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Originally Posted by jd1020
I've never said Baez was going to be elite. I've said he's a good defender, in this case average, and that he has 30 HR power which is huge for a MI. If Baez can even get his BA up to 260 he's probably an All-Star. It remains to be seen if he can make the necessary changes at the plate to do that at the major league level.
At the end of the day I think either he or Castro wont be in the Cubs franchise opening day 2016. I'm leaning Baez because I'm not holding my breath he calms that swing down enough to reach his minor league batting numbers in the majors. Still think they'll get a pretty decent return on him in a trade.
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Depends on how much patience Maddon has.
If I'm a Cubs fan, I'd prefer Castro but that guy's still a space cadet. The Castro of 2014 is a better complementary part for the rest of the guys in your lineup than Baez is. Perhaps Baez can just scare pitchers so badly that they pitch him carefully and he'll draw enough walks to become a nice piece in that lineup. If not, I just don't see how he fits. With a team that will likely have 4 truly outstanding offensive players in it in Russell, Rizzo, Bryant and Soler, an out generating machine like Baez isn't worth the power he brings.
If you can get Castro giving you a .300 BA and a .340 OBP, that's a damn nice complement to the other guys and he keeps the lineup turning over to get those guys more ABs. You'll trade power for OBP there because of the rest of the parts in the lineup.
But can Maddon handle his flakiness. I suspect he can handle the 'cute' flakiness like his shenanigans with Bryant yesterday. But when he turns his back to the IF on a routine pop-fly and lets Carpenter tag up and score from 3b like he did 2 seasons ago? When he's picking grass as the pitch is being delivered? I suspect Maddon won't think so highly of that.
I'm actually a fan of Castro and was hopeful that the Cards would make a move for him after the 2013 season when the Cubs were just looking to unload his contract. He's a solid player. But I don't have to watch him everyday either and I'm not sure I could handle the mental lapses.