The Cubs have initiated discussions with star shortstop Javier Baez about a contract extension, per Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times (via Twitter). The course of these early-offseason negotiations could play a role in shaping the remainder of the organization’s winter roster efforts, Wittenmyer adds.
It isn’t surprising to learn that Baez is a target for a long-term deal. His play on the field made that a more or less foregone conclusion. But the timing is interesting, less so because of Baez himself than because of the potential ramifications. It isn’t as if teams never explore deals at this time of year, though it’s more common to see extensions negotiated in earnest during Spring Training.
Cubs GM Jed Hoyer said recently that the team “had a stable core for five years” but is “going to have change” this winter. (Via Jon Heyman of MLB Network, on Twitter.) That obviously didn’t mean that the Chicago org was planning to blow things up, but it certainly suggests that a few roster fixtures could potentially be dangled in trade.
It doesn’t require much in the way of reading between the lines to see that the Baez talks could potentially be rather important. Getting something done with the flashy performer might make it easier for the Cubs to swing a blockbuster deal involving other key assets. Kris Bryant, Willson Contreras, and Kyle Schwarber are among the notable names that have been kicked around as speculative possibilities, though it’s unclear which if any will be seriously dangled in trade talks — let alone just what it’d take for the Cubs to part with one or more such players.
As for Baez, he projects to earn a $9.3MM salary in his second-to-last season of arbitration eligibility. He played last year for $5.2MM, a salary that fell well shy of his projected value. Regardless, Baez has already secured significant earnings so won’t be desperate to make a deal. And he’s close enough to free agency that he will have solid leverage to bring into talks. Soon to turn 27, Baez has a good number of youthful seasons still on offer.
Talks between the Cubs and Baez’s reps at Wasserman will surely be interesting. Baez is a tough player to value in some respects, if only because he succeeds against the grain of today’s game. Baez walked just 5.0% of the time last year while turning in a 27.8% strikeout rate, but (as usual) logged a monster .345 BABIP that allowed him to carry a .281/.316/.531 batting line (114 wRC+). With glovework and baserunning included, it was a 4.4 fWAR/4.8 rWAR campaign.
The Cubs obviously believe Baez can continue to convert on his elite bat speed and other physical tools. But they’ll surely also point out some of the demerits in his game in talking about a new contract. And it’s possible the team will want to avoid taking a deal too deep into Baez’s thirties. It’ll be interesting to see what the sides settle at if they’re able to agree to terms. But it could be even more interesting to see what happens to the Cubs’ winter plans if they fail to gain traction in talks to lock down Baez for the long haul.
Make it happin’ cappin’!
He strikes out too much and is gonna fade quickly. Whatever they pay him I am sure it will be an overpay that cones back to haunt them.
If he regresses a little he still a heck of a ball player. He makes a lot of sense for almost any team
He is a great hitter but he has no plate discipline. If 4 or 5 years into your major league career you haven’t figured out how to take a walk or stop striking out by swinging at garbage it doesn’t bode well for when you get a little older and your bat speed slows down even the slightest notch. They still have him under contract for cheap for the next 2 years. Why not wait until at least mid season to see if he can figure out that OBP has value and should be significantly higher than batting average. He plays hard but he doesn’t play smart. His approach at the plate makes sure he has to work as hard as possible every time he gets on base. It might not even be totally his fault. It could have to do with the hitting coach. Someone should teach him how to defend the plate as opposed to always trying to hit the ball hard no matter where the pitch is. The best hitters think of the strike zone as belonging to them and let the pitcher pitch outside the strike zone at their own peril since they will get on base a lot more anyway. Pitchers don’t have to worry about that with Baez because he will swing at anything. He’s able to swing so hard now that it isn’t hurting him that much outside of his ability to score more runs by getting in base as much as possible to let other batters drive him in. Once he gets slightly older he will lose a little but of that ability and start becoming an easy out since pitchers know he will swing at any garbage they throw to him. He reminds me of a better hitting yet older and more injury probe version of Ozzie Albies. If the Cubs wanted to extend him they should have done it earlier the way the Braves did with Albies. If Albies keeps swinging at garbage and suddenly can’t hit it then that a okay because the Braves are only paying him $45 million over 9 years. Albies basically outearns his entire contract in the first couple years. They are gonna have to pay Baez way more than that to be older, get injured more and lose ability way sooner than Albies ever will.
