The Marlins are firmly in seller mode as the deadline approaches, and one of the veterans who has received some interest from rival teams is Starlin Castro, as the Miami Herald’s Jordan McPherson reports that the Fish have received some calls about the second baseman.
Castro has been a trade candidate since the moment he first came to Miami, dealt in December 2017 (mostly as salary offset) as part of the blockbuster deal that sent Giancarlo Stanton to the Yankees. The rebuilding Marlins didn’t have much use for a veteran with a pricey contract, though their efforts to deal Castro over the last year and a half haven’t been successful. If nothing else, that time diminished the money attached to Castro’s services — he is still owed roughly $4.7MM of his $11MM salary for the 2019 season, and his $16MM club option for 2020 can be bought out for $1MM.
It’s easy to imagine Miami eating virtually all of that remaining salary just for the sake of accommodating a move, since Castro’s trade value is minimal. As MLBTR’s Connor Byrne recently outlined, Castro is suffering through the worst season of his ten-year career, hitting only .245/.272/.336 through 371 plate appearances and some of the least-impressive advanced metrics (via Statcast) of any player in baseball.
It’s probably safe to assume that interested teams are looking at Castro just as infield depth for the stretch run, and perhaps hoping that getting away from the last-place Marlins and into a pennant race would help jolt Castro back into something resembling his old self. Conversely, a team keen on adding Castro may not feel the need to give up even a minor prospect to acquire his services when it’s quite possible the Marlins could just release him after July 31 anyway. Marlins prospect Isan Diaz is tearing up Triple-A pitching and pushing hard for MLB playing time at second base, so if a trade partner for Castro can’t be found, the Marlins could release Castro and end up eating his salary anyway (with a new team then responsible for a prorated league minimum salary if they were to sign Castro).
Why would anyone want him?
@David Klein
He’s hitting .348/.361/.478 against LHP.
That would be a pretty good reason for the Indians, Phillies, Cubs, and Red Sox to have interest.
Oh wow didn’t realize that thanks
Look at his career and you’ll see this is an outlier. His career splits are typical for a righty. This year might be due to a small-ish sample size.
His whole season is an outlier. He can usually get his OPS+ near or above 100 and right now its at 65
@Scott
His career line against LHP is .297/.345/.425. Not much of an outlier when you look at his OPS.
He has demonstrated, consistently, that he can handle LHP. Both lines should be convincing of that to any team in need of a platoon bat at 2B.
The fact that Miami will probably be on the hook for most of his salary and the return wouldn’t need to be significant should further make him at least semi-attractive.
Back to the cubs for russell and cash. Russell can play 3 of 4 infield spots. As can castro. Platton with garcia. Russell is 3 years younger. Only has 1.5mm left. Castro has over 20mil left. Jeter would be dumb not to jump on this.
Nobody wants Russell. Not only does he have all the negative baggage, but he’s not even playing that well.
Change of scenery might help his career.
FCastro only has about $5.7 million left. Not sure where you get $20m from. The problem is that Russell is about the only MI playing worse than Castro this year.
Could realistically be a 3,000 hit club member and not be HOF worthy.
1400 hits shy….would take a total rebirth.
Sweet, if teams are interested in a below average second baseman, I know the perfect guy.
Really hard to see anyone biting on Gordon. Maybe Texas if they really think they have a shot at a wild card and if Seattle were to eat most of his salary. Still, there are better, cheaper options out there, such as Sogard and Villar.
“who has received some interest from rival teams”
aka Nationals/Phillies?
bench option?
I’ve been lucky to see Diaz in person quite a bit this summer. He’s going to be a very good player, and will provide a nice little spark for the Marlins.
I would take what you can get so the southern Miami Brewers can bring up another good player from the Yellich trade, then the fans will start to realize that it was a good deal
Marlins have fans?
Yeah
Cubs get on this trade Descalso and Ian Crapp for Castro
Ian Happ and Descalo for Castro? Dang, if it’s that easy to get Happ I’d hope the Blue Jays offer Galvis to the Cubs.
Well Descalso kind of has negative value at this point because he is a DFA candidate and is under contract next year too. Happ hasn’t shown much improvement at AAA, but still has potential. I think it’s a fair trade if Castro would stick around after this season, and I am a Cubs fan.
I hear you. Plus Addison Russell is replaceable. Maybe, and just speculating, a return to Chicago would fire up Castro and he’d step up. Maybe.
Marlins would win that trade easy. Castro is terrible and Happ has potential
Castro is a DFA candidate himself, so no need to throw in Happ. But really, the Cubs already have Bote, Russell, and Robel sharing second base.
Yeah he has potential, but there is no place for Happ on the Cubs. Robel Garcia is their 2nd baseman of the future, and Nico Hoerner will be ready to take over CF next seaso.
I actually think Castro is a prime bounceback candidate, he needs better coaching and adjustments to his swing but he’s shown he has power and can get a bunch of hits.
Castro for Russell makes sense too. Russell is from Florida, right?
He kinda deserves to be on the Marlins, doesn’t he haha
Russell does not deserve to be in major league baseball after his domestic violence incident.
Wow. I finally agree with a Brewers fan. I was disappointed the Cubs didn’t non tender him last offseason
lol
Happ is off to a good start this month and he’s crediting an adjustment that’s helping his timing.
I don’t see why Chicago wouldn’t see if it sticks a little longer and bring him back up in August or September if it does. Even before July, he was hitting LHP in AAA.
Was he charged and tried for that? Found guilty or pleaded guilty? I don’t think he was…..
I like your thinking
Damn bro lol
Could be a pretty good buy low option
Come back home to Wrigley
Haha good one
Cubs could get him for Descalso lol
I always thought that the Pirates would be a good fit for this guy. Move Frazier into a super utility role, which I think suits him better. It would help solidify the bench at most likely a minimum cost.
Castro would probably hit better at Wrigley but I don’t see the Marlins wanting Descalso and his contract either for Castro. If they send Happ with then he will become a star in Miami
Marlins should take whatever they can get for him and bring up Diaz ASAP.
If there was ever a guy who needed to overhaul his swing, its Castro. He clearly has ability, talent and power, but his technique and approach are really getting in the way of him rising to the next level. He’s 29, he’s actually a really good reclamation project, as well as mashing lefties. Teams who don’t want to give up everything for Merrifield might be better off with Castro.
Agreed that’s he’s not toast yet but anyone dealing for Castro will want a difference maker right away. Not the right time to him to ask him retool.
Come on mlbtrs tell us which teams are interested. I call BS.
I could actually see Castro as a bench bat for the Dodgers or the Padres I think he would work there.
It’s hard to believe that Starlin Castro is still only 29-years old, even with his Cub debut at the age of 20. It seems as if he’s been around forever.
Come home, Bubula!
Yikes, why?
There’s gonna be like 40 infielders available who are better…
Name 39.
The Marlins should extend his Contract at least 3 years.
That should peak the Mets interest and get a deal done.
Mets