Welcome to New York, Javy Baez!

[G-Fafif]

According to team sources, Lindor spoke highly of Baez to owner Steve Cohen. Cohen and Lindor have a strong relationship, but that is not unique at Citi Field. Lindor is highly respected in the clubhouse as well.

https://www.sny.tv/articles/sources-francisco-lindor-recommended-javier-baez-to-mets-owner-steve-cohenhttps://www.sny.tv/articles/sources-francisco-lindor-recommended-javier-baez-to-mets-owner-steve-cohen

[Edgy MD]

Wait, am I really supposed to throw a party because the team is giving up a movie-star first-round draft pick for the league leader in strikeouts, with only 15 walks on the other side of the ledger?

[Benjamin Grimm]

I predict that Lindor will have a captain's "C" on his Mets uniform within a couple of years.



I also think that the Mets will extend Baez before he hits free agency.



And that JD Davis will be a Cub by tomorrow.

[Benjamin Grimm]

Edgy MD wrote: Wait, am I really supposed to throw a party because the team is giving up a movie-star first-round draft pick for the league leader in strikeouts, with only 15 walks on the other side of the ledger?

Well, maybe you can just put out some chips and dip.

[TransMonk]

Benjamin Grimm wrote: I also think that the Mets will extend Baez before he hits free agency.

Agreed.

[G-Fafif]

[bmfc1]

1B Pete

2B Baez

SS Lindor

3B McNeil

Wow.

[Ceetar]

This is better than Guillorme, but like, when Lindor is back this does NOT help the run creation portion of it.



Feels like they went for splashy over quality.

[Edgy MD]

Is this really a wow?



Because I don't want to be the stinkaroonie, but I'm looking at this .292 on-base percentage, which followed a .238 last year, and it's not moving my heart.



I certainly welcome his glove and his power, but I'm not thinking that these were what the team was lacking.

[batmagadanleadoff]

Edgy MD wrote: Is this really a wow? Because I don't want to be the stinkaroonie, but I'm looking at this .292 on-base percentage, which followed a .238 last year, and it's not moving my heart. I certainly welcome his glove and his power, but I'm not thinking that these were what the team was lacking.

Hs OBP's have always been fucking dreadful, not just the last two seasons, but even in his very best years. His best ever single season OBP was .326. His lifetime OBP is .303.

[86dreamer]

Edgy MD wrote: Is this really a wow? Because I don't want to be the stinkaroonie, but I'm looking at this .292 on-base percentage, which followed a .238 last year, and it's not moving my heart. I certainly welcome his glove and his power, but I'm not thinking that these were what the team was lacking.

I share all your fears about his OBP and if he is what we needed. If I am trading a top prospect, it would have been for a SP. But maybe there is more to this McNeil injury than they are telling us. Deal makes a lot more sense if that is the case.



I see Baez as a higher quality version of Villar. If McNeil is healthy, I'd keep writing in Guillorme most days for the OBP and defense, and start platooning Dom and JD. That combo in LF should be more productive without hurting D, the infield gets both an offensive and defensive upgrade, and Villar improves the bench.

[G-Fafif]

Official release. No latent additions from either side.

METS ACQUIRE ALL-STAR INFIELDER JAVIER BÁEZ AND RHP TREVOR WILLIAMS FROM CHICAGO FLUSHING, N.Y., July 30, 2021 – The New York Mets today announced the club has acquired two-time All-Star infielder Javier Báez, RHP Trevor Williams and cash considerations from the Chicago Cubs in exchange for minor league outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong. Báez, 28, has spent his entire eight-year major league career with the Cubs. This season with Chicago-NL, he is tied for sixth in the National League with 65 RBI and tied for seventh with 22 home runs. He has a 2.8 WAR according to Baseball-Reference. Since 2016, his first full major league season, he has accumulated 9.6 defensive WAR, tied for fourth in the majors and tied for second in the NL. Báez is a four-time winner of The Fielding Bible Award for defensive excellence. He won the award three times as a multi-position player and was honored as a shortstop last year. The 6-0, 190-pounder was named an NL All-Star in 2018 and 2019, won a Gold Glove in 2020 and was an NL Silver Slugger recipient in 2018, when he finished as the runner-up for the NL MVP Award. The Bayamon, Puerto Rico native won the 2016 World Series with Chicago-NL. That October, he was named the NLCS Co-MVP with LHP Jon Lester. Báez became the first player in major league history to start the All-Star Game at second base and shortstop in consecutive seasons. Williams, 29, has made 13 appearances (12 starts) for the Cubs this season, going 4-2 with a 5.06 ERA (33 earned runs/58.2 innings) with 22 walks and 61 strikeouts. He has appeared in 119 games (106 starts) across six major league seasons between the Pirates (2016-2020) and Cubs (2021). Overall, he is 35-39 with a 4.49 ERA (296 earned runs/593.1 innings) with 199 walks and 477 strikeouts. He was originally selected by the Marlins in the second round of the 2013 First-Year Player Draft out of Arizona State University. Williams has made two starts at Citi Field and owns a 1.93 ERA (three earned runs/14.0 innings) with four walks and 10 strikeouts. Crow-Armstrong, 19, was the Mets first-round pick in the 2020 First-Year Player Draft out of Harvard-Westlake High School in California. He appeared in six games with the St. Lucie Mets before he suffered a season-ending shoulder injury. He underwent surgery on his right shoulder for a GLAD lesion (glenoid labral articular disruption) in May.

