Earlier, rumors swirled that the Chicago Cubs – that would be a placeholder term for the front office in this context – are “aggressively” trying to move Starlin Castro right now. That was a little tricky to square with Joe Maddon’s and Castro’s comments yesterday about the shortstop not being traded … at least with respect to the game from which he was pulled on Tuesday, and the game he sat out on Wednesday.
Maddon has clarified things, as far as he knows, regarding Castro (and this is where I remind you to be following the Cubs’ excellent crew of beat reporters):
Joe Maddon clarified his message to Starlin Castro before deadline: "What I said the other say, I meant it. He was not going to be traded."
— Patrick Mooney (@CSNMooney) July 30, 2015
Maddon on Starlin: "As of that particular moment, every piece of information I had received (said) he was not being traded." #Cubs
— Patrick Mooney (@CSNMooney) July 30, 2015
Maddon stood firm on Wed's comments regarding Starlin Castro: "every piece of information I’ve received, he’s not being traded."
— Mark Gonzales (@MDGonzales) July 30, 2015
#Cubs Maddon re: Castro and trade rumors: "if somebody just blows Theo away, obviously you've got to do something like that" …
— Carrie Muskat (@CarrieMuskat) July 30, 2015
But #Cubs Maddon repeated as of now, Castro not going anywhere. "Every piece of information I've received, he's not being traded"
— Carrie Muskat (@CarrieMuskat) July 30, 2015
Everything there is what you’d expect – and want – Maddon to say. As far as he knows, his player is not being traded. Maybe the front office is talking trade, maybe not. But Maddon has to manage from the perspective that Castro will not be traded, because that is still very likely to be the case come Friday afternoon.
You can appreciate the delicate position Maddon is in: there’s only so much he can say (and there may be only so much that he knows). His priority has to be protecting his players, and keeping their minds in the right space. In these comments, just like yesterday, he’s doing his best to accomplish that.
So, in the end, this probably doesn’t quite squash any of the Castro-related rumors, but at least it clarifies where things stand from the manager’s perspective (and probably oh-so-slightly hints in favor of no trade by tomorrow).