Technically, yes... but there is a loophole.

"a club can add any player from the organization to replace a player on the disabled list. Earlier this week, the Royals called up Michael Mariot and immediately placed him on the 60-day disabled list. While this seems like a curious move, this was done explicitly for the purpose of using Mariot as a placeholder in case the Royals want to add another player to their post-season roster that wasn't on the team August 31. So technically, Brandon Finnegan can be called up September 2 and replace Michael Mariot's "place" on the active roster. This loophole has been exploited by teams for years and was used most famously by the Angels in 2002 with Francisco Rodriguez, who had as many post-season innings that year as he did regular season Major League innings."

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1926-1931-1934-1942-1944-1946-1964-1967-1982-2006-2011

He changed his batting stance. It is still open, but only slightly. It was wide open most of the season and he was late to the plate pulling everything. That was my concern with him and Solar the beginning of the year. I made a post about close vs open stances because I was worried this would not work well for Castro. J.Walton had the same problem.

Castro had a very nice game last night. credit where it's due. 3 hits including a single (to RF) a double and a homer. Plus, the one out he made in the 8th was on a well hit ball to right center that Marlon Byrd made a nice catch on. That could have easily been extra bases. Maybe the new stance is going to get him back to playing at a high level.....perhaps with more power too?

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Go Cubs!!!!

I really hope it was a physical change to his stance or something in the approach and not that his dad is at the games! If it was as simple s his dad, then I cant keep you around. or I have to keep his dad around everywhere.

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I read someplace that the loophole was simplified either last year or this year so that you just have to be on the 40-man or on the 60-day DL on August 31 to be eligible for the playoff roster. So they don't have to do all the back-and-forth any more.

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"When people want their version of the truth, they go find it, no matter how baseless their beliefs." -- Ken Rosenthal

Our nightmare is over. Stapled to the bench with Baez and La Stella up.

have to stop playing him just to salvage his trade value

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

It doesn't matter. He isn't part of the #Core4 anyway. The Cubs are so rich with middle infield prospects they can just cut him without worrying about it.

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Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Matthew, Tulsi, and Don

He has value, its > Gordon Mendoza or Laroche. He's got to grab some pine.. The errors are killin us .

Jorr- do you think Saladino or Sanchez can be as good as Castro?

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#Truth

That depends on what you mean. I don't think either one will ever hit like Castro. And I don't think Russell or Baez will either. All four of them play better defense than Castro right now.

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Matthew, Tulsi, and Don

I believe you are wrong about Russell. I think he will be a better hitter as well. Particularly, a better run producer, with a higher OBP. Maybe not a better average, but a higher OBP and more homers and RBI.

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Go Cubs!!!!

What could possibly lead anyone to think that besides hopes and dreams? Certainly not his .300 OBP which isn't even that much higher than what Castro is doing in what is by far the worst season of his career. And using the "he's so young" argument would be a little disingenuous in this case considering how much better Castro was at the same age.

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Matthew, Tulsi, and Don

Hopes and dreams have nothing to do with it. An improved approach and the front leg change that were implemented about a month or so ago, has made a big difference in Russell's batting. Both his hitting for average and for power has increased. If you have not noticed, you are either not actually watching Cubs games or in denial. His front shoulder is more closed now too and he's able to turn more and explode the hips through the swing, generating more power. It's been a major improvement.

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Scouting and projections.

You're not exactly countering JORR's point. The .300 OBP has not changed at all this season. Yes, he is hitting slightly more and for more power when he does, but he still gets on base at a 30% clip like he has all season.

You'd like that to be better.

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I'm certain you don't know enough about the mechanics of a swing to make any such observations. There are guys that make a lot of money to "fix" swings and they often don't succeed or even know what to do. What we can look at are the numbers. And by any realistic measure, Russell's are not good. And so it comes down to hopes of improvement and dreams for better days. I hope Tyler Saladino will be a better hitter than Castro too. I'm smart enough to know that isn't likely.

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Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Matthew, Tulsi, and Don

Right, reading magazines and the Internet. People project all kinds of crazy things.

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Matthew, Tulsi, and Don

I have not examined his OBP over the last 4-5 weeks, but I know the batting average and power is up. I'm confident his OBP will increase as well in time. If not, he's still going to have better production with the better average and more power. Castro, for all the talk about his power increasing with age, never has had that happen. His HR and RBI totals have remained disappointing. To be fair, it seemed like they were taking a positive turn in the past week or so, as he has actually been squaring balls up regularly. But his defense has been so bad, Maddon can't afford to put him in the lineup. If they had a DH in the N.L. maybe, but his defense is inexplicably awful at this point.

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Who says they're crazy?

I believe the top guys (top 10 overall in mlb prospects) have a pretty decent track record.


To outright dismiss all scouting and projections as crazy is just silly.

You are wrong again. By staying closed, it allows the hitter to "load and explode" as my coach used to say. You load up and generate more torque which results in more power. When he was more open, he could not explode his hips and generate that torque in the swing. Plus, it allows him greater ability to go to the opposite field on outside pitches, where as being open with the front shoulder would have him pulling off those pitches much more. The head can't stay on the ball as well, if the front shoulder is open already. The changes have made a noticeable difference.

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He just wants to dismiss anything that is positive for the Cubs. The guy is frustrated as the Cubs march to the playoffs, while his Sox team sucks hard all year.

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You can listen to the right guys, but I agree

So now a .300 OBP is "positive". That's quite a spin.

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Matthew, Tulsi, and Don

They're wrong more often than not. How many teams passed on Mike Trout before he was drafted? And they're biased based on who they know, what team is selecting a guy, etc. Castro was supposed to be a key guy three years ago. Were "they" wrong on that? You can't have it both ways.

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Matthew, Tulsi, and Don

So the guys who made the projections on which you are basing all your beliefs about a player who currently has putrid major league production somehow knew he was going to make this mechanical change when they made the projections you are basing you ideas on?

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Matthew, Tulsi, and Don

Over the last 15 games Russell is hitting .280 with 3 HR's. The progress will continue and his performance will improve. He will have more HR's and RBI than Castro ever has. I expect he will learn better plate discipline and learn to shorten up with 2 strikes as well, as he goes forward. But there is no doubt he will have better power numbers than Castro, who never put together good power numbers, even when he was batting in the #3 hole.

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Go Cubs!!!!

I'm basing my beliefs about his future on what I have seen. The changes I have seen in his stance and approach and how that translates to generating torque, which creates power. His .280 average with 3 homers over the last 15 games is evidence that it is not just hopes and dreams that the changes might work. He'd driving the ball with authority more now.

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Go Cubs!!!!

Im not having it both ways. You're being ridiculous. Projections on the top guys are not nearly as low percentage as you wish they were for this argument.

Castro was projected as a great hitter and he was a for years. Chalk up another one for projections.

Of course not every draft is in exact order of where the guys end up but thats all sports. Because they arent perfect doesnt mean they're useless. Mike Trout was a first round pick. He was projected as a great player, he ended up being superhuman.

The fact that you want to just dismiss all scouting and projections across the board is just ridiculous.