San Diego Saturdays: Should The Padres Trade For Starlin Castro?

Padres’ General Manager A.J. Preller wants to rebuild and do it quick. He’s promised to be very active this off season in order to help bring the team back to contention. That is why I find it hard to believe that the Padres and their front office will stick with their current shortstop, Everth Cabrera.

Yeah, the guy who was just arrested for driving under the influence of marijuana and charged with resisting arrest. That is a serious charge and the Padres can not be happy with him. His injury troubles and previous suspension for PED use are also extremely troubling. It’s clear that Cabrera is on a short leash and may already have one foot out the door. So where do the Padres turn for a new shortstop? Who can help bring them back to contention? There’s one name that comes to mind.

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Starlin Castro has been the star shortstop for the Chicago Cubs for the past five years. An above average overall player Castro is just 24-years old. A.J. Preller should definitely consider him as a possibility this off season. While the Cubs are moving away from full fire sale mode as they gear up to compete in 2016 they still have room to trade Castro. Chicago has a surplus of talented young shortstops in Castro, Javier Baez (Now playing second base) and Addison Russell (Acquired from the Athletics in the Jeff Samardzija, Jason Hammel trade), Some speculate that Castro could move to third base to make room for Russell but that doesn’t seem likely at this point. Shipping off Castro may be the way to go.

The one thing the Cubs are in desperate need of is pitching. Their minor leagues are filled with high end hitters but are barren of quality arms. So, if the Padres were to offer up someone like Ian Kennedy along with a few minor league arms (Burch Smith, Matt Wisler, Max Fried, etc.) they may be able to pry Castro away from Chicago. They’d probably have to sweeten the deal with a some bats and perhaps get another player in return but this is doable.

The rule is to trade from your surplus and that’s what the Cubs will likely do. Castro is a plus defender, a big bat in the lineup and is finally beginning to mature. At such a young age he’d be a plus to any team in need of a shortstop which included the Padres, Yankees, Mets, Reds, Dodgers, Athletics among others.

If the Padres were to acquire Castro they could then try to trade off Cabrera to one of the many teams still in need of a shortstop. It’s clear that Cabrera’s future with the Padres is starting to run it’s course. His troubles both off the field and off it are becoming major issues for the organization. It’s time for a change and the A.J. Preller will need to find his replacement sooner or later. Starlin Castro should be high on his list of candidates.