Worst take of the millennium, great work. You don’t like baseball.
At no point in your rambling, incoherent response were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul.
Cut that piece by two thirds and it might be readable.
Excusemeflo that was the best comment of the day lol
Yeah maybe if it wasn’t a boring copy/paste job
That was definitely not a copy/paste job. I’ll take that as a compliment because I assume it means you think somebody that has articles posted on the internet actually wrote it. It would be easy for you to figure out before you start throwing accusations around. Just copy the comment and post it into google. That should tell you.
The Puppy That Lost Its Way!!
It’s a quote from what movie/show I cannot remember but it’s the intro of a living legends song of old! Well placed in this environment.
So = to be clear – you’re saying he’s a great hitter who strikes out too much. What do you think of his defense and base running.
Sheffield was a lot like him well into his late 20s but did eventually develop better discipline. A lot better. There are many examples of players who were loose cannons at the plate but eventually becoming much more selective. This is really the only weakness in Baez’s game. He excelled everywhere else. His base running is underrated. He’s one of the very most instinctive players in MLB and has been since arriving. Great defense, lightning quick tags, near elite power. He’s a clutch performer. Even if he doesn’t improve his OBP he’s still likely a 4-6 WAR player. And he wants to be a Cub. Sign him up.
I think somewhere in the 6/$155M or 7/$180M gets it done pretty quickly.
@gcg15
“So = to be clear – you’re saying he’s a great hitter who strikes out too much. What do you think of his defense and base running.”
See? Now you said in 2 lines what StandUpGuy took 30 lines to write. You know how to write a normal, readable online comment.
Billy Madison.
I don’t know why you’ve gotten so much flack for saying this. Yes, it rambles, but you do make some valid points. You neglected to touch upon the fact that his defense and base running should sustain a valuable base line for him for the next 3 years, and for that, I’d give him 4 – $80 million. But the bottom line is, to your point, there have been four other players in history who have walked less than 6.5% of the time while striking out over 25% of the time through their age 24-26 seasons while maintaining a wRC+ over 90: Randal Grichuk, Bo Jackson, Yasmany Tomas, and Tyler Colvin – and Baez has the worst BB/K rate of all of them at 0.19.
Now, Baez is by far the best player in this group because of his all-around game, but I too, think it’s risky to lock him up for much longer than 4-5 years.
Haha I am not dumber since I blew off that eyesore post. Lol
I have no idea what these repliers are talking about. The comment makes sense. Perhaps it’s a bit long-winded for the TikTok generation?
He is a good second baseman that any team would take:
Javier Baez in no way, shape, or form, “strikes out too much”.
People who care about strike outs don’t like baseball.
Baez is a god at this game, give him 10/400M.
If Baez is a $400-mil player then the people who care about strikeouts can safely say you don’t know baseball. Hard pass and deal Baez now if $400-mil is ever contemplated.
He is no God. He is very, very good.
You are aware how hard it is to do what he does, right? He’s sensational, a superstar in every sense of the word. Elite. I will NOT hear any knocking of him in this thread! lol
Gotcha :)
please give me what you’re smoking. 400 million dollars is another way of saying “you are in Mike Trouts stratosphere” when in reality he aint even close.
As a Brewers fan, please give him that contract. Tie all your money into one dude.
Javy is awesome, and yes, I’d like to see the Cubs lock him up. But 10/$400m is beyond ridiculous. I’m thinking 7/$196m.
He will get more than 196 but my god @Strike Four, you my friend, are delusional beyond belief. sit back and think about what 400 million dollars is, and how many players have gotten that. smh
And im not just saying this as a Brewers fan to a Cubs fan. Javy is a beast. I could see something like 250/7 or 8. gtfo with 400.
And nobody is knocking the dude. All we are saying is your crazy if you think hes getting anything near 400 million.
I mean, really? If you increase your ability to turn strike outs into walks and balls in play, you are a better hitter than before, no? A big part of the Cub’s offensive problems this past year stemmed from the inability to utilize small ball by putting the ball in play. It may be less-emphasized than before, but it is still a part of every offense in the majors and can be a major source of runs, not every run has to be earned from an extra base hit.
Strike outs absolutely do matter, and Baez’s high strike-out rate is absolutely a concern moving forward. High K type hitters generally don’t age well.
