Per Jon Morosi, it's going to be a multi-year deal, if physical is complete without issues.
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The Detroit Tigers have found their Short Stop. No, not Carlos Correa, not Trevor Story, not Corey Seager. Former Chicago Cub and New York Met, Javier Bàez.
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After Detroit's big season in 2021, the hype train was officially on the tracks for this off-season. And all that hype was surrounded by the big Shortstop market. The move comes after SS/2B Marcus Semien signed a 7-year, $175 million dollar deal with the Texas Rangers. Texas followed that up by taking another candidate from the Tigers, Corey Seager signed for 10 years, $325 million. Both of the signings were reported by Jeff Passan, insider for ESPN. With reports suggesting that the Tigers would no longer pursue Carlos Correa, by far the best Shortstop on the market and had the biggest upside, It's not a big surprise that the Bàez deal has come up today. Sounds like Correa won't sign by the December 1st lockdown, but after Seagers deal broke, it seems clear that Correa will be getting at least 360 million, or maybe more. That's a price the Tigers never seemed to want to deal with. Another Shortstop which was on Tigers fans radar was Trevor Story, he has yet to sign as well. The Colorado Rockies have shown interest in a Story reunion.
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Now back to Bàez. He is 28 and is from Bayamõn, Puerto Rico. He bursted onto the scene as a Chicago Cub. He's one of the most powerful Shortstops in the game, but struggles with a huge flaw. He strikes out at an alarming rate. "El Mago" would without a doubt bring a spark to the Tigers lineup, a spark that Willi Castro couldn't provide. It's the inconsistency of Bàez that made teams hesitant to pull the trigger, and the Tigers may have taken advantage of that. "El Mago" probably didn't rank top 3 among this off-season's stacked Shortstop market, but is without a doubt in my mind an upgrade from Castro. The deal with Bàez, makes things interesting for Minor League Shortstop Ryan Kriedler… Kriedler was called up to AAA Toledo, from AA Erie, during the 2021 season. Kriedler is ranked #10 on the Tigers prospect rankings and now we could view him as a trade piece. Issac Paredes is another guy who could be a nice trade piece, whether or not it's this off-season or at the July deadline. I think the Tigers will keep infielder Gage Workman in their system and he may take over SS when Bàez exits. Gage Workman is going to need a few more years to develop anyway.
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Javy Bàez had an up & down 2021 season, his first half and early 2nd half was full of swing & misses and Strikeouts. Something clicked for Bàez later in the year, and he turned things around nicely. Bàez finished 2021 with 31 Home Runs combined with the Cubs & Mets. He had 83 hits, 65 RBI's, and batted .248 as the Cubs Shortstop in 2021. When he was traded to the Mets at the July 31st deadline, the Mets knew they had a project on their hands. They needed to clean up his vision troubles and they ended up doing that later on. Bàez had 50 Hits, 22 RBI's, and batted .299 as a Met. In the 2020, COVID-19 shortened season Bàez batted .203, with 8 Home Runs, 45 hits, and 24 RBI's. That's what Javy's recent stats look like… Bàez has hit 149 career Home Runs in his career, that's really good for a 28 year old. "El Mago" still has room for improvement, and has time to clean up his strike zone issue. This could be an underestimated signing down the road for the Tigers. Bàez will in all likelihood move to the meat of the Tigers order in 2022.
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Thanks for the read.
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