Miami Marlins Trade Rumors: Four Possible Destinations for Starlin Castro

With the rebuild well underway, it’s coming to the time of year where the Miami Marlins will be looking to shop some of their most expensive players.

Where could Starlin Castro end up? What will the Miami Marlins be able to gain? The Miami Marlins are not going to challenge for the postseason this year. It’s not a shocking statement to anyone. Bruce Sherman and Derek Jeter bought the Marlins (and the farm) and sold off a lot of Miami’s most expensive assets.

It didn’t take long to find trade partners for Dee Gordon, Giancarlo Stanton, Marcell Ozuna, and Christian Yelich. Come this trade deadline, we could see the Miami Marlins possibly part ways with Castro, Justin Bour, J.T. Realmuto, Dan Straily, and others.

When weighed against his historical performance, Castro is having a season that could best be classified as “average.” When measured against his career numbers, Castro is currently hitting three points below his career level, while his OBP is eight points higher. Historically a “below-average” fielder at shortstop, his advanced fielding metrics show an above average defender as a second baseman. According to baseball-reference, Castro was 41 runs below average in five-and-a-half defensive seasons at shortstop. In the three seasons since making the switch to second base, Castro has been five runs better than average.

Let’s not forget that Castro is a middle-infielder with 102 career home runs. Do you know anybody who’d find that a useful tool at #2 or #6 in their order?

So who’s a good fit for Castro? I looked at all 29 major league teams outside of Miami. Then, I narrowed down my search by dismissing teams that looked solid at second base and shortstop. I then took out teams that are completely out of contention and unlikely to try a short-term upgrade. I was left with four distinct possibilities.