Detroit Tigers Manager Offers High Praise For Javier Báez In Recovery Update
The Detroit Tigers head into 2025 with a lot of questions coming off the epic postseason runs, but one of the biggest is shortstop.
Granted, Trey Sweeney filled in admirably as a rookie after the team acquired him from the Los Angeles Dodgers in the Jack Flaherty trade, but Sweeney is not supposed to have to play at the big league level as the full time Tigers shortstop. If everything had gone according to plan, that role would be locked down by Javier Báez after the team gave him a six-year, $140 million contract prior to the 2022 season.
But since Báez has arrived in Detroit, it's been a complete and utter mess. A combination of injuries and dreadful performance, likely going hand-in-hand, have resulted in the deal looking like one of the worst in baseball. After two bad seasons, Báez took a turn for the worse in 2024 numbers wise and wound up playing in just 80 games after having season-ending hip surgery. Given that Detroit has nothing to lose by letting Báez try to prove himself once again, he is expected to get another shot if he's healthy. Though things haven't gone according to plan, manager A.J. Hinch offered high praise for Báez as he works his way through the rehab process and tries to get back on the field.
"He’s been very diligent in his work and very diligent in his rehab process," Hinch said via Michigan Live. "He hasn’t had a misstep or anything that gives us doubt or pause that he’s not going to be fully healthy when the time comes....I don’t know when that is, and I don’t know what he’s going to be able to give us as we get into the spring. But I’ve been very proud of his communication and his diligence. The program he’s on is giving him the best chance to get back to being healthy."
At this point, anything that Báez brings is a bonus with a contract that is as of now a complete dud. Báez was not horrible in the first year of the deal in 2022 with a .238 average, a .671 OPS, 17 home runs, and a 2.4 WAR, but things only got worse from there. In 2023, he posted a .593 OPS and his WAR dropped to 0.6, but even those numbers are nothing compared to what he did when he was on the field in 2024.
There's a serious case to be made that for his 80 games this past season, Báez was the worst player in baseball. With a .184 average, an OPS of .516 and an OPS+ of 46, Báez became unplayable with a -1.1 WAR before he was shut down.
While currently the deal is a complete mess and likely still will be a year from now, the Tigers are still paying Báez for three more years and might as well try one more time to see what they can get out of him. If he can be even close to just average, it would be a win.
The fact that Báez seems to still be engaged mentally and trying to make a comeback is at the very least nice to hear.
