Can Detroit Find Trading Partner For Javier Báez?

[UCFKNIGHT]

Trea Turner is now in Philadelphia. Xander Bogaerts is in San Diego and Dansby Swanson is wearing a Cubs uniform. Who needs a shortstop? I wouldn’t mind having Gio Urshela in a Tigers uniform. LAA is one of the few teams that could probably take Javier Báez contract off Detroit’s hands.

[ben9753]

When combined with his contract he’s probably the least attractive player in MLB. An expensive bum. 

[chasfh]

Yeah, dumping an asset at its lowest point, while viscerally satisfying, is generally bad business.

[Tigerbomb13]

No

[kdog]

No he has to hit to extricate himself from Detroit. His biggest problem is not his non-chalant attitude. It's that he doesn't slug.

[mtutiger]

Both sides have incentive for this to work out as best it can this year... the team for his potential production, Javy for his potential market value should he elect to opt out.

So no, there will not be a trade nor should there be. Both sides need to work to make this successful going forward 

[Hongbit]

No.  However, it doesn’t mean we are stuck with him for 5 years.  I think we can get him to opt out. 

Javy lives in Javyland.  In his head, he’s a superstar that all teams would want.  His current struggles are due to bad teams, bad managers, and other non Javy things.   If we can make him hate it so much this guy will foolishly bet on himself instead of the sure thing.  It would be financial idiocy but the guy has a giant ego and isn’t very bright.  These are proven to be two of the biggest factors in poor decision making.   

I can also see relentless heckling from the fans impacting him.  We saw how his narcissistic brain handled Chicago fans getting on him last year at Comiskey.   We just need to stay the course with him for a little bit and make his time as difficult as possible.  Make him sit the bench, make him move away from SS, and do whatever possible to make things hard.  His ego won’t allow him to suck it up and make the right business decision.   It can happen.  

Edited April 14, 2023 by Hongbit

[RatkoVarda]

such a stupid plan on every level

[mtutiger]

13 minutes ago, Hongbit said:

I can also see relentless heckling from the fans impacting him.  We saw how his narcissistic brain handled Chicago fans getting on him last year at Comiskey.   

As far as I can tell, he enjoys the atmosphere at those White Sox road games... which, being a member of a bad Tigers team, may be part of the issue: the atmosphere at an average Tigers game over the past six years is similar to that of a nursing home.

[buddha]

23 minutes ago, Hongbit said:

No.  However, it doesn’t mean we are stuck with him for 5 years.  I think we can get him to opt out. 

Javy lives in Javyland.  In his head, he’s a superstar that all teams would want.  His current struggles are due to bad teams, bad managers, and other non Javy things.   If we can make him hate it so much this guy will foolishly bet on himself instead of the sure thing.  It would be financial idiocy but the guy has a giant ego and isn’t very bright.  These are proven to be two of the biggest factors in poor decision making.   

I can also see relentless heckling from the fans impacting him.  We saw how his narcissistic brain handled Chicago fans getting on him last year at Comiskey.   We just need to stay the course with him for a little bit and make his time as difficult as possible.  Make him sit the bench, make him move away from SS, and do whatever possible to make things hard.  His ego won’t allow him to suck it up and make the right business decision.   It can happen.  

are you a psychology major or did you just stay at a holiday inn express last night?

[buddha]

the best way to get something out of an employee is almost never humiliating them in public.  this stuff should be handled behind closed doors.  that said, i think javy is actually pretty sensitive to how people view him and plays better with a chip on his shoulder.  and better when there is something to play for.

perhaps this will motivate him?

otoh, signing a player like that to a contract to play here was dumb.  but they thought they were on the verge of competing...

[Tigeraholic1]

3 minutes ago, buddha said:

the best way to get something out of an employee is almost never humiliating them in public.  this stuff should be handled behind closed doors.  that said, i think javy is actually pretty sensitive to how people view him and plays better with a chip on his shoulder.  and better when there is something to play for.

perhaps this will motivate him?

otoh, signing a player like that to a contract to play here was dumb.  but they thought they were on the verge of competing...

Last night was my proudest moment of Hinch's tenure. 

[RandyMarsh]

It was nice seeing some competent baseball in the summer of 2021 but looking back that may have been the worst thing for the organization.

It assured that Avila was back and got to handle another draft and made them think they were close which led to them signing guys like Javy. Not to mention the 2022 draft class had some intriguing names at the top that were far superior prospects to Jung.

Edited April 14, 2023 by RandyMarsh

[mtutiger]

1 hour ago, buddha said:

the best way to get something out of an employee is almost never humiliating them in public.  this stuff should be handled behind closed doors.  

AJ would probably agree, but Javy (and the circumstances leading up to his mistakes) didn't leave him much choice. Definitely think he did the right thing here.

[ewsieg]

There might be a team that is willing to take a flyer on Baez, i'm guessing a bag of baseballs and agreeing to pay for about 95% of his remaining contract might give us a low A lefty reliever that can throw 85.  

