Player Data: Age: 28 (12/1/1992), B/T: R/R
Primary Stats: 47 G, 186 PA, .299 BA, .371 OBP, .515 SLG, .886 OPS, 50 H, 9 HR, 22 RBI, 13 BB, 53 SO
Advanced Stats: 143 wRC+, 28.5% K%, 5.1% BB%, .390 BABIP, .378 wOBA, 1.7 fWAR, 1.9 bWAR
2021 Salary: $11.6 million
Grade: A
2021 Review
Javier Báez has been one of baseball’s most exciting players since he entered the league with the Chicago Cubs in 2014. Báez is a free-swinging power hitter, and he is in the top-tier of middle infield defenders. Despite finishing as the runner-up for National League MVP in 2018 and following it with another all-star campaign in 2019, Báez’s low walk-rate and high strikeout-rate coupled with his poor 2020 COVID season caused concerns about if he could get back to his all-star form in 2021.
With free agency coming up, Báez said in a Spanish interview with Mega 106.9 that he would like to play with Francisco Lindor, and New York was the only place he would consider playing second base. Just three days later, the Mets acquired Báez and Trevor Williams from the Cubs for Pete Crow-Armstrong. With Lindor out with an oblique strain, Báez would play shortstop then move to second base when Lindor returned.
When the Mets acquired Báez at the trade deadline, he was slashing .248/.293/.484 with 22 home runs in 91 games. He was striking out 36.3% of the time and walking just 4.2% of the time. After having a solid April and May, Báez struggled mightily in June, hitting just .157 with six walks and 37 strikeouts over 83 at bats. He rebounded with a huge July hot-streak for the Cubs, hitting .328 with just 22 strikeouts over 67 at bats before joining the Mets on July 30.
Báez first action as a Met is recorded as April 11 where he famously scored the winning run against the Marlins in a five-run ninth inning comeback and lost his earring in a game that was resumed on August 31 (still not sure why MLB doesn’t score these games with the dates they were actually played on.) In his actual first game as a Met on July 31, “El Mago” hit a two-run home run in the sixth inning that sparked a Mets comeback win over the Cincinnati Reds.
After just eight games, Báez joined the endless list of injured Mets. He was removed from the game against the Phillies on August 8, and was placed on the injured list with back spasms on August 13. When he returned, he looked like 2018 Javy.
Báez came out of the gates hot, hitting two doubles in his return to the lineup in a win in Los Angeles over the Dodgers. In eight August games after returning from the injured list, he hit .267. The .267 average becomes .290 over nine games when you include the hit that counts as an April hit against Miami.
In September, Báez took off. The Puerto Rican middle infielder slashed .361/.441/.577 with five home runs over the season’s final month. From September 8-12, Báez had a five game hitting streak that included multi-hit games in each of the last four games. After drawing a walk but going hitless on September 13, he responded with a 13 game hitting streak from September 14-29.
Báez hit .326 from August 22 through the end of the season (.331 with the April hit since I am still not over how that works.) While seeing Báez return to hitting the ball the way he had during his best years in Chicago was a promising sign, the most notable change was his walk-rate rising while his strikeout-rate dropped. Báez’s walk rate was 2.8% higher as a Met, while his strikeout-rate was 7.8% lower.
In his brief time as a Met, Báez showed Mets fans why he is called “El Mago.” The highlight reel plays he made in the field and on the bases seemed to happen on a nightly basis. While these kind of plays may not always be noticeable in a box-score, the impact he can have on any given night was noticeable to anyone who watched him play as a Met.
The only reason Báez did not receive an A+ grade is for his role in the thumbs-down fiasco. Báez said the team’s thumbs-down gesture when they had success was to let fans know how it felt to be booed the way they were when they didn’t succeed. Even if he had a point that fans may have been too quick to boo him and his teammates, admitting to the media that you are booing your own fans is not the best idea.
2022 Outlook
Báez is currently a free agent, but SNY‘s Andy Martino reported that he and the Mets could agree on a deal early in free agency. While it is no sure thing that Báez will return, his relationship with Lindor, the success he had in New York in 2021 and his public comments about wanting to stay make it hard to imagine the the two sides not coming to an agreement. He is expected to get anywhere from $150-$200 million in free agency.
“I think me and Lindor are closer than KB and Rizzo,” Báez told NBC Chicago‘s Gordon Wittenmyer referring to his former teammates Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo. “I would love to stay here and play with him.”
Lindor and Báez both thrived on both sides of the ball while playing together. If Báez returns to the Mets and continues to show he can be a more disciplined hitter, a return to being an all-star can be his floor in 2022 while being a part of one of the best middle infield duos the game has ever seen is his ceiling.
