Cubs Rumors: Starlin Castro Not Available

Chicago Cubs president Theo Epstein denied Thursday’s rumors and said shortstop Starlin Castro "isn’t expected to be going anywhere in the near future", report Doug Padilla and Bruce Levine of ESPN Chicago. Yesterday it was reported by USA Today that every Cub not named Jeff Samardzija was available this summer.

It’s not surprising to see veterans such as Ryan Dempster and Alfonso Soriano or even high-profile players such as Bryan LaHair and Matt Garza being named in trade rumors. However, until yesterday Castro wasn’t being mentioned much in the media as a candidate to be dealt this summer.

Epstein told ESPN Chicago that Castro is the type of player the Cubs are looking to build around, adding that "there has been no trade consideration with him, whatsoever".

At 22-years-old, Castro is young enough to be part of the Cubs next winning club. In terms of salary, Castro’s not costing Chicago much at all ($567,000 in 2012) considering his impressive performance.

Already having compiled over 1300 at-bats at the major league level, Castro has a career line of .306/.341/.425. On the season, Castro has hit at a clip of .317/.329/.444 with 14 extra-base hits, 32 RBIs and 15 stolen bases.