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August 20, 2012
Transaction Analysis
The Stars are Re-Signed
by R.J. Anderson
Reportedly re-signed SS-R Starlin Castro to a seven-year contract extension worth $60 million with a club option worth $16 million for the 2020 season. [8/18]
After spending most of the season focusing on players from outside the organization, Jed Hoyer recently turned his attention inward. By pursuing and consummating a contract extension with the franchise’s best player, Hoyer has given Cubs fans a reason to celebrate. This just weeks after reports had the Cubs listening to offers for every player, Castro included. The problem with trading Castro is getting equal value. There aren’t many players, prospects or otherwise, with Castro’s upside and track record at the big-league level. Ostensibly, a reasonable offer never materialized and Hoyer did the next best thing to adding a few young, impact players: he re-signed his own to a sizable extension.
Extending a two-time All-Star requires capital more than intellect. The Cubs have always had the former. Don’t let Castro’s relatively down season fool you, however. Chicago did not receive a discount. Not when Castro’s deal is compared to the six-year, $50 million extension signed by Justin Upton in March 2010. The parallels between Castro and Upton extend beyond the average annual value. Both were 22 year olds teeming with Hall of Fame-caliber upside when they signed their deals.
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21 comments have been left for this article. 
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I don't think Sveum alters his approach but I think Castro has $60 million in incentives not to listen. I do think the Cubs got good value, but I also think it sends the wrong kind of message.
At the end of the day, a player like Castro is talented enough that he's going to make a boatload of cash from baseball in any case, whether he cuts out the mental lapses or not. If he's going to improve that side of his game, it was never going to be because of money.
Also, I think the Cubs are more interested in whether they save some money by locking him up now. They don't want to wait another year or two because some fans think that Castro doesn't listen to the manager enough, and end up paying another $20 million as a result.
My own view is that it's good from the Cubs point of view that they've not done this just after Castro goes on a hot streak. It suggests a degree of wisdom in the front office that hasn't been there previously.
How many 22 year olds have the kind of maturity needed to focus on their profession as hard as one whose older and wiser?
We're talking about someone whom just should be graduating college, give him a chance to grow up.
Well, to be honest, I'd prefer Bryce Harper's attitude. Heck, Rizzo's attitude is great too.
I've only been in STEM fields so maybe it's different from the rest of the population, but honestly, when kids started getting real internships and then jobs age 21-22 they developed professionalism and maturity pretty damn fast.
The thing that gets me about Castro is that he's generally been quite young for his levels. I'd think being around older people would influence him to get his act together quickly, but that doesn't seem to be the case. I know I know, baseball players, but most of them don't do things like that GIF up there.
That said, it's hard for this deal to not pay off in the end, if only because pre-2012 CBA free agent wins cost $5M-$6M, and I'd think that number would only go up with draft pick compensation nerfed. He's only getting paid for 1.5-2 wins or so, and he's already worth a bit more than that (either as a crummy defensive SS or presumed mediocre-average defensive 2B).
If he does eventually break out and get on the HOF track, as this article suggests, then obviously the deal is a huge steal. I have a hard time seeing that happen, though: he's been in the Majors for almost 3 years now and has shown very little growth, in fact basically none if you don't think this year's more equitable 2B-HR distribution is permanent. As the careers of young middle infielders go, I bet he ends up a hell of a lot closer to Luis Rivas than Alan Trammell.
The funny thing is, the Cubs already have the perfect mentor in place in Soriano. Soriano was criticized as a rookie for poor defense, many mental lapses, etc. I know he already works with Castro, but ideally, Soriano should be a warning sign to Castro that as you age and your talent fades, you need to put in the work to remain productive.
Richard - first of all. Harper isn't that comparable to Castro. Harper grew up in America with everyone around him telling him he was going to be great and had family around him preparing him for fame.
Pat - Comparing interns in STEM fields to Castro seems a bit strange. Individuals in the STEM fields tend to be those whom are stronger at academics and spend a majority of their collegiate time at the library or a lab. I would imagine their collegiate curriculum required lots of study time and discipline to avoid the temptations college offers.
Where as Castro, was never in a collegiate environment that required maturity and discipline. Instead he was thrown in the Major Leagues in a big market at 20 year olds making 400k a year. All because he had natural talent to hit a baseball.
