The last thing Javier Baez needed this season was an injury.
The Detroit Tigers shortstop was already one of the worst everyday hitters in MLB. A career .252 hitter, he’s hit .183 so far this season with an OPS of .456. The worst single-season OPS since 1900 was Bobby Byrne with a mark of .450 in 1908, so Baez is only six points away from all-time futility.
Throw in the fact that Baez’s normally steady defense at shortstop has been up and down in 2024 (he has seven errors so far this season), and the Tigers have certainly been regretting the six-year, $140 million contract they gave him in 2021.
And now, to make matters worse, he’s injured.
Per ESPN, Detroit has placed Baez on the 10-day injured list due to lumbar spine inflammation. It’s retroactive to June 9, but one has to wonder if this is Detroit’s slow way of phasing the man once known as “El Mago” off the team.
He’d already been getting less and less playing time at shortstop at the hands of manager A.J. Hinch, and if the player called up in his stead, shortstop Ryan Kreidler from Triple-A Toledo, can be anything short of average, it wouldn’t be a surprise if the Tigers just find a way to move on.
After all, this season, even an average shortstop would be better than Baez in the lineup. And sure, Tigers owner Chris Ilitch would still owe Baez just over $75 million in guaranteed money, but for a floundering organization like Detroit full of young and impressionable players — perhaps eating that money would be worth it to send a message that nobody’s job is safe in the organization if underperforming becomes the norm.