I want this team to succeed both now and in the future.
I want Starlin Castro to succeed...period.
I have made it no secret that I am very much against the fact that the Cubs brought him up to the Major League level last week. Great, he had 6 RBI in his first game. The Cubs have only won 2 games since the call-up...he isn't adding anything to this team right now.
We all know what happened on Monday with the 3 errors...2 of which were extremely costly for the team. I went to last night's game. Luckily, he only committed one error, and it really didn't make a difference in the outcome of the game. In fact, he almost could have been charged with another error because he mishandled a ball that Aramis Ramirez should have gotten to. But I also recognized was he didn't get good jumps on balls hit his way and was often times out of position on the field.
Yes, he has a very strong arm...he has the legs to have good range...but this kid has a ton to learn yet.
If the Cubs don't let him work out his problems at shortstop, he could end up being no better than Alfonso Soriano was at 2nd base. (and that's bad!)
With Jim Hendry's job on the line (which it is and anyone who doesn't think that is just being a fool right now), Lou Piniella in the last year of his contract, and players like Derrek Lee and Aramis Ramirez showing their age and potentially both near the end of their respective contracts, the door of opportunity for this core group of people is quickly closing.
While this season isn't quite going the way many of us both wanted and expected, it is still too early to give up and start the rebuilding process...and bringing Castro up is a move in that direction. Castro is extremely rough around the edges and needs to gain a lot of experience yet. And a club that is struggling to get back into the pennant race for "one last run" is not the right place to try to develop a raw talent like his.
The Cubs decided to skip Castro over the AAA level of the minor leagues. Why? You have, perhaps, the best person in the organization to mentor this kid managing the AAA team at Iowa in Ryne Sandberg. Why skip over that opportunity? Yes, he did get to play with him briefly last season in Tennessee, but, really, another 1/2 season with Sandberg could only help. It was obvious that Castro was completely out classing the opponents at the AA level, so promote him to Iowa instead.
I truly fear what might happen to Castro this year. You have a number of veteran players, who, if things continue to go bad, may just quit on this team (and some rumors are starting to circulate that some players may already have quit on Piniella) and that isn't exactly the type of atmosphere you want around a young, impressionable young man.
And there is another rumor that Castro is rooming up with Alfonso Soriano...a well known night-life seeker who was considered a very negative influence on Felix Pie.
I just don't see this ending very well.
So sent him to Iowa, and let him play there until September and then bring him up. And then next year, put him at shortstop to stay.
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And if the Cubs send Castro down, keep Noodle-Arm Theriot at 2nd base and put Fontenot at shortstop.
