It didn’t happen the way anyone would have imagined it, but Starlin Castro has become a role player for the Chicago Cubs. Since at least the start of the season, I’ve been saying this was the dream scenario. Not for Castro to be semi-demoted, but for him to no longer be viewed as a load-bearing member of the team. So much of the criticism of the shortstop’s play was born of expectations, not to mention a dearth of additional talent.
When Castro is one of your team’s highest-paid players and is expected to be a cornerstone for a nascent powerhouse, that’s necessarily going to draw some vitriol.