Dominican player Starlin Castro to sign huge contract extension

Dominican baseball player Starlin Castro is close to signing a long-term extension with the Cubs. The Cubs have reportedly signed Castro for at least seven years with a deal worth $60 million, according to ESPNdeportesLosAngeles.com, plus a $16 million option for 2020.

Castro is just 22, but he has been in the majors for three years. He was the first MLB player to be born in the 1990s. He has made two All-Star teams already, and he was the NL batting champion last season. He was also the youngest player to lead the NL in hits ever.

His first contract made him and his family a little bit of money. “It changed me my first year in the big leagues,” Castro said. “It changed me and my family."

But this contract will make his family financial secure for the rest of his life. Castro knows that he must focus on baseball and not slow down just because he got the big contract. Cubs teammate and fellow Dominican baseball player Alfonso Soriano has mentored him in that regard, telling him to not let the money change him or his approach to the game.

For some reason 'Starlin' is a very popular surname in the Dominican Republic. I have traveled all over Latin America and grew up in a predominetly hispanic area in Texas. And I had never heard this name before, until my first trip to the Dominican Republic in 2009. One of the first people I met in the Dominican was an assistant in the Gigantes del Cibao office and his name is Starlin. Then I started meeting and seeing Dominicans named Starlin all over.

Not sure the history of how it became to be a popular Dominican name, but it is. And the Cubs brass and fans are happy to have him locked up for seven years. He is certainly a grade A building block type of players, so they have a base to build a championship. He is from Monte Cristi, Dominican Republic.

Dominican player Starlin Castro with the Cubs, by Gamefreak777

2012 MLB All-Star rosters feature 8 Dominican players

The 2012 MLB All-Star game roster were announced Sunday and there are eight Dominican players among the All-Star invitees.

Interesting that six out of the eight Dominican players featured in the All-Star game were voted in by the fans of starters. Out of 18 position starters on the NL and AL squad, that means that 33% of the starters in the All-Star game come from the Dominican Republic. This is a huge number, considering that 11% of MLB players are Dominican.

But, alas the overall number of total Dominicans on the 2012 MLB All-Star rosters is right at the percentage of Dominicans players in Major League Baseball. Eight of a total of around 70 players in the All-Star game are Dominican, which comes to 11%.

Four out of the nine position starters on the AL team are Dominican players, along with one pitcher:

• Robinson Cano is starting for the third strait time and making his fourth appearance overall. He is from San Pedro de Macoris, Republica Dominicana.
• Adrian Beltre is starting for the second strait year and is playing in his third strait All-Star game. Beltre is from the Dominican capital of Santo Domingo.
• Jose Bautista set the all-time votes record last year, only to have that record broken by Josh Hamilton this year.  He is from Santo Domingo too.
• David Ortiz is an All-Star for the eighth time, also from Santo Domingo.
• Fernando Rodney is from Samana, Dominican Republic and is playing in his first All-Star game.

There are two Dominican starters and one Dominican reserve player on the NL squad:

• Rafael Furcal made his third All-Star game in his thirteenth year in the bigs. Not surprising, considering he was named the Dominican Baseball Guy player of the week earlier this season. He is from Loma de Cabrera, Dominican Republic.
• Melky Cabrera is from Santo Domingo and is appearing in his first mid-summer classic.
• Starlin Castro will play in his second All-Star game in just his third big league season. He is from Monte Cristi, DR.

See all these top Dominican players and the rest of the MLB All-Stars July 10, 2012 on FOX.

Cubs Dominican prospect Lake hopes to join Dominican baseball player Starlin Castro on Cubs roster

Starlin Castro has progressed faster than pretty much any prospect ever.  He was an everyday player at age 20.  This is a few times in a generation anomaly in baseball.  Ken Griffey, Jr. and Barry Bonds were able to do it, but only one or two players every year make an impact like Castro has made at the age of 20.

Junior Lake hopes to join his long time friend in the big leagues soon.  The Dominican Baseball Guy has been hearing about Lake for several years.  Castro and Lake grew up together, both playing in the Cubs Dominican baseball academy in 2007.  They then made the move to the states and played for the Cubs rookie ball team together.

But Castro matured faster and caught on with the big league club in just his second year with the organization.  He has hit .300 both years, and is a plus defender.  Lake remains in the Cubs minor league system, and had a good year at AA last year.  Junior Lake is one of the top prospects in all of minor league baseball.

Lake hopes to play with Castro in the majors some day soon.  They have a mutual respect for each other, and both feel that Lake can play on the major league level.  Most in the Cubs organization and in the rest of major league baseball seem to agree.  The only question is when Junior Lake will become a Cub.

Lake says he hopes to make the jump from AA to the majors this season.  Junior Lake is from San Pedro de Macoris, Republica Dominicana.  Castro is from Monte Cristi.

Dominican baseball player Junior Lake hopes to join the Cubs this year, photo by  Tom Haggerty for LakelandLocal.com

Cubs top minor leaguers features 5 Dominican prospects

A recent article listed the top 30 Cubs prospects going into the 2012 season.  Five of the Cubs top 30 minor leaguers are Dominican players.

