Detroit Tigers reportedly close to signing SS Javier Baez to six-year deal

MLB Network/Fox Sports reporter and Free Press alum Jon Paul Morosi reported early Tuesday morning that the Tigers are close to signing shortstop Javier Baez to a six-year deal.

Baez, who will turn 29 on Wednesday, is a two-time All-Star and former Gold Glove winner who hit .265 with 31 home runs and 87 RBIs in 138 games between the Chicago Cubs and New York Mets last season. He did, though, lead the National League with 184 strikeouts over 502 at-bats. He stole 18 bases and walked 28 times, registering a .319 on-base percentage and a .494 slugging percentage (.813 on-base plus slugging).

For his career, the right-handed-hitting Baez is a .264 hitter with a .783 OPS and a 23.4 WAR. His career fielding percentage is .965 at shortstop. He made $11.6 million last season.

Javier Baez and the Tigers are nearing a deal, per source. It is expected to be a six-year contract worth $140 million.

— Mark Feinsand (@Feinsand) November 30, 2021

Breaking down the ‘Big 5’ FA shortstops

It’s similar, though not identical, if you expand the OPS+ list to the past three seasons.

131 OPS+—Seager
130 OPS+—Semien
126 OPS+—Correa
114 OPS+—Story
113 OPS+—Báez

This time, the Statcast metrics rank it as: Seager, Correa, [big gap], Story, Semien and Báez.

Depending on how you want to view it, there’s either a Big Two here (Seager and Correa) or a Big Three (with Semien joining them), and then Story/Báez likely as the final two.

It’s worth noting, as well, that this aligns pretty well to strikeout rate, where Correa and Seager are better than average, Semien roughly average, Story a little worse than average and Báez’s 34% strikeout rate in 2021 one of the highest marks in the game.

Does Javier Báez’s enigmatic nature make his impending free agency messier?

What is so extraordinary about Javy is the concept of what we can quantify out of a baseball player and what we cannot. What we can quantify is that Báez has had a five strikeout game and a pair of three strikeout games in barely more than a month in Mets uniform. He’s also hit eight home runs, which trails Pete Alonso by just one over that time for the team lead. In fact, his offensive numbers during his tenure in Queens might be mildly shocking, considering the narratives and said thinkpieces swirling around him thus far.

As of this writing, Báez has registered 119 plate appearances in a Mets uniform, having been limited by injury for a very short stretch. In that time, he’s slashed .300/.353/.582/.935, with a .282 ISO, a 153 wRC+, and an fWAR of 1.3. He’s also struck out nearly 29 percent of the time while walking at less than a five percent clip. Having struggled so much with the Cubs, that runs his cumulative slash up to .262/.310/.509/.819, with a .247 ISO and strikeout rate actually near 35 percent.

There is perhaps nothing that better illustrates Javier Báez as a baseball player than that blob of numbers above. You take the good with the bad. Because there is so much good. And so much of the opposite. He’s streaky, he’s messy, and he’s astounding. In April, Báez hit .244. In May, he was at .281. Then, he hit just .157 before following it up with a .320 July. A .213 August was followed by this .422 first half of September. Same goes for the power. There’s a June of a .217 ISO sandwiched in between a .250 May and .240 July. His August ISO was just .197, which followed that .240 July and preceded this obscene .356 September. His inability to consistently produce, really on both sides of the ball, is the heavy part of why we see narratives formed around him.

Javier Báez and Other Mets Players Give Fans Thumbs Down in Response to Boos

Javier Báez had some strong words for Mets fans after the team’s 9–4 win over the Nationals. Báez homered in the bottom of the fourth inning and celebrated with a thumbs down after the 444-foot bomb. When he was asked about the celebration, he said it was directed at the fans for their booing when the team struggles.

“We’re not machines,” Báez said. “We’re going to struggle seven times out of 10. It just feels bad when…I strike out and get booed, you know, it doesn’t really get to me but I want to let them [fans] know that when we’re successful, we’re going to do the same thing to let them know how it feels.

“If we win together then we got to lose together, and the fans are a really big part of it. In my case, they got to be better. I play for the fans and I love the fans but if they’re going to do that [boo] they’re just putting more pressure on the team, and that’s not what we want.”

New York Mets acquire star SS Javier Baez from Chicago Cubs for OF prospect

Javier Baez got his wish: He’s headed to New York to play with longtime pal Francisco Lindor.

But first, the Mets are counting on their big-name newcomer to hold down the fort at shortstop for a while.

With the trade deadline fast approaching Friday, the Mets acquired Baez and pitcher Trevor Williams from the Chicago Cubs for outfield prospect Pete Crow-Armstrong.

Baez, a two-time All-Star and 2020 Gold Glove winner, gives New York an immediate fill-in for Lindor. The star shortstop, obtained from Cleveland in a blockbuster deal last winter, is sidelined with a strained oblique and not expected back until at least mid-to-late August.

“I’m super excited. I couldn’t be happier,” Lindor said. “I can’t wait for him to come out here and put on a show for everybody.”