Chicago Cubs: Javier Baez best player outside of Jake Arrieta?

With a fantastic overall skill-set, Javier Baez is becoming an extremely valuable player for the Chicago Cubs.

Coming off of a four-game sweep of the Washington Nationals, the Chicago Cubs are flying high with the best record in baseball at 24-6. Manager Joe Maddon has the Cubs absolutely rolling, as they hold a commanding 7.5 lead in the National League Central.

The Cubs have a roster filled with incredible young talent. Reigning National League Cy Young Award winner Jake Arrieta leads an impressive pitching staff, while sluggers Anthony Rizzo and Kris Bryant receive a majority of the headlines with the bats. Arrieta is an absolute star who reigns supreme on the Cubs’ roster, but there is a question of who is the Cubs’ most valuable position player.

Rizzo and Bryant would certainly get the majority of those votes, with the hot-starting Dexter Fowler, highly paid Jason Heyward and stable veteran Ben Zobrist receiving some consideration as well. That being said, I am here to open your eyes to another option in Javier Baez.

I know it seems crazy on the surface, but stay with me for a minute. Baez may not have a solidified starting spot on this roster, but his position versatility is incredibly valuable to Maddon who loves to fill out a different line-up card everyday, and make consistent changes throughout the game.

Baez came up with the Cubs as a shortstop, and can play above average defense at that position. He may not be as good as the slick-fielding Addison Russell, but Baez does not lag far behind as a major league caliber shortstop.

However, it is Baez’ ability to play multiple positions at a high-level that is most impressive. He has shown a gold glove caliber ability to play second base in the past, has been trained as an outfielder this past off season and is the Cubs’ back-up first baseman to Rizzo. Most impressively, Baez has been playing an incredible third base when given the opportunity.

With Kyle Schwarber out for the season and Jorge Soler slumping, Maddon has regularly gone with a lineup featuring Bryant in left field, and Baez filling in for him at third base. His position versatility may not allow it, but Baez would be a true gold glove contender if the Cubs played him full-time at third base. He is an absolute magician over there.

His defensive ability is elite and Baez is also an extremely fast, smart and aggressive base runner. However, nothing is more exciting than his raw offensive upside.

Baez has always struggled with strikeouts, but he has shown a more patient approach at the plate this year. He is still an aggressive hitter who is going to take a big swing, but you can see obvious growth for him as a professional hitter this season by not trying to pull everything and taking the low breaking balls in the dirt.

While there has been progression, the strikeouts are always going to be there for Baez. That being said, you can live with those because of his ridiculous raw power. Baez has an incredibly quick swing that generates a ton of natural power, and he put that power on display in a big way for the Cubs in their extra inning victory over the Nationals on Sunday.

With the Cubs’ offense struggling to put anything together, Baez took care of it all in the 13th inning. He ripped a breaking ball deep in to the bleachers to give the Cubs a walk-off victory and four-game sweep over the extremely talented Nationals.

With everything else he can do on the baseball field, it is easy to forget about Baez’ insane raw power, but he reminded us all about it with his game-winning bomb on Sunday.

Javier Baez has legitimate 30+ home run potential in his bat. Add that to his ability to play multiple positions at a gold glove level and you have an MVP caliber player. Now, Baez has to continue to work on his productivity at the plate, but that is undoubtedly trending in the right direction.

He is a star in the making who can do it all. Bryant, Rizzo, Fowler and the others are all great, but Baez could easily become the most valuable position player on this loaded Cubs’ roster.

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