Baez’s Heart Will Always be in Chicago While One Rumor Looms
We already touched on a persistent rumor with Chicago Cubs first baseman, Anthony Rizzo. There’s also some rumors out there which would send Cubs shortstop, Javier Baez, to the New York Mets. Of course, others are interested in Baez’s services too, but the Mets make sense.
Rumors are rumors, and should be assumed as much. But we know the Mets are adding, and team owner, Steven Cohen has been advocating for trades via social media. We also know they’ve kicked the tires on Kris Bryant, but it seems like they’re weighing other options right now.
Let’s play GM again. Make a trade now and pay a big price or wait until closer to the deadline and pay a reasonable price ?
— Steven Cohen (@StevenACohen2) July 20, 2021
As is, the Mets were interested in Baez to play alongside his friend, Francisco Lindor, but he might need to play for him for a while. Lindor has currently found himself on the 10-day IL, and even he suggests he could be week-to-week.
“This is the first time something like this has happened in my career,” Lindor told Newsday’s Tim Britton. “I don’t have any timetable. I would love to say I’m day-to-day but I’m not. This is more like week-to-week at the beginning and we’ll see how I bounce back.”
When Lindor is healthy, Baez can fill in at both second and third. I’m sure you recall, Baez led baseball in DRS while playing second in 2016. He also consistently made brilliant plays at third, and is possibly the Cubs best defensive option at every position on the diamond, besides catcher. And I bet he’s a great catcher, too.
Now, personally, I’d look to trade Baez. Of the core position players on the block, Baez is the guy I feel teams would overpay for. This isn’t to say he isn’t valuable, he is. But when you have the top-level guys he isn’t really included, production-wise (yes, I understand where he stands in homers and RBI, etc.), but he shouldn’t get Francisco Lindor or Fernando Tatis Jr., type money. Thing is, it seems like he believes he should be…
Baez is uniquely valued across this league. That value isn’t measured in OPS, or wRC+, or even WAR. His value is almost recorded as Ken “Hawk” Harrelson’s TWTW he spouted out to combat analytics.
However, there are some teams that value his defense. Others value his power tool. Some simply value his marketability. You find a team that values two or more of those traits, and you set up a position to have someone overpay you. The best part is, they’ll believe they got a great deal regardless of price.
However this plays out, Chicago will always hold a special place in Baez’s heart.
However this season shakes, whatever happens with Baez, Rizzo, or Kris Bryant – let’s remember them for the joy they brought us. Sure, be sad they’re gone (if traded), but rejoice that their era happened.
