How This Resurgent Tiger Went From Disastrous Contract to MLB All-Star

When the Detroit Tigers gave out a six-year, $140 million contract to Javier Baez ahead of the 2022 season, eyebrows went up all over MLB.

The organization believed it was bringing in a top shortstop to help shepherd in a new era of winning baseball in the Motor City, but there were red flags all over his profile.

Baez was abysmal with the Chicago Cubs in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, but he bounced back in 2021 when he was traded from Chicago to the New York Mets. However, he struck out more than any other hitter in the NL that season.

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As it turned out, those red flags were signs of things to come rather than aberrations. Baez joined the Tigers and immediately fell off, posting OPS marks of .671, .593 and .516 in the first half of his contract.

Heading into this season, pretty much all interested parties accepted that the contract was a massive error and that Baez's best days were long behind him.

That is, everyone except the man himself, as Baez has embraced a new role on a competitive team as a versatile utility player and regained some of the aspects of his game that once made him one of the sport's top shortstops.

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Now, he's earned his way into the MLB all-star game, and MLB.com analyst Jared Greenspan dubbed the feat as the top all-star that nobody saw coming before the season.

"Over a two-year span from 2023 to ’24, only Tim Anderson and Martín Maldonado had a lower OPS than Báez (.566), who slashed .208/.251/.315," Greenspan wrote. "After offseason hip surgery, Báez showed up to Spring Training and, partially because of his natural athleticism, but also out of necessity."

As a result, Detroit has benefited from an unbelievable turnaround and now has a queen-on-the-chessboard type of piece for manager AJ Hinch to deploy wherever he is needed.

Baez will make the All-Star Game as an outfielder, but he's primarily been in the infield for the last month-plus.

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Regardless of position, Baez has been fantastic, slashing .276/.312/.448 with 10 home runs and providing the elite level of defensive value he became known for throughout his career.

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