Chicago Cubs: Javier Baez is also on his way to New York

We all knew that the Chicago Cubs were going to have a firesale. They have been trading their big trade chips for a few weeks now but we were waiting for the members of the 2016 World Series championship core. They sent Anthony Rizzo to the New York Yankees on Thursday night in exchange for two of their top 15 prospects. It was a huge move as the Cubs officially started their rebuild. Now, Javier Baez is following Rizzo to New York.

Unfortunately, Baez won’t be teammates with Rizzo as his New York destination is the team on the other side of town as he heads to the New York Mets. The Mets have been connected to the Cubs for Kris Bryant but they are actually landing Baez instead. He will go there and be a part of a very good infield.

Francisco Lindor is their shortstop but he is injured right now. Baez will play shortstop there for a bit until Lindor comes back and then he will probably play second base. Those two taking up the middle of the infield will make the Mets a very dangerous team in that aspect.

Baez isn’t having the best offensive season of his career but this might breathe life into his bat. The Mets don’t have a very good offense anyway and Baez will certainly help that, especially if he picks it up a little bit. He is going to strike out a lot but he can produce runs. His RBI and home run numbers are always going to help any team.

The Chicago Cubs are sending Javier Baez to the New York Mets in a trade.

Trevor Williams is also included in this trade. He had some up and down times with the Cubs but the Mets obviously were willing to take him in order to land Baez. It will be interesting to see how they use Williams as they try to hold onto the National League East division.

In return for Baez and Williams, the Mets are sending Pete Crow Armstrong. He is an outfielder and was their number five prospect in their system. It is a pretty nice return for a star player having a down year on an expiring contract. The Mets clearly want to pull away from the Philadelphia Phillies and Atlanta Braves in their division and this is a nice step.

The Chicago Cubs fans will never forget what Javier Baez meant to the organization. He was a part of the core that won the World Series for the first time in 108 years on the North Side. He is going to have some fun the rest of the season with the New York Mets as they push for the playoffs. It will be interesting to see where he ends up after the season is over.