The Cubs have several young players that had some modest success last season.  Castro had the most success managing to hit .300 in his first major league season at the age of ripe old age of 20.  I believe that this kid will become a regular .300 hitter and should hopefully develop a little more power than his total of 3 homers last season.  I would be happy if he hits around 10 homers or more a year and he’s got to steal more bases too.  He managed to swipe 10 bases in 18 attempts last year.  So, it’s not a question of speed so much as it is learning how big of a lead to get, getting a good jump and reading the pitcher’s pickoff move.  Since he is so young, I believe he well learn those things on the job over the next couple of years and I expect him to be a 20 stolen bases a year type of player.  I also think he will eventually be moved to second base when Hak-Ju Lee is ready to take over at shortstop for the Cubs in the next 2-3 years.  

With all of that said, I believe the Cubs need to take a hard look at signing Castro to an extension in about 1-2 years from now.  I would rather Hendry be proactive and lock this kid up as opposed to taking a risk of losing him to free agency down the road.  We all know Derek Jeter won’t be around forever and the Yankees like to spend money.  However, before we go throwing money around I want to make sure Castro has another productive season in 2011.  If he does well then I think we start thinking about locking him up.  I’m thinking that we may spend a little bit of money in the near future to avoid having to spend a lot money down the road.  Look at what the Rays did with Evan Longoria.  They locked him up until he’s 30 years old.  The Reds just agreed to extend Jay Bruce for 6 years.  I think if young guys get extensions like this early in their careers it will save their organization money over the long haul and that’s why I think the Cubs should consider doing this with Castro after next season.