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Who In The World Would Trade For Javy Baez?

From a content standpoint, I am so grateful for Javier Baez. The man is an anomaly. I know he’s had a wonderful career, and he did some great things in Chicago, but if God were to construct an athlete whose number one goal was to annoy me as much as possible, that athlete would be Javier Baez. There might be an expectation that I’ve just accepted who he is, and to be critical of him would be silly. That’s not the case. If this Tigers team is good next year, which I think they might be, his flailing every fucking pitch that he sees is going to annoy me even more than it has over the last two years. But could there be hope around the corner? Nah, probably not.

I’ve been on record saying I don’t like Javier Baez, and I would prefer that he not be on this team, but I also acknowledge where the Tigers are at as an organization. There are two circumstances in which I could see the Tigers trading Javier Baez. Number one is if a team is dumb enough to take on his contract, and you can do a full salary dump. That’s not going to happen. No team is that desperate, and no team is that stupid. The biggest reason I see the Tigers holding onto Javy, at least in the short term, is that there’s no other shortstop in the system. This offseason, there’s a chance that the Tigers will trade for a minor league shortstop. There’s been some rumors about Matt Manning potentially being on the trading block. If that’s the case, then it opens the door slightly, but the word is out on Javier Baez. He’s not an effective player anymore and is one of the worst hitters in baseball night in and night out.

There’s not a whole lot that he would add to any team. I know there are certain organizations like the Dodgers and Rays that take these guys off the scrap heap and turn them into good players, but that’s because those good players are willing to change. Javier Baez is not willing to change. He’s going to be who he’s been forever. 

The Tigers have Javy locked up for four more years. I would be stunned if he lasted all four of those years. The fanbase already can’t stand him, and with things looking up within the organization, I don’t know how you can justifiably keep this guy on a good roster. This year may end up being a tipping point. If the Tigers are good, and he’s back on his bullshit, decisions will have to be made. If Scott Harris can somehow find a way to trade him, even if he does eat the majority of that deal, I’m all for it. But I would implore Tiger fans not to get their hopes up.