Pete Crow-Armstrong was acquired for Javier Baez. Crow-Armstrong grew up admiring Baez’s game and is perhaps the current Cubs player who comes the closest to replicating Baez’s swashbuckling style of play.
So it’s appropriate that Crow-Armstrong’s locker used to be Baez’s, though the young outfielder didn’t know that until Sunday when he was reminiscing with clubhouse attendants and they figured it out.
“He meant a lot to this place,” Crow-Armstrong told the Sun-Times. “It was an interesting swap at the time, that I didn’t quite understand but now that I’m here I see why he was so loved. The amount of support that he still has from this fanbase is huge, the amount of people wearing his jerseys. The mark that he left here is just special. It’s huge.”
Baez and the Cubs will be reminded of that when the Tigers visit Wrigley Field beginning Tuesday, marking Baez’s first time back since his 2021 trade to the Mets as part of the World Series team’s final breakup. Baez will be feted with a video, and certainly be greeted with loud ovations from fans who swooned for his swagger, power and impact on the 2016 champions and other contenders in the second half of the 2010s.
And even in an era with players such as Kris Bryant, Anthony Rizzo, Kyle Schwarber and Willson Contreras, Baez might have been the most fiercely loved by Cubs fans.
“Just an incredible combination of on-field production and winning but also the style and flair,” second baseman Nico Hoerner said to the Sun-Times. “He played the game hard, too. He played to win.”
What won’t be top of mind to Cubs fans is what’s happened to Baez over the past three years.
After signing a six-year, $140 million contract with the Tigers before the 2022 season, Baez’s offense has crumbled. His OPS+ of 71 is 29% below league average, has hit only 32 home runs and collected a .263 on-base percentage. Unlike his time with the Cubs, Baez’s most viral moments in Detroit have been baserunning blunders and flailing at unhittable breaking balls, adding up to perhaps the worst contract for a team in Major League Baseball.
That’s not the player who won co-MVP honors in the 2016 NLCS, hit a key home run against the Cardinals in Game 4 of the 2015 NLDS or ignited Wrigley Field with his no-look tags and acrobatic slides. It’s not what Cubs manager Craig Counsell saw when he was leading the Brewers and had a front-row seat to the 2018 duel between Baez and Milwaukee’s Christian Yelich for the National League MVP, or when Baez followed up with an arguably better season in 2019.
“He was uber-talented and super-talented,” Counsell said. “I’m surprised.”
Counsell only managed against him and didn’t share a locker room or dugout with Baez. Hoerner did, and effectively replaced Baez as the starting Cubs shortstop in 2022 before the 2023 arrival of Dansby Swanson.
Hoerner saw the flair and dramatic moments, but also viewed Baez behind the scenes. He saw Baez play through injuries and witnessed his baseball smarts. And on Tuesday, Hoerner, Crow-Armstrong, Counsell and the 2024 Cubs will again see how Wrigley customers never forget somebody who helped deliver a lot of winning and excitement.
“It’s important for us players that are here now in the present to understand the impact you can have as a player here whether you’re Javy Baez or another guy on this team, how much winning here matters and how much they remember the legends that have done it,” Hoerner said. “He deserves that for a lifetime in Chicago.”