As a Braves fan Andruw Jones comes to mind as a perfect example. The best defensive center fielder in baseball and capable of crushing over 50 homers a season before the juiced ball era. It didn’t matter. He couldn’t stop swinging at garbage. Pitchers figured it out and stopped giving him anything worth hitting because they knew he would violently swing away regardless. He got released by the Dodgers 1 year into the $18 mill per year deal he signed with them because his bat slightly slowed down by a few microseconds in his very early 30’s and he became a .220 hitter with significantly less power and a ton of strikeouts. This may be my opinion but after 10 consecutive center field gold glove awards and several 40+ as well as at least one 50+ home run season I think Andruw Jones is a much more talented and far less injury prone player than Baez is. The hitters that last a long time learn how to frequently take walks and not strike out. Physical ability is only part of it. You have to literally force every pitcher to give you something to hit multiple times every single at bat. He’s right. The ones that don’t do that don’t age well. They end up like Andruw Jones, Dan Uggla, Jeff Francoeur, Jason Heyward and many others. That is not a good recipe for a long term expensive contract. All Cubs fans need to do is look in their own outfield at Jason Heyward to figure that out. Unless Baez completely changes his approach that will be his future if he is lucky enough to stay healthy. The only difference is Heyward actually had more plate discipline than Baez when he was younger so Baez could turn out even worse.
25 lines.
Yes I was agreeing with you. The comment you are referring to where I accused someone of a copy/paste was not directed at you, it was in reply to the overused happy Gilmore quote
Lol
Cool. I get it now. I watched the movie multiple times butbit has been years so I don’t remember that quote. What scene did it happen in?
Striking out 27.8% of the time is way too much. If a player strikes out in 1 out of every 4 at bats that is terrible but it would still be better than Baez. Walking 5% of the time is also terrible. He only walks once out of every 20 plate appearances. That means he strikes out more than 5 times as frequently as he walks. That is a really bad statistic pointing in the exact wrong direction. Even with all his hitting ability he still only had a somewhat respectable batting average at .281 and a flat out poor on base percentage at .316. As he ages his on base percentage will likely get worse and even closer to his batting g average than it is now. That wouldn’t be so terrible if it weren’t for the fact that his batting average is statistically going to tank very hard. If he hits as well as he does now and can only manage a .281 batting average imagine what his average will be when he is older and can’t hit quite as well. By the time his current 2 year contract is over statistics show he will likely be hitting in the .260’s. 2 years after that he will be somewhere in the .240’s. During all that time his strikeouts will climb more and more. Not to mention the lower his batting average and on base percentage go the lower his power numbers will go. That’s just simple math. That’s only 2 years into his extension. It will only get worse from there by larger and larger increments every season.
21 lines
THIS guy…..
He’s gotten better every year since his debut in 2014 he missed a lot of 2015 because the death of his sister.
You really want to say he was better last year than in 2018? You sure?
Not better than 2018 which was a really great year. But he sure as hell wasn’t significantly worse, especially considering he was playing hurt a decent portion of 2019. He is really good..
I’m a cub fan and I know it’s unpopular but I agree, I don’t think he is a good player to build a team around. He is great to have but not for 30 million per season. I think as he ages and his bat slows down he ll strike out constantly and the power will dry up like Chris Davis. At least the defense will always be there. I hope I’m wrong!
Johnrealtime: I basically made every point you made way before you did and you seem to agree with everything I said because you repeated it afterwords. Why then did you accuse me of plagiarizing without even looking into it? It would take all of 5 seconds for you to prove to yourself that I didn’t plagiarize anything but you would still just rather throw it out as some kind of fact that I did “a copy/paste job.” That’s not what happened and it is incredibly insulting to accuse anybody of that based on no reason at all. That would be like me making terrible accusations about you and stating them as fact for no reason at all. You actually seem to agree with my comment! Why on earth would that make you want to disparage me and call me a thief when you clearly didn’t even take the time to look into it. Maybe I’m a little different but I don’t take that lightly. Please copy and paste my comment and put it through any search engine you like. Then tell me if it was “a copy/paste job.” I never plagiarize. We actually agree so I can’t even begin to figure out your motives.
16 lines
Getting shorter!
