With the Minnesota Twins looking to trade away some of their players making a little bit of money, the Chicago Cubs should look to trade for super utility man Willi Castro to help fill some of their roster needs.
The Chicago Cubs so far have pretty much won the off season if it were to end today. Yes, the Los Angeles Dodgers signed Blake Snell, the Boston Red Sox traded for Garrett Crochet, the Arizona Diamondbacks signed Corbin Burnes, and the New York Mets signed Juan Soto, but those are all just one player being acquired by each of those teams.
The off season thus far
The Chicago Cubs overall as a whole team got better so far this off season and that’s thanks to President of Baseball ops. Jed Hoyer. So far this off season, Hoyer went out and acquired 3x All-Star Kyle Tucker in a trade with the Houston Astros, then he went out and signed Carson Kelly to add to catching depth of the team. Then he managed to pull off a trade in which he dealt Cody Bellinger to the New York Yankees for reliever Cody Poteet who figures to add depth to the bullpen.
Trading away Bellinger also freed the Chicago Cubs of the $27.5 million salary that Bellinger was owed for this season and dumped it onto to the New York Yankees to deal with. Not having that salary on the books now allows Jed Hoyer to use that elsewhere like signing a starting pitcher, acquiring one in a trade and taking on that salary. As well as other minor moves that overall made the roster better and with a lot of off season left there’s still room for improvement.
Further adding to the Depth of the Roster
I already wrote how the Chicago Cubs should look to the Minnesota Twins as a trade partner in which the Minnesota Twins trade their Ace Pablo López to the Chicago Cubs for prospects Owen Caissie (Cubs #2, MLB #34) and first basemen/third basemen Cole Mathis (Cubs #11 prospect).
With the ownership of the Minnesota Twins looking to sell the team shedding the salary of Pablo López makes sense for them to do, and the Cubs are a perfect fit. In that same vein, I think there’s another player on the Minnesota Twins roster that makes a decent amount of money coming into this season, is a candidate to be traded, and could help out the Chicago Cubs given their positional needs. That player is super utility-man Willi Castro.
Why Trading Willi Castro makes sense for both the Minnesota Twins and Chicago Cubs
As I stated and as the current ownership group of the Twins the Pohlad family has said they have a desire to sell the team and furthermore shed some salary off of their payroll to help in those efforts. In this upcoming season Castro is slated to make roughly $6.8 million according to Spotrac before he becomes a free agent after this season. With that not being cheap for someone of Castros talents and with him possibly not resigning with the Twins after this season, trading him now while his value is high is what the Twins should do, and the Cubs are a perfect suitor.
Willi Castro by the Numbers
The 27-year-old Castro is most likely the best utility player in Major League Baseball today. Castros ability to play anywhere on the diamond (minus catcher) adds so much value to his game and what adds even more value to his game is not only is he solid defensive player, but he is also able to swing it with the bat as well. Last season Willi Castro took a big step forward playing in 158 games for the Minnesota Twins, Castro was selected to the All-Star team, collected 138 hits, 31 doubles, 5 triples, 12 HRs, 60 RBI, for a slash line of .247/.331/.385 for an OPS and OPS+ of .717 and 102.
Some notable standouts when browsing Castros Baseball Savant page is he ranked in the 90th percentile when it came to landing the sweet spot of the barrel on the ball with 39%. That means he is seeing the ball well and is able to barrel it up and drive it with authority, as well as being in the 83rd percentile for Arm-strength with is standing at 89.7 mph, so he is able to get the ball across the diamond with some zip if he needs to.
Castro Adde much needed Depth and Insurance to the Roster
Adding a player like Willi Castro to an already loaded Cubs roster would be a smart thing to do. Given the Cubs don’t have an everyday position open for Castro to play other than third base, who General Manager Jed Hoyer indicated that it is top prospect Matt Shaw’s job to lose. However, given Castros versatility and the Cubs having multiple areas in which they would need someone to fill in at when needed there will still be a ton of opportunity for Castro to see consistent everyday playing time.
Off the bat if acquired Castro could be penciled in to see time at second base with Nico Hoerner currently being sideline after he received off season surgery and his timetable for return still unknown, Castro would be a perfect stop gap there until Hoerner’s return.
As well as being able to play third base if for some reason or another an injury occurs, or Matt Shaw doesn’t impress out of the gate and needs to be sent down for a little Castro could fill in over at third with little drop off. As well as having the ability to play shortstop and all three outfield spots, Castro could fill in if anything were to happen to a Dansby Swanson, who also had surgery this off season, or Pete Crow-Armstrong.
The Deal
The Minnesota Twins receive: outfielder Kevin Alcántara (Cubs #6 prospect, MLB #67 prospect)
The Chicago Cubs receive: utility-man Willi Castro
Kevin Alcántara would be a perfect fit in the Twin Cities with having the ability to play all three outfield spots, but with centerfield being his primary position Alcántara makes sense for the Twins to trade for. Given Byron Buxton’s injury history and him playing over 100 games for the first time since 2017, Alcántara would provide a nice insurance policy if Buxton was to get hurt again, or if the Twins wanted to shift Buxton to more of a DH role.
Kevin Alcántara spent most of 2024 down on the farm with only getting a cup of coffee up with the Cubs. In 111 games between Double and Triple-A last season Alcántara had 117 hits, 21 doubles, 14 HRs, 61 RBI, 14 stolen bases (4 caught stealing), with a slash line of .278/.353/.428 with an OPS of .781. With Alcántara being blocked by Pete Crow-Armstrong for the everyday centerfield job and both corners filled by Ian Happ and Kyle Tucker, Alcántara has not shot at consistent every day at-bats which he needs. So, trading him over to the Minnesota Twins where he can get that would be the perfect scenario.
Acquiring Willi Castro would be an out of nowhere trade for the Cubs to make and it would probably net them the moniker of “Victorys of the Off season”. Getting a deal like this done is more than possible to happen given the needs of both teams. All that’s left is for the Chicago Cubs too go ahead and get it done.
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