I would imagine that whatever teaching he received while in DR is nowhere near the real world preparation one might get in a collegiate environment. Castro has to learn by the seat of his pants.
*blinks*
Um. Even with all his talent, Harper works his butt off. Also, Harper doesn't make repeated mental mistakes. Also, there are a lot of Dominicans/Puerto Ricans/Cubans/Japanese/Canadians who work their butt off and don't make repeated mental mistakes. Cespedes had a friggin' minimovie put out about his exploits, yet he is working hard and he isn't making repeated mental mistakes.
WTF does being or not being an American have to do with this discussion?
In my opinion, it's relevant insofar as how one may project his future maturity. There's a gap with where he is now and where he needs to be, but the expectations of a player with Castro's background are different than those of many U.S.-born players, especially as they are still young compared to their peers.
Personally, I think you're making the mistake of lumping every foreign player together as part of Castro's peer group, including a 26-year-old Cuban. Time will tell, but isn't this a case where you have to give weight to the (pro/con) judgement of the people who know the individual much, much, much better than anyone on the outside?
Of course being an American makes a difference. Different countries present different cultures with different attitudes about work and wealth. I would imagine the environment at the work place in DR is much different than one in America.
There are only a handful of people in the DR that make more than what Castro does right now. Where as in America there are thousands of millionaires. Castro instead is a millionaire because he has God given athleticism and a scout found him while playing a game he enjoyed. Where would he have had time to learn the advantages and payoffs of hard work and discipline? What "storms" did he have to go through to make in baseball? Despite Castro's mental errors he's still playing everyday, and just got a big contract.
Cespedes is hardly a good comparison. He is 4 years older and grew up in an dictatorship. Individuals will risk their lives for a chance to escape. Certainly not something anyone would experience trying to get out of DR.
Different cultures may have different attitudes about work and wealth, but each culture has hard workers and quick learners. Just because the DR is different doesn't make it worse, or doesn't mean they produce a lower quality of person.
There are thousands of millionaires in America, partially because there are 300 or so million people in the United States. There are fewer millionaires in the DR because, guess what, they have fewer people. Now, proportionally, Americans may have a higher rate of millionaires and there might be a general difference in the standard of living... but that being said, there are players from the DR who work hard, and in general, don't experience the "lack of focus" issues that Starlin has.
Where would he have the time to learn the advantages of hard work and discipline? I would guess he had a childhood idol. I would guess that someone like Alfonso Soriano was talking to him. And you know what? There are people who get to the majors quickly, are from the DR, and still manage to maintain focus.
I think Cespedes is a good of a comparison because you have a player adapting to a different environment and culture on the fly. He was extremely hyped with "everyone around him telling him he would be great" and instantly turned into a multimillionaire. That seemed to be the thrust of why you think Castro has had problems adjusting because he was turned into an instant millionaire.
Then again, I still don't buy/can't believe this "Bryce Harper isn't a good comparison because he's an American" spiel. Again, there have been many players in similar situations to Castro. Some succeed and some fail regardless of country of origin. I think it is very dangerous to assume that a certain country's players will mature slower than Americans.
I do understand what you're saying, and I appreciate your perspective because it's really founded in having equal expectations for everyone. That's valid and admirable. I just don't think it works in the general case because I do believe cultural roots play a large part in shaping people -- not forever and not universally, just in shades of gray. We're talking about a young player here, and I think Castro has shown a lot of aptitude as a 20-22 year old. He doesn't look like he's done adjusting even if he's not where you expect him to be yet.
Perhaps our disagreement comes mostly from evaluating from different perspectives? Maybe you're looking from a manager's view of holding players to high expectations, while SaberTJ and I are taking a long-term view of what we expect him to become through an average expectation of development. Those are not the same thing.
I don't want to belabor the country thing too much because I think you just view/value things differently than I do, but let's compare the types of players produced out of Venezuela and the Dominican Republic. You'll rarely see catchers come out of the Dominican -- the all-time major league list is very small -- whereas they are more abundant and successful out of Venezuela. One potential reason: There's a better education system in Venezuela, and many of these kids play actual baseball games as youth. In the Dominican, they have no such structure until they are signed by a team. The catcher thing is just a symptom, but the education issue is going to be something that impacts players no matter if you think every player deserves equal expectations.