Calm down dude, he wasn’t accusing you of copy/pasting anything. He was referring to a movie quote that I posted in response to your first long, long post. Pour yourself a bourbon and watch Billy Madison. It’ll all become clear.
I’ve seen Billy Madison multiple times but I still don’t know what your referring to. All I know is that movie makes me “want to touch the hieny” that belongs to Pete Sampras’ wife. I don’t remember her full name but I think her first name was Bridgette. So I guess Bridgette Sampras?
Yes I was agreeing with you. The comment you are referring to where I accused someone of a copy/paste was not directed at you, it was in reply to the overused happy Gilmore quote
Billy Madison *
I do find it funny that I was one of the few people agreeing with you and you took a big dump on me. But I can understand that mlbtr comment threads are confusing
Google it, baby.
Think he can get down to a paragraph…..
He’s absolutely the player you build a team around Baez and Rizzo are the players a great team is built around
Hahahahaaaa….strikeout.
You don’t worry about Baez’s strikeouts if you’re the cubs. Dude’s a killer at the plate, let him do his thing. He’s an elite run producer.
Everybody strikes out too much. But Baez has done better every year. He is not the same kid from five years ago. SIGN him.
He probably makes the most sense of the group to extend aside from Rizzo.
The guy just can’t seem to stay healthy.
That’s what happens when you play the game as hard as he does every single day.
Can’t stay healthy? Because he got hurt last year? Prior to that he had seen the IL since 2015. He played 160 in 2018, 145 in 2017 and 141 in 2016. Only reason he only played 141 and 145 was not because he was injured or nursing nagging injuries it was for matchup reasons.
Don’t even bother with this guy, he watches only cardinal games and 19 cubs games when they play the cardinals. He doesn’t actually know anything about baseball.
Last year was the first time he was ever really injured and it was a fluke injury (fracture in his hand from sliding) which he bounced back from.
Hmm. Braves fans, if the price is right, how to you feel about Quintana being in the rotation?
If by “the right price” you mean Luke Jackson then yes. If you mean Wilson, Wright, Pache, Anderson, Waters, Contreras, Langoliers or any other actually promising prospect then no. The Braves just turned down an $11 million option on Julio Teheran. They don’t need to trade promising prospects to acquire a pitcher exactly like him who makes half a million more. I would do it for Luke Jackson though. I just want Snitker to stop using him. Apparently he is “very talented” because Snit loves him and Luke Jackson was a top 4 overall first round draft pick. That being said, Snit uses him at the worst times and seems to think he is some sort of lights out closer with the bases loaded and nobody out. I hear he has nasty stuff and maybe another team could bring the best out of him. I just want him gone because Snit can’t figure out how to make him reach his potential but won’t stop using him in high leverage situations… Even in the playoffs. I was hoping they just left Jackson off the playoff roster but of course that didn’t happen. Then of course Snitker brought him in whenever the game was on the line and… Then of course Jackson blew it every time. I think he has a future but not a good one with the Braves.
Well thought out. I would argue that Q is at least a tier better that Tehran. Would you be content giving up Riley as a center piece? Maybe add Ender so the Cubs have a playable CF?
Riley by himself is an overpay for Q. He’s put up bottom of the rotation numbers for the last two years and is making a middle of the rotation salary. Riley is less than a year removed from being a superstar prospect who, while struggling in the second half, has a massively high ceiling and tons of control.
Great insight. Thank you. Who do you think the Braves should target in a SP trade?
Bumgarner. The off season is won once the Braves get him.
They already gave up a draft pick for Smith. I doubt they will give up another for MadBum
Marco Gonzalez or Matthew Boyd would be my top two trade targets
@StandUpGuy
19 lines. Still Too Long.
Way too long
Statistics can’t be the only thing to look at. He is as arrogant as anybody can be. Maybe more than Harper, the former King of arrogance in baseball. Think about the chemistry in the clubhouse and the way he deal with fans looking for an autograph.
The way he swing the bat, and strike out rate will hurt his back sooner or later. Consistency and his image inside and outside the park, in Chicago and outside the city, should be considered if he is looking for a long term contract.
Right now I think he is overrated and arrogant mf.
“white man angry at a latino ballplayer for completely made up reasons not to do with playing” is a take we are still seeing so often, you hate to see it :(
Baez is perfect for the game and should be the face of the game.
