Starlin Castro anyone??

[da_mane_man]

he's got 12 RBIs and 4 HRs already this spring.

is this power real?? if so, he could be a really nice sleeper.

[jsphlly]

10 HR in over 1000 professional ABs.

I like him, but I think these are spring training HRs, not regular season HRs.

[striderex]

His ADP is higher than where I like

[dmendro]

He's what 21? His power is still devbeloping. I don't think 10 HR for him is out of the question this year. His big question mark is that he's over ambitious on the field defensively and it leads to a ton of dumb errors. If he can keep the dumb errors down, he'll stay on the field and he'll be blossoming into a young Derek Jeter over the next few years.

[sinicalypse]

Yeah, as it's been said I don't envision him going above and beyond 10HR tops this year, and that's being pretty generous.

Then again, if you want a warm body at SS that has a pretty good chance at hitting .280-.300 without any sort of major HR threat, Starlin Castro may very well be your guy. Maybe in a few years he develops that power, but for this year, shoot, .300/10/75/20 would be some sort of a wet-dream of a season from the guy. I think the 20 steals are more likely (he was 10SB 8CS last year), maybe even the RBIs if he hits .300, but to give you an idea.... he was called up on May 7th and hit a HR in his first big-league at-bat (if i'm not mistaken), then he hit another HR on May 22nd. He'd hit another HR on July 24th and that'd be it for the season. He was still hitting .300ish and getting his doubles, but like, homeruns aren't his concern so I think you'd be likely to have a power hole @ SS, and I don't think he's going to give you as many SBs as the somehow-beloved Elvis Andrus for the trouble.

But hey, if your team's a juggernaught and/or you really believe in the kid, you could do worse.

[kab21]

I think it's more likely that Asdrubal Cabrera puts up that line and he's barely getting drafted. I'm not sure if Castro hits more than 10 HR's in his prime. He has one of the lowest FB rates in the majors and that is really going to limit his power. The good news is that he makes a lot of contact and he can hit close to .300 but he also doesn't walk much so his OBP will be relatively low compared to his high BA. And he has a terrible SB success rate so he might not run enough to get 20 SB's.

[Ender]

Hanley Ramirez hit 27 HR in 1700 minor league ABs, minor league power doesn't always translate properly. I doubt the power is 'for real' but it won't shock me if he hits 10 HR this year either.

[RAmst23]

Hanley Ramirez hit 27 HR in 1700 minor league ABs, minor league power doesn't always translate properly. I doubt the power is 'for real' but it won't shock me if he hits 10 HR this year either.

True, but Hanley still hit a HR at about double the pace that Castro did in the minors at around the same age. Hanley hit a HR once every 63 PA while Starlin is at 1 HR ever 122 PAs.

Best case scenario is Castro providing a decent BA and about 20 SBs. He's ok to own as a MI in deeper leagues, but outside of that I don't want him.

[Element]

Hanley Ramirez hit 27 HR in 1700 minor league ABs, minor league power doesn't always translate properly. I doubt the power is 'for real' but it won't shock me if he hits 10 HR this year either.

True, but Hanley still hit a HR at about double the pace that Castro did in the minors at around the same age. Hanley hit a HR once every 63 PA while Starlin is at 1 HR ever 122 PAs.

Best case scenario is Castro providing a decent BA and about 20 SBs. He's ok to own as a MI in deeper leagues, but outside of that I don't want him.

In addition, Hanley had a 6'3" frame to grow into. Castro is a few inches smaller. It was very likely that Hanley would develop power as he grew. Drew Stubbs was in a similar situation. Again, he has a 6'4" frame. Sometimes it takes a while for the power to come.