Castro's on the block...

Apparently the Chicago Cubs are in full-blow rebuilding mode. Celebrity GM Theo Epstein has come out and said that he'd be willing to hear offers for every Cub except pitcher Jeff Samardzija. This makes perfect sense since Theo wants to enter the Cubs into a company flag football league and he's banking on Samardzija to be the team's star. Go Irish! No, honestly I don't understand why he's the "untouchable" North Sider. Don't get me wrong, Samardzija is a good young pitcher. At the same time, he's not that good (4.04 career ERA) and he's not that young (27). Anyway, that's not really the point. Even though I'm pretty surprised about who Theo is protecting, I'm more interested in looking at one of the guys that is apparently now on the market. Starlin Castro. Castro is a good young player. He led the Senior Circuit in hits last season as a fresh-faced 21 year old. He's also a shortstop. At first glance, he looks like he'd be a perfect fit for a Pirates team that has been disastrous at the plate and has given 151 plate appearances to Clint Barmes. What I'd like to do is see just how much a young player like Castro would cost and try to figure out whether he'd be a good target for the Pirates.

The Excitement over Yu Darvish

Albert Pujols is an Los Angeles Angel.  Prince Fielder still has yet to sign.  Those are the two top free agents on the market this year, but both are positional players, specifically first baseman.  Depending on preference, the top pitching free agent going into the offseason could have been considered to be C.J. Wilson, who has also signed with the Angels.  The other pitcher vying for that crown is Yu Darivsh, who's fate will largely be determined tonight.

Darvish, who just turned 25 this August, was posted by his team, the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters, on December 8th. From there, all major league teams were eligible to bid in a silent auction for the right to exclusively negotiate with Darvish in an attempt to sign him to a contact. If the team that wins is able to sign Darvish, they will pay the posting fee to the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters and then Darvish the agreed amount money. The bidding ended on December 14th and the winner will be announced tonight.