Why did you compare someone’s race with someone’s ethnicity. That doesn’t make a whole lot of sense
I didn’t compare a thing.
I mean… You didn’t really compare anything but you did assume that alpha was a white man and that he specifically didn’t like Baez because he is Latin. I don’t know if any of that is true or not and you could be right. Regardless, you turned that conversation into something very racial with little evidence to support it. That is kind of a cheapshot unless you know something I don’t know.
Even if Alpha isn’t white, it’s clear he isn’t latino since he can’t seem to comprehend that his perception of Baez’s arrogance is actually just ignorance as it relates to latino culture. God forbid we see baseball players with some emotion. Where is the actual evidence of his arrogance other than one individual’s interpretation of Baez’s actions?
Cubs fans love Baez and there is nothing in the news that says he is a problem in the clubhouse. It was an ignorant statement, with racial undertones, that had no factual supporting evidence. Regardless of the individual’s race, that’s a problem.
I’m looking but I too am having trouble seeing a racial component/motive.
Me either, since Latino is not a race, but an ethnicity.
Baez is good no doubt. But I wouldn’t sign him until Cubs are done with their trades.
Baez is a joke, just like the people who think he should be the face of baseball. Keep dreaming that Baez will ever be more than just a popular player.
Why don’t you just enjoy Torres while the champ Javy gets paid?
So sayeth the yankee homer. There’s your joke..
Lordalpha, I would bet you are a fan of the far-right.
I don’t know enough about him to say all those negative things about his personality. If what your saying is true though this would be a big mistake by the Cubs.
I don’t know where they’re getting the personality info. The guy has kids lined up for autographs, never heard a bad word about it. As for the clubhouse, the only thing I’ve heard is when Clint Hurdle went on a rampage to disparage his passion for the game.
Nevertheless, he’s a baseball player through and through. He has a great instinct and plays hard all the time. I’d take him x 8 in the lineup any day.
Good grief. The guy is loved in the club house. He plays hard. And by all accounts he’s a solid guy in the community. Move along.
Cite an example of any of his teammates or even opponents having a problem with him. 70 year old managers don’t count.
What happened with 70 year old managers? Are we talking about Joe Maddon? I haven’t heard this story but it sounds exciting. Can someone fill me in? I love to hear about club house drama.
I think the commenter means Clint Hurdle. He got his muumuu in a bunch at Javy for bat flipping.
He is one of the LEAST arrogant players they have ever had. You are delusional in your assessment.
Might be tough to get a deal done. I expect Baez to seek opt outs so he can cash in via FA at age 30, while the Cubs probably want to lock him up until his age 31 or 32 season.
Looks to me to be shaping up to where they offer him 80% of market value, he rejects it, and they use their offer and him rejecting it as cover when they trade him away.
I have no doubt he will want over $250- 275 Million for 10 years.
I would definitely put absolutely zero consideration into offering him a contract worth even close to $200 million. Especially considering the Cubs have the leverage of keeping him under team control for 2 more years on the cheap. He won’t make that much $ when he’s 2 years older so they shouldn’t give it to him now considering they don’t have to and can still keep him for years.
Are you ever going to start framing the teams billionaire owners being unethical cheapskates as being the thing thats bad, or just keep on acting like the players who make them their money deserve less of the profit?
It’s so strange how offended people get at player salaries, while always ignoring the profits their skills and talent produce, which are in the billions.
These damn greedy owners will try to collude to not pay these players!! #newliberaljesus #thosepoorexploitedmillionaires #fightthegoodfight
#ihaterichpeople
#moregenericopinions
@Strike Four
I hear your point and I respect it. The problem is that we have seen so many large long-term contracts go south. I would rather see larger contracts on younger players and mid-range players than more gargantuan deals on high end players. They suck all the oxygen out of the room and cause a dysfunctional, unfair marketplace. Kind of like the broader unregulated free market economy.
@jbigz12
Political turd in the pool!
Sorry that was an S4 satire. Sorry for the political undertones. One hashtag too many.
Fair enough.
This tells me that Bryant is gone…that $300 million offer from last year is not on the table any longer………..and if Baez becomes greedy…..he is also gone……Theo needs answers before the Winter Meetings !