[Benjamin Grimm]

So it's just PCA and nobody else? Huh.

[Ceetar]

Cubs are throwing in cash too.

[Benjamin Grimm]

Anthony diComo wrote: About an hour before the Trade Deadline on Friday, Mets general manager Zack Scott emerged from the clubhouse to engage in a brief conversation with shortstop Francisco Lindor, who was taking ground balls on the field. The two spoke for several moments before Scott descended back into the bowels of Citi Field. A few minutes later, surrounded by his teammates, Lindor let out a joyful scream.

[Edgy MD]

Is Zack Scott now the the general manager with no "acting" before his title or is diComo just tweeting and being sloppy?



Did I forget something?

[Frayed Knot]

Benjamin Grimm wrote: I also think that the Mets will extend Baez before he hits free agency. Agreed.

Don't agree ... certainly not as a pre-planned strategy.

[smg58]

Baez's glove and versatility (combined, most likely, with McNeil's versatility) makes this a good upgrade, with two caveats:



1. Baez will not find Citi as friendly to his approach as Wrigley Field was. Keep your offensive expectations conservative.



2. If they could have given up less than Crow-Armstrong to get just Baez, adding Trevor Williams was a very bad move.

[smg58]

Frayed Knot wrote: Benjamin Grimm wrote: I also think that the Mets will extend Baez before he hits free agency. Agreed. Don't agree ... certainly not as a pre-planned strategy.

I don't agree either. I would really want to see how he plays here before I considered it.

[TransMonk]

I'm not saying I think it's a good idea. But if I were a betting man making a binary choice about what the club will do...

[Lefty Specialist]

I'd let this season play out until before extending him. There are a lot of moving parts here.

[Frayed Knot]

We're unlikely to discover anything about JB over the next two months that we don't already know: great and versatile D, power but low OBPs plus high Ks and zero plate discipline.

Not sure how anxious they should be to extend such an animal.

[Edgy MD]

Frayed Knot wrote: We're unlikely to discover anything about JB over the next two months that we don't already know: great and versatile D, power but low OBPs plus high Ks and zero plate discipline. Not sure how anxious they should be to extend such an animal.

Like, league-leading high K's. The kind of thing that seems like just statistical noise until he's doing it for your team.



New Crane Pool Forum Rule: Don't post while cycling.

[Fman99]

I love this trade. He's a MLB slugger and an immediate lineup upgrade, OBP/Ks notwithstanding.

[seawolf17]

I have no interest in an extension either right now, but a lot can happen between now and winter. And dude *is* only 28.

[kcmets]

Lefty Specialist wrote: I'd let this season play out until before extending him. There are a lot of moving parts here.

Frayed Knot wrote: We're unlikely to discover anything about JB over the next two months... ...Not sure how anxious they should be to extend such an animal.

Thirded.

[G-Fafif]

[Chad ochoseis]

I'm not seeing him as anything more than a fill-in for Lindor in case the oblique keeps him out for 6-8 weeks, which isn't unheard of, and then a defensive upgrade at 2B once Lindor returns. Longer term, an infield of Pete or Dom-Baez-Lindor-McNeil doesn't excite me any more than Pete/Dom - McNeil - Lindor - JD.



I don't like trading high ceiling prospects, but for all the talk of the team needing a "real" CF, Nimmo's been plenty real lately. Not sure there was going to be a spot opening for PCA unless Conforto were to walk, and I'd rather see the Mets buy low on Conforto during the off-season. So I don't hate the trade, but it's a rental.

[Benjamin Grimm]

When I predicted an extension for Baez, I didn't mean that it's going to happen in the next few weeks. I'm thinking it will happen between the last game of the season and the start of free agency. That may not technically be an "extension" so perhaps I used the wrong word.

[A Boy Named Seo]

He's an imperfect player (duh) but brings raw power, all caps EXCITEMENT, and elite defense up the middle. The thing this signals to me most, worrisome or not, is a commitment to making Lindor as comfortable as possible, so we get the Lindor we know exists for the next 9+ years. Is that worth Pete Crow-Armstrong? If it works, then most likely yes.



And it's not like Báez is Mike Glavine or anything, he's a very good, in-his-prime player and I'd bet a round of expensive beers at Citi Field they extend or re-sign him.