In many instances, he's buying low. It doesn't always work, but he's a big fan of "change of scenery" moves. Namely, he's improving the roster with young, athletic, controllable (in terms of service time) players that will ultimately complement the prospects that are set to arrive in NY shortly (or already have).
Now, I know all these moves won't work out. Law of averages. But that doesn't mean they can't be useful players. Maybe Aaron Hicks never develops into an All-Star, but if he can become a solid, above average everyday player, that's quite important.
As a result of a trade this week, Starlin Castro became the Yankees everyday 2B. He has 991 career hits before his 26th birthday. He's a three-time All-Star. He finished the season on a tear. He's been awful two of the past three seasons, so it will be interesting to see where he falls into place. Will he be a 200-hit threat? Even if not, he's probably better than the Brian Roberts/Stephen Drew experiment of the last two seasons. Robert Refsnyder's bat has always had potential, but when you can get a guy just a year older than him with about 975 more hits to his credit, you do it.
Castro's DP partner will be Didi Gregorius. Didi's numbers may not look like much to non-Yankee cans, but his transformation was impressive to watch. He played much better as the summer went on, and he seemingly made a highlight reel play every night. He probably should have won the Gold Glove, but I have a feeling that's not too far off.
Regardless, I think it'll be exiting to watch these two. There will inevitably be a game where the Yanks run out Didi, Castro, Hicks, and Gary Sanchez up the middle. Everyone 26 or under. That's exciting as a fan who has watched old guys run around the field for far too long.
Welcome to NY, Starlin Castro. Here's to solving the 2B problem for the next few years.
Going to be hard to win a gold glove at short stop with Andrelton Simmons getting traded to the Angels.
ReplyDeleteCastro is such a wild card. He has been incredibly good and bad over the course of his career. The trade was definitely worth the risk though. If he can regain any of his form from a couple years back the Yanks will be sitting pretty.
Damn, I forgot about Simmons. Well, the Gold Glove is all about offense now anyways, so maybe Didi will outhit him a little bit.
DeleteIt's quite exciting to see the youth movement finally happen. Even though Cashman appears to be targeting top prospects who've fallen out of favor (a bit) with their former teams, who knows, maybe the transition will be like Didi's a little painful at first but eventually gets better.
ReplyDeleteI think Castro's best ball is ahead of him. He needed a fresh start and now he's got one.
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