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Tuesday, November 30, 2021

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.

RoyalsRetro (AG#1F) Posted: November 30, 2021 at 09:10 AM | 23 comment(s) Login to Bookmark
  Tags: javier baez, tigers

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   1. Moses Taylor loves a good maim Posted: November 30, 2021 at 10:03 AM (#6055315)
I like this deal better than the Semien one.

And also pissed/disappointed the Cubs couldn't close this sort of deal with him last year - I haven't seen anything about the Cubs talking to him this offseason so if they didn't, also disappointed in that.
   2. God can’t be all that impressed with Charles S. Posted: November 30, 2021 at 10:26 AM (#6055320)
Seems like a lot more talent moving from the NL to the AL than the other way. Seager, Gray, Gausman and now Baez.
   3. DCA Posted: November 30, 2021 at 10:48 AM (#6055324)
I think I prefer the Semien deal. Semien is 2 years older than Baez, and the contract is one more year, but Semien's been the much better player recently.

Both are far preferable to the Seager deal.
   4. McCoy Posted: November 30, 2021 at 10:52 AM (#6055326)
For me he is one of the scariest of the premium FA to sign. If it is going to be only a 6 year deal I guess teams view him that way as well.
   5. Zonk Won the Mental Acuity Golf Trophy at his Club Posted: November 30, 2021 at 11:28 AM (#6055334)
Hey, chin-up...

The Cubs have reportedly signed Yan Gomes!

In what I'm sure is unrelated news, Willson Contreras is shopping for new luggage.
   6. bfan Posted: November 30, 2021 at 11:29 AM (#6055336)
To what must be everyone's satisfaction, talent is generally moving from the better teams (2021) to the worse teams. My count as of now is as fiollows:

LA Dodgers: -2 (Hurrah!)
Toronto: -1
Rockies: -1
Oakland: -1
SF: -1
Rangers: +3
Mets: +1 (Max and Marte added and Baez subtracted)
Seattle: +1
Tigers: +1

Just taking 2 from one of the silly, uber teams (LA) and adding 3 to 1 of the worst teams (Rangers) helps the competitive balance.

   7. God can’t be all that impressed with Charles S. Posted: November 30, 2021 at 11:56 AM (#6055338)
The Cubs have reportedly signed Yan Gomes!

That's not a bad back-up catcher signing. If, on the other hand, it's a precursor to Willson departing, or it's the biggest free agent signing of the off-season, then it's a very bad signing.
   8. Moses Taylor loves a good maim Posted: November 30, 2021 at 12:00 PM (#6055340)
contract is one more year

And $35million. You pay less, and get out younger with Javy. Plus Javy will be at SS, while Semien likely at 2b.
   9. Moses Taylor loves a good maim Posted: November 30, 2021 at 12:00 PM (#6055341)
That's not a bad back-up catcher signing. If, on the other hand, it's a precursor to Willson departing, or it's the biggest free agent signing of the off-season, then it's a very bad signing.

$13mil for 2 years is a lot for a backup catcher.
   10. God can’t be all that impressed with Charles S. Posted: November 30, 2021 at 12:14 PM (#6055344)
$13mil for 2 years is a lot for a backup catcher.

Ricketts should be paying a lot for at least something.
   11. Moses Taylor loves a good maim Posted: November 30, 2021 at 12:22 PM (#6055347)
I just saw that Gomes is the most money the Cubs have given a FA hitter since Heyward. Barf.
   12. Lassus Posted: November 30, 2021 at 01:01 PM (#6055357)
I'm not sure how the Mets cognoscenti saw him, but I do wish we had kept him.
   13. The Honorable Ardo Posted: November 30, 2021 at 01:12 PM (#6055359)
I've never been more excited about a free agent signing in my life. I LOVE Javier Baez. I was silently praying the Tigers would sign him, and they did!

The tags, the slides, the off platform throws, the majestic home runs... I'll accept a few golden sombreros for all of that.
   14. Barry`s_Lazy_Boy Posted: November 30, 2021 at 01:32 PM (#6055362)
Ardo, enjoy the ride. Its a lot of fun.
   15. Walt Davis Posted: November 30, 2021 at 02:49 PM (#6055384)
#12: With Lindor around forever, Javy just didn't make much sense for the Mets. He's excellent at 2B and 3B too of course but strong defensive SS who can hit a bit maximize their value as SS. Semien is the guy I assumed the Mets were gonna sign.

And this seems a pretty reasonable deal. It will be interesting to see what Story gets.
   16. Walks Clog Up the Bases Posted: November 30, 2021 at 02:55 PM (#6055386)
Javy is the kind of player who seems like he could easily fall off the cliff, so I'm not heartbroken that the Cubs didn't bring him back.

But I definitely feel like a parent protecting his flawed child from others today. I'm in Michigan, so a lot of my Tiger fans friends are freaking out about all the strikeouts and the relatively low OBP. I feel like to look at Javy from a strictly offensive perspective misses a huge part of his value as a player.
   17. What did Billy Ripken have against ElRoy Face? Posted: November 30, 2021 at 03:08 PM (#6055390)
I feel like to look at Javy from a strictly offensive perspective misses a huge part of his value as a player.
Someone should come up with a tagging stat. Call it Sleight of Hand Above Replacement Tagger.
   18. Adam Starblind Posted: November 30, 2021 at 03:08 PM (#6055391)
But I definitely feel like a parent protecting his flawed child from others today. I'm in Michigan, so a lot of my Tiger fans friends are freaking out about all the strikeouts and the relatively low OBP. I feel like to look at Javy from a strictly offensive perspective misses a huge part of his value as a player.


Right, this is the typical error of focusing on what a player can't do and ignoring or diminishing their other obvious abilities.
   19. Mr Dashwood Posted: November 30, 2021 at 03:22 PM (#6055398)
Would I rather have had Trevor Story?
   20. Zonk Won the Mental Acuity Golf Trophy at his Club Posted: November 30, 2021 at 03:42 PM (#6055403)
Right, this is the typical error of focusing on what a player can't do and ignoring or diminishing their other obvious abilities.


This.

If I'm a Tiger fan?

Enjoy the ride. Javy is one of the most fun players in the world to watch, and when he's going well - he's capable of carrying a (good) team (in the baseball sense/extent that's possible). His flaws mean that when he's not -- it's ugh city... he'll compile golden sombreros and you've got zero faith he'll hack within the same zipcode of a slider in a key PA.

But - man... he'll just do things all over the field; in the field, on the bases, at the plate, that just makes your jaw drop and he's an effervescent joy. I'm sure Mets fans might disagree, given a cold snap coincided with his arrival in Queens and that sort of spoiled the subsequent hot streak...

He's a really fun player to root for and one of the guys with a good chance of giving you something amazing to watch. He's a peak moments guy, not a season-long compiler - but so long as he's not expected to single-handed be the difference between 80 and 100 wins? Just enjoy the ride.
   21. The Honorable Ardo Posted: November 30, 2021 at 10:53 PM (#6055486)
Couldn't agree more with Zonk. I lived on the northwest side of Chicago from 2014-2017 and saw a lot of Baez as he was breaking in.
   22. Never Give an Inge (Dave) Posted: December 01, 2021 at 07:50 AM (#6055504)
As a Mets fan I agree with #20. Baez made crazy slides to win games almost immediately after joining the team. (He also made some baffling baserunning blunders although I can’t remember if those cost them games or not). But yeah, he’s a very fun and exciting player.
   23. Rough Carrigan Posted: December 01, 2021 at 01:01 PM (#6055570)
#6, I think you forgot that the Tigers also signed Eduardo Rodriguez, who had been on the Red Sox.

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