Javier Báez’s rough season continues, as the Tigers placed the veteran shortstop on the 10-day injured list before tonight’s game against the Nationals. The placement, which is retroactive to June 9, is due to lumbar spine inflammation. Ryan Kreidler is up from Triple-A Toledo to take the open active roster spot.
Báez told the Detroit beat that he was headed to Florida for additional testing (link via Cody Stavenhagen of the Athletic). The Tigers haven’t provided a timeline for his return, though he’s expected to be out beyond the minimal stint. Báez has battled back discomfort dating to Spring Training, which could be a contributing factor to the worst performance of his career.
The two-time All-Star has only hit one home run over 196 plate appearances. He’s hitting .183/.209/.247 across 53 games. Among hitters with 150+ trips to the plate, only Mickey Moniak has a lower on-base percentage. Tim Anderson and Moniak are the only such hitters who have made less of a power impact. Báez has rated as a slightly below-average defender over 451 2/3 innings at shortstop. The overall production is well below replacement level.
Báez now carries a .223/.264/.344 slash line in 333 games since signing a six-year, $140MM free agent contract with Detroit. Tigers president of baseball operations Scott Harris downplayed the chances of moving on from Báez entirely in an appearance on MLB Network late last month. That won’t need to be a consideration while he’s on the injured list, but the Tigers clearly need much better production out of the position. Detroit is last in all three triple slash stats from their shortstops on the year.
For now, that task will fall on Kreidler and Zach McKinstry. Manager A.J. Hinch indicated that duo will split the shortstop reps while Báez is on the shelf. The lefty-hitting McKinstry and righty-swinging Kreidler will form something of a platoon, although Hinch indicated Kreidler won’t be completely shielded from right-handed pitching. With the Nats starting lefty Mitchell Parker this evening, Kreidler is in the lineup for his first MLB work of the season.
The UCLA product appeared in 37 big league contests between 2022-23. Kreidler didn’t hit much in that limited look, turning in a .165/.220/.209 slash over 102 plate appearances. He owns a .242/.362/.448 mark with a lofty 27.1% strikeout rate in parts of four seasons with Toledo. McKinstry has hit .225/.296/.341 in 624 MLB plate appearances since the Tigers acquired him from the Cubs just before the start of last season. He’s a career .219/.284/.365 hitter versus right-handed pitching.
While the Tigers are patching things together on the infield, they seem to have dodged a bullet in the rotation. Jack Flaherty exited last week’s start against the Rangers after experiencing back tightness. He hasn’t pitched since then but seems on track to avoid the injured list. As noted by Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free-Press, Flaherty received an injection yesterday and is lined up to take the ball during this weekend’s series against the Astros. Signed to a one-year pillow contract over the winter, Flaherty is pitching at an All-Star level. He owns a 3.22 ERA while striking out more than a third of his opponents over his first 12 starts.
Beware of Scott Boras clients. About 90% of those signings are mistakes
Baez is a Wasserman client
“Signings are mistakes”..Guys like Baez, Bryant & Rendon are going to make many teams think twice before entering into long term agreements with players.
What kind of guy is Soto?
Baez was 29 when he signed his megadeal. Bryant and Rendon were 30. Soto isn’t even 26 yet. Whoever signs Soto should theoretically get 5-6 great years before he starts declining.
rct – Which begs the question, does Soto then deserve a 13-year $486M contract?
Bad contracts are a part of doing business for teams that want to consistently win, the important thing is not spending on players that are higher risk. Baez had declined in 2019 and 2021 while missing significant time each season, that should have been a red flag to the Tigers just like Story’s decline and injury history should have been a red flag to the Red Sox. Each was a high risk gamble, probably because their asking price was lower than other shortstops in that free agent class.
Seems like teams get burned more often trying to save money with higher risk players, you get what you pay for.
Now we can see what Kreidler can do with a real shot at being the regular shortstop for an extended period of time. I hope he can add some more offense which of course isn’t saying much, but any offense we get from SS will be a breath of fresh air.
Anything is better than Baez but I don’t expect Kreidler or McKinistry to do much either.
I expect solid defense out of Kreidler and a BA/OPS around 50 points higher than Javy. We already know what we’re getting out of McKinstry. I figure Ryan gets a majority of the ABs at short.
So much for that prediction. As of this writing he is batting .143
OPS+ of 30 shouldn’t be hard to top.
