Chris Humphreys-USA TODAY Sports
Rumors have been swirling for the past year that the Chicago Cubs could trade their franchise shortstop Starlin Castro in exchange for top-of-the-rotation pitching, since they have Addison Russell and Javier Baez who could both fill in the middle infield. Whether or not that ends up happening this season remains to be seen, but one thing is for sure: Castro’s trade value will never be higher than it is this instant.
Castro isn’t particularly well known for being a clutch performer — in fact, he’s normally known as the opposite. However, this season he has three walk-off hits and he has two walk-off hits in the past two games. While these individual hits don’t actually show that he’s any more talented than we already know, opposing teams will take notice.
In other words, Castro may appear more valuable than he actually is after his two clutch base knocks. Teams will have those hits fresh in their minds when they’re considering trading for him. That could also mean the Cubs could get the most possible value for Castro if they decide to trade him relatively soon.
Castro, who is signed to a very team-friendly contract, would only be moved if the Cubs were getting an ace in return; otherwise a deal involving him wouldn’t make sense. It would be risky to trade him given the fact that Baez hasn’t proven himself at the big league level, but Castro also has a higher trade value than Baez for that reason.
Now it comes down to what the Cubs want to do. Do they want to trade him at his highest value and get a top-of-the-rotation pitcher, or do they want to hold onto him and hope that he can duplicate these performances in the future?
Only time will tell.
