⚾ Baseball Bytes: The Redemption of Javy Báez

The Tigers are picking up where they left off — but with Báez leading the way this time around. Plus, a look at one of history's great individual games, and teams that are hotter than anyone expected.

Welcome to Baseball Bytes¹ — a column in which I point out several byte-sized pieces of information that jumped out to me from my various baseball spreadsheets. If you’ve noticed a Baseball Byte of your own, email me and I’ll feature it in a future column!

⚾ El Mago’s Greatest Trick

Javier Baez of the Detroit Tigers at bat in the fourth inning during a game against the Los Angeles Angels on May 1, 2025. (Brandon Sloter/Getty Images)

When the Tigers made a remarkable late-season sprint to the 2024 postseason — and then swept the favored Houston Astros in the AL Wild Card round — it felt like Detroit had done it in spite of their recent history of failed rebuilds, moving past all the excessive losses and disappointing acquisitions to find their way back to contention anyway.

Part of the legacy seemingly holding back the Tigers was SS Javier Baez, who in the span of 5 years had gone from one of the most thrilling players in baseball (with the Cubs) to a fan non-favorite (with the Mets) to a near-total free agent bust (with the Tigers). In the first three seasons of the 6-year, $140 million contract Detroit signed Baez to in November 2021, Baez had been paid $67 million to produce 2.1 Wins Above Replacement (WAR),² making him one of the least cost-effective players in MLB over that span.