Equal trade.
Spare me. Tigers have the worst SS’s of all MLB teams. Zack and Kreidler are AAA* players, at best. We need to trade for an MLB quality SS.
Kriedler was doing great in AAA and was doing about as expected for a rookie before he got hurt. He’s simply not had the MLB ABs to determine if he’s going to be a serviceable player. Very few hitters come up from AAA and pound the ball from the beginning to the end of their career. The overwhelming majority need a full season (or more) of ABs until they become good hitters. Heck, JD Martinez needed like 3 years or more.
TroyVan, you are correct in your assessment of Kreidler. Brassroo has proven to me, he knows barely anything that he speaks of. He has opinions but no facts to back them up.
Glad to see Flaherty is back and okay. They really can’t afford to lose him if they want to maintain any hope of the playoffs.
Lmao playoffs dream on
They are in contention. You’re a joke.
2 1/2 out of the last wild card spot
This is far from a playoff quality team. Not sure they could win playoff games in AAA. Pitching is MLB+, but positional players are a joke.
If you make the playoffs you can win it. Look at last year or when the Cards beat our Tigers. Things start over in the playoffs.
I would feel good about winning a playoff game when Skubal pitches and feel ok about Flaherty. Until recently, I felt similar about Olsen. The offense and majority of the bullpen need upgraded big time though.
*Olson
I wonder if Olson is all right. He’s given up a ton of hits his last two starts
I wonder the same. Even though Mize pitched well today, I trust Olson more than him or Maeda. A lot of runs and hits in three straight starts are uncharacteristic and concerning.
Cubs fans were so upset when the front office didn’t bend over backwards to retain Bryant, Baez and Rizzo.. signing those 3 would have crippled that team for the next decade. Granted, they haven’t done much since, but at least they are in position to improve as opposed to be weighed down by players that had already peaked.
The Cubs did do things. By not keeping them they brought in prospects through having higher draft picks and getting picks from the Báez and Bryant signings, they gave playing time to younger players, and they are in a much better place now. Meanwhile, I remember like 3 years ago people called me crazy when I said the Tigers farm system was overrated and they wouldn’t be the next good team to dominate the central. Now the Tigers are in purgatory and are bordering on a failed rebuild.
They have a talent rated farm system, the Cy Young leader, a young core to build around with more on the way, a pitching coach who has a knack for maximizing players potential. They are a team on the rise.
Still at least 2 more middling, rebuild years to go through.
FWIW, MLB Pipeline ranks the Tigers as the 5th best farm system in baseball. The Athletic/NYT puts them at 6th. Bleacher Report put them at 11th, though.
I don’t remember the source but I’ve seen the Tigers ranked as high as 4th.
They are now but I’m talking 3 years ago people were telling me here they would be challenging for the playoffs.
Some Cubs fans were. But the majority, myself included were not upset to see Baez and Bryant go. Personally, Rizzo was and is the most missed player of the three.
I won’t be surprised if they move Javy. to the 60 day (since he’s talking about coming back in the second half of the season) and just shut him down for the season, if Kreidler does well. If Ryan doesn’t, option him and bring up Leonard. Both are on the 40-man, so that’ll leave a spot open for some new acquisition at the deadline, no matter if the Tigers are buying or selling, so no DFA is needed at that point. With no Javy for the rest of the season, it gives Harris some time to convince Chris to eat the Baez contract and put him out of our misery. Although, I never wish injury on anyone, there is no Mago left in El and this injury comes at the best time. He’s just devolved into being a black hole on both sides of the ball. Addition by subtraction as the saying goes.
I agree. I’m intrigued by Leonard but Kreidler should get the first shot. I still think Kreidler is a backup at best but good teams need backups.
If Baez ends up being out for the season the Tigers should be able to collect on the insurance policy they have (or should have) on his contract wh/ gives Chris I some of his money back to use on other player resources…I mean to put back into his bank account
Right- this could be a degenerative disc issue requiring spinal fusion, which would certainly end his career. It would also partially explain his sudden demise around 2021.
This could very well be the end of Baez’s career. Whatever injury he is dealing with seems to have been debilitating him since he arrived in Detroit. He has gotten progressively worse to the point he would not be rostered by any team if he were available for the prorated league minimum right now. It sure seems like he’s never going to be healthy and productive ever again.