Hongbit's plan is ridiculous, yet probably better odds than us trading him or IMO, getting him to perform better.

[kdog]

2 hours ago, Hongbit said:

No.  However, it doesn’t mean we are stuck with him for 5 years.  I think we can get him to opt out. 

Javy lives in Javyland.  In his head, he’s a superstar that all teams would want.  His current struggles are due to bad teams, bad managers, and other non Javy things.   If we can make him hate it so much this guy will foolishly bet on himself instead of the sure thing.  It would be financial idiocy but the guy has a giant ego and isn’t very bright.  These are proven to be two of the biggest factors in poor decision making.   

I can also see relentless heckling from the fans impacting him.  We saw how his narcissistic brain handled Chicago fans getting on him last year at Comiskey.   We just need to stay the course with him for a little bit and make his time as difficult as possible.  Make him sit the bench, make him move away from SS, and do whatever possible to make things hard.  His ego won’t allow him to suck it up and make the right business decision.   It can happen.  

Is our best course to getting rid of him to bully him into quitting baseball? That sounds realistic.

[Hongbit]

7 minutes ago, kdog said:

Is our best course to getting rid of him to bully him into quitting baseball? That sounds realistic.

Not wanting to quit playing baseball but wanting to quit playing baseball here.  

There is no other recourse than hoping that he has a complete shift in attitude and performance.  I don’t see any way that would happen for him while playing on our non-competitive team that sure looks like it is back in year one of a multi-year rebuild.   Honestly, I think his attitude and desire are likely to get worse.  

Edited April 14, 2023 by Hongbit

[Tiger337]

3 minutes ago, Hongbit said:

Not wanting to quit playing baseball but wanting to quit playing baseball here.  

There is no other recourse than hoping that he has a complete shift in attitude and performance.

I actually do expect a complete shift in performance at some point.  It probably won't be enough, but he's not going to bat .100 all year.  I'm not trying to be a Baez apologist.  I don't even like him much.  I just don't think he's goig to be this bad all year.  There will probably be a one or two month period where he is the best player on the team (for what that's worth)    

 

[gehringer_2]

50 minutes ago, mtutiger said:

AJ would probably agree, but Javy (and the circumstances leading up to his mistakes) didn't leave him much choice. Definitely think he did the right thing here.

Oddly enough, I think he was looking for Javy to make a mistake to make an example of him rather than one of the new/younger guys - on the theory that it would be overall more instructive to all and less pressure on a player less able to deal with that than Javy.

[kdog]

I'll repeat my Baez take...he can't be the focal point of your team. He was perfect on the Cubs where he could operate behind a lot of other guys. The Tigers miscalculated that they were close to 'contention' and signed him as an alpha star.

But he can still be a decent player with all of the flightiness and free swinging. This is why you sign the top free agent, not the 4th best.

For some reason, Ilitch and Avila wanted to sign a guy before the lockout. This is the result.

Edited April 14, 2023 by kdog

[mtutiger]

12 minutes ago, gehringer_2 said:

Oddly enough, I think he was looking for Javy to make a mistake to make an example of him rather than one of the new/younger guys - on the theory that it would be overall more instructive to all and less pressure on a player less able to deal with that than Javy.

Totally can see this being the case. Even setting aside that Javy hasn't shown himself to be a focal point player (multiple people have said it, myself included), he is still a veteran on a largely young ballclub and at the very least has act professionally in his capacity.

Like, it's not acceptable for Matt Vierling to not slide going into second but it is at least somewhat understandable based on experience level... for Javy, even with the similar incident that happened in 2021 with the Cubs, it's neither acceptable or understandable. He's a veteran player and with that comes added responsibility. Which may have prompted AJ to act in this instance

[kdog]

And the reason why Cubs fans loved Javy? He was the 6th best hitter in OPS+ in 2016. His highs were remembered and the lows were laughed off because they had Bryant, Rizzo, Fowler, and Zobrist. 

 

[buddha]

javy was runner up mvp.  he had a couple amazing years in chicago.  he was great for a month with the mets too.

when he gets hot, he's one of the better shortstops in baseball.  but the other 75% of the time he's a hack at the plate and can be disinterested in the field.

we'll see if this sparks him to be "interested" again.  i dont think he likes being a professional joke.

[Tenacious D]

He is going nowhere.  Teams aren’t stupid nor have amnesia.  For the very reason we want him gone is the same that no one will take him.  And he won’t opt out because his agent understands this.  He would be looking at a 1-year prove-it deal that might pay him $8M.  No way he accepts that risk, regardless of how the fans or media treat him.  
 

This is 4 more years with erratic play and questionable attitude, likely becoming the highest paid utility guy in the majors at some point in this contract.

[LongLiveMaroth]

Is Al Avila a GM for any other clubs? I'm sure he would take him.