Is Starlin Castro the Chicago Cubs’ odd man out?

All the talk around Starlin Castro these days are the non-stop rumors about trading him away. Baseball fans, bloggers, columnists, etc., seem to have forgotten that shortstops are at a premium in baseball and the Chicago Cubs already have an established, darn good one playing for them.

Castro’s season ended Sept. 2 after suffering a high ankle sprain on a slide at home plate, but at the time, the shortstop was in the midst of concluding a solid 2014 campaign. The three-time National League All-Star seems to be old news, and at only 24 years old, everyone already has his successor penciled into the starting lineup on opening day, but I beg to differ.

“It’s a really important season next year and I’m going to be healthy.”

After hitting just .245/.284/.347 in a disappointing 2013 campaign, Castro bounced back with a career-high .777 OPS in 2014. The 24-year-old also tied his career high of 14 home runs, finishing with a slash line of .292/.339/.438. His batting average was first amongst qualifying shortstops in all of baseball and his on-base percentage ranked second. He finished top 10 in doubles, hits and home runs, mind you missing a month of baseball.

Only countrymates Hanley Ramirez and Johnny Peralta had a better slugging percentage last season, again among qualifying shortstops. Castro has had one bad season since his rookie year in 2013 when the Cubs, as a whole, were pathetic from start to finish and focus was hard to maintain for the youngster. As noted, the Dominican Republic native is a three-time All-Star; a feat that is particularly impressive given he’s just finished his fourth year in the big leagues. At 22 years old, he led the National League at hits – yet everyone is clamoring to trade him away now that the likes of Javier Baez and Addison Russell are maturing.

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Castro doesn’t turn 25 until March and has arguably been the most productive big leaguer for the North Siders in years. If he keeps up his current pace, he’ll reach 1,000 career hits next summer. It’s hard to imagine the Cubs parting ways with such a promising young hitter and it would go against their long-awaited rebuilding plan under president of baseball operations Theo Epstein and general manager Jed Hoyer.

The young middle infielder has piled up more than enough production to warrant keeping him in a Cubs uniform; to contribute to the team’s bright immediate future. The Cubs acquired Russell, formerly the Oakland Athletics’ top prospect over the summer and promoted their own phenom infielder Javier Baez to the Majors, only increasing the rumors surrounding Castro, who has emerged alongside Anthony Rizzo as one of the faces of the franchise.

With high-priced starting pitchers on the market and a surplus of talent at one position it definitely makes sense to trade someone in a package for an ace rather than break the bank. I started this article by saying major league shortstops are at a premium in baseball, and the same fact makes Castro great also makes him extremely desirable.