Despite continuing to have a pretty firm grip on the NL Central, the Chicago Cubs have a real problem at third base. Having already tried Matt Shaw, Gage Workman, Vidal Brujan, and Jon Berti at the position with varying degrees of failure, it’s looking more and more likely that the franchise might look to the trade market for a solution.
As it turns out, there is one former Cub who was and is (in some circles) a fan favorite who is having a resurgent season. The talk on social media has already started to focus on “can the Cubs get him back?” One reason why the great El Mago, Javier Baez, might be most attractive again is that he’s taken on a kind of Ben Zobrist role with the Detroit Tigers.
Baez was dealt by the Cubs at the trade deadline in 2021 to the New York Mets and signed with the Tigers in that offseason. At the time, most Chicago fans breathed a sigh of relief that the team had freed itself from a player who seemed to be on the obvious decline. However, after three consecutive seasons of progressively worse OPS+ numbers (91, 63, 46), he’s posted an OPS+ of 119 this year while being quite the jack of all trades.
Baez has played just 6 games at shortstop, while spending more time in center field (11 games) and third base (12 games). His versatility and ability to play the hot corner, along with his .291/.330/.430 slashline might make him all the more attractive to Cubs fans who are desperate to see some real production from the position.
However, it’s important to remember that May just started. Baez’s turnaround seems exactly like the kind that isn’t sustainable because of how dramatic the turnaround has been so far this year.
There’s also the factor that the Tigers are looking like a contender in a big way. It doesn’t seem likely they would trade away one of their most versatile players. On the other hand, his contract is relatively large, especially in terms of his production level. Of course, one of the reasons why the Cubs should stay far away from El Mago is his $25 million per year contract.
Nevertheless, it might be in the Chicago Cubs’ best interest if Javier Baez started struggling before the calls to “bring him home” get even louder among the fanbase.
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