<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>I asked Castro about a possible long-team deal with <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23Astros&src=hash">#Astros</a>: "That hasn’t really been discussed yet." He signs for 1 year avoid arbitration.</p>— Brian McTaggart (@brianmctaggart) <a href="https://twitter.com/brianmctaggart/statuses/424254874583195648">January 17, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> Arbitration avoided.
castro's a good player. He can be the C on a world series team, easy. With a better lineup/protection, I could see him averaging .275/25 hr/85 rbi/ 30 doubles as a regular occurrence....not shabby for a C
I'm not as sold on him as many. His offense is good but he's frequently injured. Very streaky with the bat. And gets mixed up with the pitching staff way too much. I don't understand it and it seems to be across the board with the pitching staff, so I can't blame pitchers for not knowing signs. FWIW, I like that it's only a 1-year deal.
He was the 4th best catcher in all of baseball last year, so he was much better than just solid. Only Buster Posey, Yadier Molina and Joe Mauer (those 3 are kinda good) were better. It wasn't just last year, he was trending that way in 2012 after the the slow start because of injury. He is a great player, not OK.
He's much better than we all thought he would be when we drafted him, that's for sure. I thought he'd be a .265/10/65 type player. People say his defense is bad, but he threw out 45% of basestealers in the minors and 37% in his first year in the bigs. Maybe once his knee is 100% he'll get back to throwing out baserunners like he used to.
I'll take the pass balls, but not this. If the injuries continue, I don't like the prospect of moving him to DH or 1B. It seems like he would lose a good amount of his value.
If he can keep an OPS over .800 it plays well anywhere, but obviously has much more value at C. Was last year a career spike offensively or is he really that good, because an .835 OPS would have been 15th in the AL, that is a bat you need in the lineup every day. I'm completely against moving him off catcher altogether, but maybe a 50/50 split with DH would be best, especially if Stassi can come up and establish himself. Now of course you can only try Castro at DH after you make a call on Chris Carter, who is a DH only. Still a lot of balls in the air with this team. The PB situation is insignificant. 5 more than the very best guys, probably costing us 1 or 2 runs tops.
Totally agree on the PB situation. I have never really thought that it was a detriment to have the guy behind the plate (especially on this team where a run or two won't cost us too much). If he can keep up that OPS, it would be spectacular. I just realized he had a .990 OPS with RISP... simply insane. I just hope that it maintains. If he can bee that .815+ guy, then putting him anywhere is fine of course. It is just such a value add to have him playing a position, let alone catcher. If this eventually leads to him going to first base in a platoon with Stassi and Singeton respectively, it would be incredible. I guess I just still have high hopes on Carter and want to see the DH get utilized with someone that truly can't field.
Well at first you could have Singleton that needs to be in the lineup, and Carter at DH that needs to be in the lineup, Castro is forced to catcher (simply too many good hitters says the optimist in me :grin I too still have high hopes for Carter, people are still blinded by the juiced ball numbers to realize what constitutes great numbers these days. Carter hit 29 HR, only 10 guys hit more than 31 HR last year. He still has less than 1000 PA, so it is reasonable to assume he still has room for growth. If he can turn a few of those K's into walks and singles he could get that OPS into the .850 range, which would make him a top level bat, and I emphasize could. Plus something has to give with his extremely bizarre home splits last year. We'll have a better handle on our hitters after this year and then decide on a COA with Castro, but he is a catcher this year.
I'd be willing to bet almost anything he has at least a .700+ OPS at home next year. I don't think he could replicate that .605 OPS again at home if he wanted to. Solid point about the juiced numbers versus the now numbers for DHs. Granted, on the other side of the coin, his away .900+ OPS would be crazy to see replicated as well. And just for me personally as a fan, I am most excited for Carter (and Villar on a different note) next season. I think the K numbers are here to stay, but the additional walks would sure be attractive. 7 more would have put him in the top 10 in the league. In 148 plate appearances where he had at least three balls only 70 turned into walks. Just seems like a number that could improve for someone that has an eye at the plate like he does. But back to Castro. Sure, most of this depends on who comes up and who is actually healthy, but him playing 100+ games at catcher would just seemingly open so many doors for this offense. I am just really hoping to see him get some days at the DH with moving Carter to first or simply giving Carter the day off (assuming we see Singleton by May). Regardless, his clutch hitting with RISP and .800+ OPS is something that will keep him as a great piece to have around regardless of position. and not to derail the thread, but I really think Carter is a bigger piece of this team that people give him credit
