Javier Báez has one of the worst contracts in the MLB, but why did the Tigers give it to him?
On December 1st, 2021, Javier Báez signed a six-year, $140 million contract with the Detroit Tigers. Fresh off the final year of his contract with the Cubs, he was traded to the Mets mid-season. He batted .265, with an On-Base percentage of .319 and slugging .494 with 31 home runs and 18 stolen bases. In his time with the Cubs from 2014 to 2021, he had won the World Series, made the All-Star team twice, won a Silver Slugger, won a Gold Glove, and finished 2nd place in NL MVP voting in 2018.
At the time of the signing, the team’s owner, Christopher Ilitch, said it was a “turning point for the Tigers.” From 2015 to 2021, the Tigers were the definition of mediocre. They missed the playoffs every year and were slowly selling off their veterans and young players.
Justin Verlander, who was a Rookie of the Year, a Cy Young winner, and an MVP for the Tigers was traded to the Astros for a prospect package including Franklin Pérez, who never pitched in an MLB game, Daz Cameron, who only played 73 games in 3 years for the Tigers, and Jake Rogers, who has been the Tigers everyday Catcher since 2023. Verlander won 2 Cy Young awards in his first 4 full years with the Astros, on top of 2 World Series titles where he was the Ace in the Astros pitching rotation.
Nick Castellanos, who was a young player who looked to be a Tigers mainstay for the future, was traded in 2019 to the Cubs for Paul Richan, who never made it to the big leagues, and Alex Lange, who has been a below average closer for the Tigers.
Ian Kinsler, a veteran who had been an All-Star his first season with the Tigers, was traded for Troy Montgomery and Wilkel Hernandez, 2 players who never made the league.
J.D. Martinez had hit 38 home runs for the Tigers in 2015, and was traded in 2017 for Jose King, who never made the league, Sergio Alcántara, who played 10 games for the Tigers, and Dewel Lugo, who had a -1.1 WAR in his 3 seasons with the Tigers, entered free agency in 2020 and hasn’t been signed since.
The one player the Tigers held on to through the bad years was Miguel Cabrera, a back-to-back MVP First Baseman who hit .311 for his career with 511 home runs.
The Tigers were selling. Hard. However, during their tanking years, they had made some important draft picks, the biggest ones being Spencer Torkelson, Tarik Skubal, and Riley Greene. They had great farm talent and the fans were tired of the tank. The signing of Javier Báez was viewed at the time as the savior of Detroit Baseball that would lead the Tigers out of their struggle. Manager A.J. Hinch said “He’s a perfect fit, and as the manager, I couldn’t be happier.”
Báez was immediately disappointing in his first season with the Tigers. He batted .238 with a .278 On-Base percentage and a .393 slugging percentage. He was in the bottom 8% when it came to walk rate, only walking on 4.4% of his plate appearances. He struck out 24.9% of the time. In all of his seasons with at least 100 games played, he hit a career low in batting average, On-Base percentage, and slugging percentage.
The next year, he got even worse. .222% batting average, .267% On-Base percentage, and a .325% slugging percentage. Less RBI’s, Home Runs, Doubles, Hits, and Runs. The one thing he was good at: Fielding. He was the 6th best Shortstop in the MLB when it came to run prevention. Outside of that however, he wasn’t anything to be proud of.
Fast forward to this year. Javier Báez is one of the worst batters in the league. He has the highest Chase% in the league. He has one of the lowest batting averages at .184%. He has one of the worst On-Base percentages at .221%. The one positive about his game before, his fielding, has gone down to the point he is a negative run preventer.
He is on contract for $25 million in 2025 and $24 million in 2026 and 2027. Plenty of washed up players have bad contracts though. The problem with Báez’ is that the Tigers have several young players that will be making more money soon, either through arbitration or new contracts.
The current active roster payroll is $62,117,061. Javier Báez is $25 million of it. 4 of the current 5 highest potential players in their young core, Spencer Torkelson, Riley Greene, Tarik Skubal, and Kerry Carpenter, are eligible for arbitration in either 2025 (Skubal) or 2026 (Greene, Carpenter, and Torkelson) and will make more money then they are making now. It wouldn’t be shocking if by 2027 the Tigers payroll goes over $100 million.
The real problem is Javier Báez has no trade value. The Tigers are stuck with him, no matter if he bounces back or not. The silver lining is he is only 31. He could always put it together and get back to the Gold Glove award winner and defensive maestro he was. The answer has yet to be determined.
