I didn’t drop the ball on the keeper posts, things took precedence during the season. But, guess what? Keepers are back every Friday, so let’s talk keepers, boo. In fact, let’s talk Starlin Castro. That commie bastage. In 2011, his line looked like 91/10/66/.307/22. That was hitting third or higher (mostly leadoff) for a Cubs team that found a bread-crumbed rat in its offensive fried chicken. You can’t argue with those numbers. I mean, you can, but then you’d be arguing with numbers and that makes you crazy. You may as well be wearing a suit of someone else’s hair while ripping tags off of mattresses at a department store. Seriously, write loco on your neck and tell the pretty girl to stop looking pretty because she’s making you uncomfortable with your Hantz tattoo that is hard to read even after you spell it out for people. So what can we expect of Starlin Castro for next year, and what makes him a 2012 fantasy baseball keeper?
With a .344 BABIP, Castro hit .307, but he wasn’t necessarily lucky. He tends to have a slightly bloated BABIP, if the past indicates the odd future. He will give you a .300 average every day and twice on Muesday. He opens a portal to another world where Syd Barrett is playing guitar and BABIPs are inflated. Truth. Face it. At 21 years old, Castro had 207 hits. I remember when that meant something. Strangely enough, I don’t remember what it meant. Probably that the hitter got a lot of plate appearances, which Castro did — 715 PAs, which is the same amount of PAs Michael Bay had on Pearl Harbor. I do think the 10 homers is around Castro’s ceiling for the next year or two. Mark him down for 7 to 12 HRs. His steals last year also look about peaked. For 2012, you’re going to get around 18 to 25. I’m not usually a big fan of this type of player. The type that gives his value on average and counting stats. If he has an unlucky year, a lot of his value could go out the window. That window being metaphorical but lined with the loveliest curtains. What it comes back to with Castro, you’re getting him for next year cheaper than his value will be because of where you drafted him last year. It’s all about keepers, ya’ll! For 2012, I’d put him down for 100/8/60/.315/24. The runs and RBIs may tweak a little from now until March depending on what the Cubs do with their offense during the offseason, but that’s pretty close to what you’re getting. So you got fidelity for Castro? You best.