His injury actually improves the Tigers. There’s simply no one who could be any less valuable than he has been.
I’m not sure I’m buying the back injury thing entirely. It’s supposedly been an issue since Spring Training but it hasn’t stopped him from making spectacular plays at SS like he’s always done, which include making perfect throws to 1B from the ground. Many players simply stop hitting around age 30. He hasn’t hit well in 3 years.
Kreidler just finishes his rehab assignment and all of the sudden Baez is out and may not return until the second half? They can’t send him to AAA without his permission and it’s a little premature to release him and eat the rest of the contract, so it seems like an agreed-upon arrangement to get him off the field for the time being. Kind of like a last chance for him to get his **** together. If he returns in the second half and hits, great. If not, he’s probably gone in the off-season.
He is a gamer- always has been. You never know what injury a guy is playing through. If this is just inflammation and not degenerative, then he’ll back back and perhaps released. But I doubt this is just a ploy to give him time to get his head right.
With his violent swing, I don’t doubt he’s played through back pain at times. I just don’t entirely buy it as the reason for him not being a productive hitter over the past few years. We have seen him hit a few hard shots this year including one home run, so I think the power is still there, and his body still cooperates when he’s playing defense. To me, It seems more about timing and swinging at the wrong pitches.
dkhits, when was that homer? April 14, is the answer. That’s nearly two months ago. Why do you think the power is still there? If he was healthy, he’d still have the lone home run. Even the weird split he has of hitting over .300 with RISP, seemed to be declining of late. You can try to frame it any way you can and you’re still going to come up with the Mago gone from the El.
WAS a gamer. He is ALL DONE.
That’s what I was thinking, it hasn’t hurt his fielding…..
Great comment. Meanwhile Kreidlers error on a routine ball gave them an extra at-bat. That extra at bat allowed them to tie the game and go on to win.
Things are not going well for the Tigers, it’s a miracle they are close to. 500. T h e big bust Torkelson pick, and they don’t learn from bad contracts, see Cabrera.
I think it’s way way too early to call Torkelson a big bust. 31 HR 94 RBI last season, doesn’t make him a failure at this juncture. He needs to adjust his approach. That’s why he’s back at Toledo currently. If he can’t get it together in say two or three years, then certainly he’ll be a bust. Javy wasn’t a bad signing when he joined the Tigers, as nobody foresaw him falling off a cliff as quickly as he did. If the Tigers had let Miggy walk instead of signing his extension, the fans would have revolted. The Tigers pitching has kept them around .500, so that makes you oh for four….a bad day in anyone’s standards.
.333 in Toledo
Can’t hit MLB fastballs. He is hitting in AAA, but most of his hits are breaking balls. The fastballs he has faced, so far, he hasn’t really fared that well and those have been between 89-93 mph. If he cannot handle fastballs in the heart of the plate, he is basically Mike Hessman.
Mike Hessman didn’t hit 31 HR and drive in 94 in his MLB career. Sorry, you’re wrong again.
You are right, Hessman didn’t. But Shelton and Brennan Bosch hit a few and weren’t MLB talent. I am sorry if I don’t think very highly of Tork. When I saw him in Toledo I projected him to be basically another Rob Deer type hitter. Low average; high K rate and power. He is very robotic is his approach. So, again, I realize you are the almighty, but go on with your bad self.
My bad self says you’re an idiot. Bosch was MLB talent, moron. I do agree that Shelton didn’t pan out, so a blind squirrel like you finds a nut once in a great while.
Their top 3 starters are great and they just need to find the right mix on offence. Some pieces are starting to fall in place with improvements from Keith and the catchers, and reinforcements from Toledo. Baez not playing should improve the offence and like tigerfan4ever said Tork is not a bust, not yet. They are not that far out of a playoff spot this year and openly said this year was about evaluating what they have. How can you fill holes until you know what they are.
You said that, last year.
Wow, an actual coherent comment from Superfife? Not the usual delusional nonsensical drivel? Is this a new leaf turned for the Saber toothed one? You’re going to join in with the rest of us here in reality? Please say it’s so! The act of whatever you were imagining to be got very old, very quickly.
It’s time to cut bait on Zach McKinstry too. He’s not hitting either. That goes for Akil Badoo too.
Unfortunately I would agree with you on both. Too bad about Baddoo. I kept hoping he would find that spark from his rookie year again.