The highest rated Dominican prospect in the Cubs system is Junior Lake .  Lake is close with fellow Cubs Dominican player Starlin Castro and hopes to join Castro with the Cubs this year.  He has hit .300 in both of his two years in the Cubs system, and hopes to make the jump from AA to the big leagues this year.  According to the list, Lake is the number nine overall prospect in the Cubs system.  Lake is from San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Republic.

The other top Dominican prospects in the Cubs system were Jeimer Candelario, Marco Hernandez, Wellington Castillo, Rafael Dollis.

Dominican baseball player Junior Lake is the Cubs top Dominican prospect, photo by  Tom Hagerty for LakelandLocal.com

Cubs' Aramis Ramirez: Dominican baseball players do not like to walk, Dominicanos no les gustan pasaportes

This according to Chicago Cub and Dominican Aramis Ramirez, who recently hit his major league leading 12th first pitch home run.  He dropped this classic quote to explain why he swings at a lot of first pitches:

“I don’t know, I’m Dominican -- we go out there swinging, we don’t work a lot on it,” Ramirez said. “[Starlin] Castro’s got like 450 at bats and like 20 walks. What do I got, like 25? We don’t walk, we like swinging the bat. So I don’t have an explanation for you. I’ve always been aggressive. I just happen to hit more homers this year.”

The classic part comes when he says "we don't work a lot."  Something probably lost in the translation there...  Think it should say "we don't work the count a lot," but hey I am just the Dominican Baseball Guy.  What do I know?

Ramirez is the latest free swinging Dominican, of which there have been a number like Vladimir Guerrero and Starlin Castro.  But it is probably a stereotype, because other Dominicans like Moises Alou and Manny Ramirez have had very sharp eyes and taken many walks.

In any case the strategy seems to be working for Aramis Ramirez this year.  He has had a bounce back year and been able to stay healthy.  Right now he is 12th in the NL in home runs and 6th RBI.  The Dominican Baseball Guy thinks this final quote from Aramis pretty much describes the whole shabang of being a hitter:  “If I see a pitch I like I’m going to swing at it,” Ramirez said.  He is from Santo Domingo, DR.

Chicago Cubs' Aramis Ramirez with RBI in 2007, by Guano on Flickr

Dominican Player of Week 1: Starlin Castro

Starlin Castro shared NL Player of the Week honors with Cardinals starter Jaime Garcia, so this gets him the Dominican Baseball Guy's Dominican Player of the Week.

Castro is a young talent for the Cubs, as they signed him out of the Dominican Republic at the age of 16 in 2006, and he debuted last season playing in 125 games for the big league club.  He hit .300 last year which was good for 10th in the NL, and fielding short stop is one of his strengths.  So, he should only improve this year and after week one he was leading the majors with a .615 average.  A recent fantasy update predicted him as the 12th best option at short stop in the majors.  Castro is from Monte Cristi, DR.

Other Dominicans in week 1: Nelson Cruz (Monte Cristi, DR): 3 HR, 3 RBI, .364, Neftali Feliz (Azua, DR): 2 innings, 2 K, 0.00 ERA, David Ortiz (Santo Domingo): 2 HR, 4 RBI

Starlin Castro with the Cubs last year, by Gamefreak777 

Cubs hoping Aramis Ramirez stays healthy, returns to old form

Aramis Ramirez has had an unlucky last two seasons with the Cubs, as he has only played in 206 games over the two years combined due to injuries.  From 2005 to 2008 he averaged over 30 HRs and 100 plus RBI and made two all-star teams.

The Cubs and Ramirez hope he remains healthy and returns to that all-star form.  He will be slotted into the cleanup spot and the Cubs want him to remain there all season.

Ramirez exercised a player option this past off season to remain with the Cubs.  He will be making $14.6 million this year and will become a free agent at the end of the year.

The Cubs projected lineup features four Dominicans in the field.  Ramirez will be joined by Starlin Castro, Carlos Pena, and Alfonso Soriano in the Cubs lineup.  Ramirez and Pena are both from Santo Domingo, while Castro is from Monte Cristi, and Soriano is from the famed San Pedro de Macoris.

Ramirez chats with Henry Blanco, by Terren in Virginia on Flickr

Dominican Winter League: Domonic Brown and Starlin Castro to Play This Week

Now that the MLB season is over and the long awaited All-Dominican team for the 2010 MLB season has been anounced, the Dominican Baseball Guy will be shifting his attention to the Dominican Winter League.  We are already 20 games in to the Dominican Winter League, so there are only 30 games left in the regular season.

Many people have been asking about Domonic Brown, the Phillies uber-prospect.  Well, according to this article, he just arrived in the Dominican Republic and will be playing for Escogido.  Starlin Castro will also be playing for Escogido starting this week, according to this press release.














Also, Rangers fans will be interested to know that Chris Davis and Taylor Teagarden have both arrived and will be playing for the Estrellas Orientales in San Pedro de Macoris (this according to this press release).

Google has an automatic translation tool, so if you use Google Chrome it will translate these press releases for you.