Starlin Castro Receives the Short-End of the Stick Once Again
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Twice, Starlin Castro has been a part of teams that are knocking on the door of greatness. But he’s never gotten the chance to stick around.

Starlin Castro might be the unluckiest player in all of baseball. With the news breaking over the weekend that the New York Yankees have acquired Giancarlo Stanton.

Castro is reportedly part of the package heading to the Miami Marlins—making it the second time in his career of getting the short-end of the stick.

Castro was traded from the Chicago Cubs to the Yankees in December 2015. Now being sent to the Yankees isn’t the worst thing in the world. At least it’s a prestigious franchise.  But unfortunately for him, he was leaving a Cubs team that was considered legitimate World Series contenders.

Which, in 2016 the Cubs did exactly that, winning their first World Series title since 1908 while Castro watched from afar. While Castro was happy for his former teammates, he admitted to the New York Post‘s Dan Martin that it was “pretty emotional” to watch.

Now, Castro is leaving a Yankees team that came within one game of reaching the World Series in 2017. With Stanton, the reigning National League MVP, about to don the pinstripes, their chances of winning the World Series improve dramatically.

It could be the second time for Castro that the team he is traded from goes on to win the World Series the next year, leaving him ringless.

To make matters worse, he’s going to a team that, while Derek Jeter is calling the shots, has no aspirations of contending in 2018.

Castro is coming off a great 2017 season, hitting .30 with 16 home runs, 63 RBI and the fourth All-Star appearance of his career—his first since 2014.

One can’t help but feel for Castro, two times being traded from championship contenders and now heading to a rebuilding team. But this game is a business and it was a move that Yankees general manager Brian Cashman felt like he had to make in order to get ring number 28.


Originally from Long Island, Matt grew up as a die heart Yankees, Jets, Knicks, and Rangers fan. Matt moved to South Carolina when he was 13, but this did not stop him from watching his favorite teams. He graduated with a Bachelor degree in Mass Communications from the University of South Carolina Upstate. Other than a contributor for Elite Sports NY, Matt was a former writer for Skyscrapersports and currently is a writer and co-host for The Assist Podcast. He is also a sports reporter for Greer Today.