I think there’s still a chance Baddoo pans out. I would give him the benefit of the doubt in his case, being he was a rule 5 pick and had never played above A ball when he was thrown into the mix. I think many forget that. By rights, he’d be at AAA right now probably if he weren’t a pick in that draft and stayed in Minnesota. McKinstry is useless and should go, ASAP.
He’s just a bench bat that plays a bunch of positions. He’s needed for versatility…just a bench guy.
Tigers won’t miss Javy’s anemic bat, he can use the rest of the season to recover. If his struggles continue into next season, he’ll probably get the DFA treatment early on in 2025.
I don’t think Javy is a Tiger in 2025, not even in Spring Training. My prediction is, he’ll be DFAd or plainly released to make room for a prospect they want to protect in rule 5.
No way they cut bait with 3 years left lol
Three years of sub-.200 hitting and below average defense? I’d bet the farm on them cutting bait. Get with the game.
For the last 5 years, or 3 years for shorter time span. Statiscally he’s one of the better SS in baseball.
They’re not cutting him with 3 years and 73m left. Your best bet is MAYBE after 2025.
Yep, let’s keep a SS who is one of the three worst offensive players in MLB and whose defense is a a quick decline, another year. You’re not one of the sharpest tools in the shed. A suggestion for you is to do your homework. Baez has either led or close to leading the league in errors in the last three seasons. He is an extreme liability who costs the Tigers multiple games each season. They have zero chance of winning with him. Zero, not minimal. The Tigers are far better off paying him NOT to play than keeping him around for another season. I will be absolutely shocked and extremely disappointed if he isn’t DFAd or released outright at the end of the season.Just eat the rest of what’s owed him and move on. I’m sure Scott Harris and Chris Ilitch have the wherewithal to make such a thing happen. In the meantime, Tigers Fan 55, as I said above, do your homework. You look pretty stupid insisting they’re not going to cut him loose before the end of 2025 because of money and years left on the contract. Enough of his horror show.
Tell that to Chrissie. He is NOTHING like his father. He seems to be a lousy businessman as well.
Too bad I can’t! Even he has to be tired of Javy, however.
Brassroo, a history lesson for you. Mr. I bought the team in 1992. He led them into notably one of the darkest period of the team’s modern history. He was WORSE than Chris until 2004, when he finally came to his senses, hired Dombrowski and got him to assist in pulling them out of the muck. But during that period previous, Mike actually quite publicly stated there was a payroll freeze placed on the Tigers as he sunk all his sports money into the Red Wings. It was a horrible time to be a Tiger fan. Chris just hired Scott Harris in 2022. Harris hired Jeff Greenberg less than a year ago. Harris is still getting to evaluate what the team’s needs are in conjunction with Chris and Jeff. Too many people are thinking an immediate change was going to happen overnight. The jury should be out on all three, especially Scott and Jeff. Even Dombrowski, who held both president and GM positions was given time by the fan base after his hiring. My entire point is that no, Chris isn’t worse than Mike was, if you know exactly what Mike did to the team during his first decade of ownership. It takes homework to make a knowledgeable judgement and not a knee jerk reaction after cherry picking and gaslighting the truth.
So uhh….who is the stupid one?
Kreidler is like Kevin Newman. If Kevin Newman struck out more.
McKinstry playing shortstop? He came up as a bat-first 2B/3B/corner OF guy with the Dodgers and was pretty poor at all of them..
McKinstry is especially poor at the batting part of “bat-first”.
Kreidler showed the world in his very first 2024 game exactly what could go wrong playing anyone at short, anyone at all, other than Javy Baez.
Considering all 3 present options, Tiger fans were more entertained watching Ray Oyler or Cesar Gutierrez choke up to the bat label while they failed to be good shortstops.
I’d far rather have McKinstry, who I term as useless and on his way out or Kreidler at SS than Baez. You’re not being smart basing Kreidler on one game. He’ll be better than the current day, healthy Baez at short and at the plate.
It seems that there’s a lot of players that get F U money and lose their edge, desire, etc. Human nature?
With this dismal offense, the Tigers should punt and get all they possibly can from guys like Flaherty and other at the deadline. There is no way we are making the playoffs with this lineup. Figure to get at the very least a top 75ish prospect and more for Flaherty at the deadline. I know it sucks, but if someone offers the farm for Skubal, and him only being arbitration eligible for 1 more year, they should listen on him too. The guys an automatic win every fifth start. Teams will pay mightily for that! Thoughts?
