Starlin Castro claims that stress related to an ongoing legal dispute in the Dominican Republic has affected his on-field performance for the Cubs, Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune reports. A coach at a baseball school in the Dominican is suing Castro, contending that a contract the shortstop's father signed when Castro was an amateur entitles the academy to a portion of his Major League earnings. The affair has had a "direct impact on his duties as a professional ballplayer, leading to one of his worst-ever statistical performances," Castro's countersuit states. While the 23-year-old played in 161 games last season, 2013 saw him slump to a .245/.284/.347 line. The 2014 season will be the second of the seven-year, $60MM deal Castro signed inked with the Cubs in 2012. Here's more from around baseball's Central divisions:
- Paul Hoynes of The Plain Dealer thinks the Indians can still add a couple of players to their roster, but they'll come via trades or minor league signings.
- A Twins official tells Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN (via Twitter) that he doesn't see the club getting in on free agent bats Stephen Drew and Nelson Cruz. Minnesota has money to spend but the draft pick compensation that is required to sign them is an issue.
- Longtime Brewer Corey Hart took out a full-page ad in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel to thank the city for its support, Big League Stew's Mark Townsend notes. Hart is headed to Seattle after agreeing to a one-year deal with the Mariners that reportedly guarantees him $6MM.
Zach Links contributed to this post.
Always a classy move when a player does that
Classy would have been taking a small 4mil discount after taking 10mil in 2013 to sit on his couch all year.
I actually saw that ad from Corey when I read my paper this morning. Seriously classy man. I’m going to miss seeing old #1 on the field for us. Best of luck to him in Seattle!
The Twins won’t add anything useful if it costs them. What they have spent this year is basically the new $25MM in TV money. They have only committed a couple of million besides that, even though their payroll shrunk almost $25MM from the first of 2013 to the end.
Castro shouldn’t have left so much of his money in DR bank accounts.
In any event, I suspect the complacency of a big deal had more to do with his poor season. Some players play better looking for the big day than after they get it, perhaps because they spend more time in the gym.
As for the Twins, their 1st round pick is protected and they would only be giving up a 2nd round pick. I sometimes think the draft pick compensation is just an excuse to be cheap. Fans don’t understand that drafting is more of a lottery in MLB than other sports
I think it has more to do with Starlin Castro’s father signing a terrible contract awarding the school future salary percentages. I agree with you though, and I hope he can turn it around.
If it is just a lottery, not that I agree, why would you want to decrease your odds by losing a high pick?
It is not coincidence that teams that avoid FA’s attached to draft pick compensation, the Rays, Cardinals and Red Sox come to mind, have better farms than teams that regularly sign those free agents like the Tigers, Angels and Yankees.
So this legal matter has been going on for two years, huh? Interesting….