Chicago Cubs: Five realistic trade scenarios for Javier Baez

Chicago Cubs: The champs are looking to repeat in ’21

If the Dodgers have been connected and rumored to be interested in acquiring the services of one Francisco Lindor, wouldn’t it then make sense that they’d also be in the Baez market as well? I mean, if things don’t work out with the Indians and Lindor, Baez would certainly be a sweet fallback option. Plus, Baez will make about eight million dollars less than Lindor next year. Not that the Dodgers would normally care about money, but in this Covid environment, that play might even be more intriguing to them.

Baez would give the Dodgers yet another presence in their lineup, and a super talented defender. Most of their lineup looks like the 2016 Cubs in that they work at bats and get on base at a high clip, meaning Baez would be a great hammer in the middle of more selective bats. Gee, that sounds sorta familiar when the Cubs are doing what we expect them to.

Moving to another big city and the bright lights of Hollywood wouldn’t bother Baez one bit, and the Dodgers would love to bring in a star to replace Justin Turner’s bat in the lineup. A trade for El Mago would be the proverbial gauntlet thrown at the rest of the National League, as the best would get noticeably better defensively and probably not miss much of a beat on offense either.

Oh, and the Dodgers have one of the best farm systems in the game, ranked third by MLB Pipeline, so they definitely have the pieces to pique the Cubs interest in making a deal.