By Jordan Long
The Chicago Cubs are 6-9 to start the season. They look to improve on that record, hosting a 3-game set against the New York Mets. Chicago’s starting shortstop, Javier Baez, is going to be a free agent once the year is up. Chicago is trying to avoid allowing him to test free agency.
This is Baez’s 8th year with the Chicago Cubs but his 6th as the starting shortstop. Baez is the Cubs’ top shortstop. He has been placed at the position for 401 games, making a total of 52 errors. Last year he committed 8 errors and was involved in 34 double plays. Despite the errors, Baez won his first Gold Glove as the best shortstop for his defense. This season he has 3 errors so far. He needs to keep that number down if he wants to win another Gold Glove.
The Cubs like him for his batting. He can smack home runs and place the ball in the gap for doubles or triples. In 56 plate appearances this year, Baez is hitting .214 with 4 home runs and 2 doubles and he has a career .263 batting average. When he is on base, his speed helps him steal a base to be in scoring position. He has stolen 5 bases this year and has yet to be caught.
The only problem with his offense is he is a free swinger. Baez will take risks by trying to smack a ball outside of the strike zone, ending in strikeouts. This season so far Baez has 27. In his previous seasons, 4 of them ended with 100+ strikeouts. His most was in 2018 with 167.
The Cubs would like to keep him on the North Side of Chicago for years to come. The Cubs are trying to work with him on a new contract. According to MSN.com, the Cubs offered Baez a multi-year contract worth between $160 million to $170 million which occurred during Spring Training last year. He turned it down.
Baez wants a deal that is fair to him. It could be less than $200 million but more than what the Cubs offered. The Cubs will still want to talk to him before he hits free agency. The best case is they agree to one before the season ends or even during the offseason. The worst case is Baez is offered an agreement by another team he can’t refuse. Chicago will then have to look for a new shortstop. Chicago should do all they can to keep Baez. He is a large part of what they do on defense. It would be difficult to replace. Hopefully, the Cubs find middle ground and Baez stays around for a long time.
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