as well as a handful of other moves. In recent years, us Cubs fans have gotten used to them spending a lot of money in the off-season to try and build a team that could win it all that year. This off-season has been the first one of its sorts in a long time. A complete overhaul of the team. As disappointed as I am that the Cubs will have no chance this year, I am still looking on the bright side of things.

Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer brought 2 World Series titles to Boston in a span of 4 years after the Red Sox had gone since 1918 without winning one. This gives me total confidence in them, at least for now, that they know what they are doing in trading away half of last year’s roster. It might take 2-3 years until they put a winning team on the field, but when they do, we can be certain that Epstein and Hoyer will have done everything in their power to make it a World Series caliber team. Yes, they obviously took on the job of bringing a World Series to the Cubs because of their love for the game, but also because of their egos.

If Theo Epstein (especially) and Jed Hoyer are able to bring a World Series title to the Cubs, just imagine the feat that they would have accomplished… They would have completed the 2 most difficult tasks in baseball by leading the Red Sox and Cubs to World Series victories. This would make each of them instant legends around the baseball world. So while they are in this for the sake of guiding the Cubs to a ring, they are also in this for the possibility of becoming 2 of baseballs biggest legends off the field.

This year is the year for all of us Cubs fans to sit back, relax, and just watch baseball. We don’t need to worry about the standings or the playoffs, and we don’t need to judge what we see on the field every afternoon at Wrigley. This is our time to watch baseball without being on the edge of our seats for once, with the hope of doing the exact opposite in next few years to come.