2 more years
I hope they make a playoff run and keep them both, but I can see a world where they explore trades for both. I would not like it at all, especially Skubal. IF they trade Skubal they better empty someone’s farm. They could trade Flaherty and bring him back too. Hopefully they go on a run.
Can Urshela not play SS?
Man, the Cubs sure dodged a bullet by not signing Baez. And they got Pete Crow-Armstrong for 2 months of him in his final season. In fact, none of the ex-Cubs are doing well. Rizzo is probably the best but he’s not nearly as productive as he used to be. But look at Baez, Bryant, Rizzo …the best player was the guy they traded to get Chapman (Gleyber Torres).
Just imagine if all those players took the Cubs offer. It would be like another $75M maybe, for about a -0- WAR?
Assuming that he is both NOT a clubhouse problem and not a career-ending injury, I think the Dodgers would be a good target. Even if he only reverted to his 2022 form, they could move Betts back to 2nd, include Lux in the trade, and have the Tigers pick up $70M of his remaining salary, including 2024.
A $5M Baez might still yet be a bargain.
Puh-lease. Even if you paid the Dodgers $10M a season, they wouldn’t take him. Put the crack pipe down.
Kind of odd, Brassroo, you telling someone to put the crack pipe down when earlier you so far off base with your cherry picking and gaslighting a comparison of Mike and Chris Ilitch. Even though I agree with you on this with the Dodgers, I don’t think you’re the appropriate one to be pointing other people’s delusions out when you, yourself don’t know what you’re talking about on certain subjects.
Ok 4ever, you are the smartest guy in the room. We should only allow you to post in this forum. Delusional is far from the truth, but hey, you run with it. Delusional would be more likely you in thinking only your opinion can be right.
I never said I’m the smartest, didn’t say I am always right and I love to hear other opinions, when there is actual facts to back it up. You don’t. You cherry pick to make your points, i.e. Chris Ilitch. Go and read my response to you when you made Mike a deity and Chris a moron. You indeed are not a very smart person, regarding baseball, especially Tigers baseball. You’ve shown me that in a limited amount of time. You make STYMEEDONE look like a genius and his cheese has slipped completely off his cracker with his Scott Harris hatred. He was good and informative before that hiring. At least he had that. You have barely anything from the get go.
It’s asymptomatic, a responsible American, even considering giving a HALF A BILLION DOLLARS, to a baseball player.
You do know what they should have done…..
Evelyn, the Modified Dog, approved this message.
Nobody cares what approved your message. Fake endorsements don’t enhance your comments or legitimize them.
People have gathered by the tens of thousands, all across the world, to hear men quote what Evelyn has said.
More people go the hear quotes from Evelyn than went to the Tigers’ game yesterday……
You don’t know Evelyn like I know Evelyn.
Blah, blah, freaking blah. Another useless comment by Superfife.
First of all, I do love Jackson Jobe’s potential. Nothing against him.
But when you look at the AWFUL, worst in all of baseball SS depth chart for the Tigers–from MLB down to low A ball, including the worst offensive player in entire MLB (Baez) and his 4-A level alternatives–it certainly pains me to realize how much better off at this moment I’d feel it Marcelo Mayer was getting the call up versus Kreidler.
And OMFG…if sub-200 hitters McKinstry or Kreidler go down to injury? We’re basically guaranteed to be playing someone out of position as there isn’t a legitimate SS option from double A on up
A little early to judge Kreidler as a sub-.200 hitter, obviously….but the pressure is on him to perform. If he went down, as I said in a different thread, there’s still Eddys Leonard at Toledo. I’d love to see what he can do as well. I’ve also said many times before that McKinstry is worthless and should be DFAd.
Mayer didn’t want to play in Detroit was my understanding and sorry but I’ll take Jobe all day over him anyway. Al got that one right. I agree with tigersfan4ever that it would be good to get a look at Leonard. Even if his defence is only passable he can’t be a worse hitter than Baez. I have little faith in Kreudler beyond becoming McKinistry’s replacement.
McGonigle was drafted as a SS but most feel he will end up at 2B. He can hit so if his defence is decent I wonder if they won’t keep him at SS. Peyton Graham is still young too.
I’d like them to make a trade for a young SS.