NEWSLETTER
I guess it’s going to be another day. Overnight, word broke that Javy Báez is close to signing with the Detroit Tigers. Not that anyone expected him to return to the Chicago Cubs at this point, but this would obviously be the final word.
Source: Javier Báez is close to signing a multiyear deal with #Tigers. @MLB @MLBNetwork
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) November 30, 2021
Javier Báez’s deal with the #Tigers, if completed, is expected to be for 6 years. @MLB @MLBNetwork
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) November 30, 2021
The Tigers became the big rumored team for Báez late last week, and there’s an obvious fit/need/timeline there that makes sense. A part of me wishes Báez would wind up, if not with the Cubs, then at least in a huge market where the spotlight can shine bright. At least it’d be easy to root for him to succeed in Detroit, though.
Anyway, we’ll track this through the morning until it gets done, but at six years, you can expect that Báez is getting a significant deal. I’m gonna guess he’ll top a $25 million AAV, and the big question will be whether he can top the reported extension offer he received from the Cubs before the 2020 season. That one was eight years and $168 million, per Buster Olney, but included 2020 (salary wound up $10 million) and 2021 (salary wound up $11.6 million), so he really only needs to get $147 million or so to have done better than that offer. I think it will happen.
UPDATE: Might wind up just shy of that mark:
Javier Baez and the Tigers are nearing a deal, per source. It is expected to be a six-year contract worth $140 million.
— Mark Feinsand (@Feinsand) November 30, 2021
We all know the risks of Javy Báez on a deal like that, and maybe the heartstrings get too involved, but it’s not THAT hard to argue that would’ve been a reasonable deal for the Cubs.
UPDATE 2: Ah, well, an opt-out after just two years kinda changes the calculus a bit:
Javier Báez’s six-year, $140 agreement with the Tigers includes an opt-out after two years and a limited no-trade clause allowing him to block deals to 10 teams each year, sources tell @TheAthletic. First to report news of the deal: @jonmorosi and @feinsand.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) November 30, 2021
It’ll depend a bit on how the money is structured (if it’s mega backloaded, then he’s obviously a lot less likely to opt out), but that seems like a really good contract for Báez. Good for him.