The Cubs offered Kris Bryant $300 mill and he turned it down? Jesus, what an NLCS idiot. He is good but not that good. That is one of the 3 biggest contracts of all time. I like Kris Bryant’s ability and all but when I think of him I definitely don’t think of him as one of the 3 best players of all time. I don’t even think of him as one of the 5 best players in the game right now. I gotta keep reading Cubs posts. I keep hearing stuff I didn’t know about. Anyone have a link to an article about the offer or Baez being a clubhouse problem with coaches/managers? I love reading stuff like that.
Big bad—-it has been highly reported that both sides deny that even a $200 million deal. Making up numbers for no reason is just plain irresponsible. Boras has also be quoted, in the last two days, that he and Bryant are open to an extension with the Cubs.
Theo really doesn’t need answers before the meetings.
Go back to making stuff up, please.
No they didn’t. There was never an extension offered.
It is very possible that there was a $200 mil extension offered. This was neither confirmed or denied, so saying for certain that there wasn’t one is pretty much the same as saying that there was one.
They have never offered him 300 million. Where in the world did you come up with that?
I think 6/180 should do it. He’ll be 34 at the end. He’ll get the AAV he wants. When he declines it won’t be any more than 2 years of solid decline
Why would the Cubs pay him an AAV of $30 mill for the first 2 years when they can just pay him an AAV of $7 mill? It’s not like buying out his first 4 years of his free agency is a steal. That’s basically giving him a 4 year $140 mill contract. He is not going to be worth $35 mill a year. That is Mike Trout money.
Nooo.
Just some things on my Cubs Christmas wish list this season-Remember it’s a wish list.
Sign Baez to an extension.
Trade Bryant to Atlanta for LH pitcher Sean Newcomb, infielder Johan Camargo and CF/outfielder Ender Inciarte
Sign Moose Moustakas
Sign another starter-Julio Teheran/Kyle Gibson/Tanner Roark
Sign/resign at least 2 relievers-Drew Pomeranz/Steve Cishek/Héctor Rondón/Ryan Tepera
Sign a veteran bench player like Brock Holt
That’s all for now.
That Bryant trade looks pretty good for both sides, a rarity on these threads – kudos!
I think that would be a good trade from a Braves fan I like it
Theo, you ate your wheaties this morning
Replace Ender for their #5 pitching prospects
Thumbs up because it wasn’t another post that included trading Schwarber which is dumb. This at least makes some sense! Holt and Moustakas are both very real possibilities. Not sure about the relievers though. I am hoping they will go after Will Harris and resign Kintzler to go with Wieck, Wick, Ryan, Chatwood, and Kimbrel. That would be a very solid pen.
Don’t forget they also have Mills, Hultzen, and Underwood in the mix, too, as they are out of options. They won’t need to spend too much on the bullpen this offseason – hopefully, less than $10 million for 2020.
They would need a SP prospect too for Bryant. I can see taking Ender to offset salary but in addition to Newcombe, they should get Anderson instead of Camargo. Or instead of Anderson, get Camargo and either Wilson or Wright.
Forget Inciarte.
Not a bad idea but the Bryant trade offsets salary with the signing of moose. It doesn’t realistically leave options open for other acquisitions for the bullpen.
Whats with these extension predictions?
6/180, are you insane?
He’s still under arbitration.
I’d say anything more than 6/120 is too much. Give him a small raise on his last arb years and about 20M per after. Even that is a stretch considering his offense has major holes that he’s only recently mitigated.
His value is higher to the Cubs because he’s a fan favorite. Look at him objectively and you’d take any number of other shortstops in the league over him.
The first part of your comment was good. Then it got really dumb
His perceived value is inflated. It just is. He’s an extremely risky sign. Injury issues in the past, on base issues, and only a recent history of great production.
At this moment I’d put his value at 20M per year. That’s a reasonable gamble to take.
What injuries? A broken hand? That’s hardly something that repeats itself like pulled hammies. Only a recent history? He’s been playing for 4 years. He was MVP runner up 2 years ago and hit 30 HR last year. What on earth are you smoking. The only question is how long and how much not whether he’s someone any team wouldn’t love to have. And no one knows how long or how much is being is being discussed.
9/250 kicks in 2021
Noooo
Start at 8 years and increase from there. Max 11 years. Minimum 230mil
Nooooo
Why not? he’s worth 25mil asv.
I think Javy has benefited quite a bit from the fact that pitchers continued to throw him strikes the last couple of seasons despite the mountain of evidence that says he can’t lay off sliders away and fastballs up most of the time. Combine that with his BABIP which is heavily lopsided in his favor, and most scouts will tell you he is in line for some regression. Now if the Cubs wait a bit and he shows some more patience, then I start agreeing over 20M. I think overpaid players like Heyward and the flawed WAR stat has really wrecked the concept of what a fair contract should be.
Delusional offers here. A reasonable price for his skill set at this point while still being under arbitration is 5 years between 75-90 million. Anything more is an overpay for a gamble that pitchers will just continue to make him chase sliders out of the zone. I absolutely love Javy, he is the heart of the team IMO, But common sense has to prevail.
5/75 giving him 10/13 to buy his last two arbitration years and 17 for the remaining 3 years. Or 6/90.
Trade Bryant, he doesn’t want to stay in Chicago. Extend Rizzo for another couple years beyongpd 2021, dump descalso from the roster. Keep Wilson and Schwarber. Pick up an everyday second baseman. Play a standard lineup every day.
Nico Hoerner is the cubs future 2nd baseman. he’s showed tremendous promise. And he can play just about anywhere. He’ll be at 2nd or SS most of the time
with how good Javy is he should wait this out. this guy is a $20 million player on a bad day, and if the Cubs dont think that they can have Adonis Medina, Bryson Stott, Jean Segura, Victor Arano and alleviation of Yu or Chatwood’s saleries instead.
The AAV is going to have to be $22-$25MM a year to match the recent market. If you ink him now you may get 8/200 no way he takes less than a Heyward deal.
But he’s not a free agent yet. So I think 10+15+25*5 or 7 yrs / $150 MM is good. Make it chock full of incentives or throw in an opt-out after 5 years (age 32).
I applaud this gesture by the cubs. Pay Baez what he’s worth (8/$200MM+), and move him to 2nd base to keep him healthy and turning those amazing double plays.
best thing to do is trade him while his value is still high.
Baez value still up there but not like it was after the 2018 season
Love Baez, but I think 20 to 25 million AAV would be tops on him, yeah?
Cubs getting offers from Kimbrel now…..he has a restricted trade list of teams, but NO TRADE clause………..yes, NO ONE is safe !
Why do you think they are getting offers for Kimbrel?
top reliever in free agency just signed with the Braves..
so the Cubs might not be in championship mode in 2020 and might deal
players, any players to shake up this team for what happen in 2019 !
They will be unhappy with the return for kimbrall. Too high salary with declining results.
$21.8 (total) for the next two years of arbitration then $27 per year over the next 5 years. Totaling $156.8 taking him to free agency at age 34.
Baez will want over $200 million…..maybe more…..and now with the Cubs having their own tv network, the Bank is open for these players and their agents !
Baez not going anywhere and think 25 annual 5 to 6 years…Bryant won’t let his grudge go and going want Harper/machado type money,he will be gone this year,after Baez despite rumors Contreras be next to lock up, Schraber may well be gone if they can get enough value
He has 2 years of arb left, assuming $9M this year and… $15M next year?
He’s 26 so ideally he’ll either want a 5 year deal now so he has a shot at a 7 year deal when he’s 31 OR he takes the 7 year deal now and we’ll worry about his next contract when he’s 33.
Either way, next two years he’s making ~$12M per. They’ll want to give him a bit more, so let’s say $14M per.
Then when he hits his free agency year, he’s gotta be thinking he’s worth at least $25M per but since he was guaranteed more in his arb years, he’ll “settle” for that amount.
I’m predicting either:
– 5 years, $103M (similar to Alex Bregman), or…
– 7 years, $153M
Javy Baez is a great baseball player and any team would love him on its roster! I am a White Sox saying this! However, Baez is going to be walking into a fringe market right if he chooses to look test free agency when it’s his time while the Cubs are deciding with either keeping him or Bryant as the guy to build around with Rizzo.
There are no doubts that Baez does strike out just like most players who are trying to get that key hit. Baez is showing improvement over the years at the plate but his passion on the field to base running is what makes him special.
Well said
Baez can play third base, short stop and second base as if it is nothing! I remember him playing third base for awhile when Bryant was hurt and the Cubs did not miss Bryant at all.