Farm System

[Coldneck]

8. Javier Baez, SS | Chicago Cubs
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<p style="font-size:12px;color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Age: 21 | Current Level: Triple-A (Iowa)

<p style="font-size:12px;color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Preseason Ranking: 7

<p style="font-size:12px;color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Baez still has the minors' best bat speed, with great wrist and forearm strength that translates into huge all-fields power, which you saw in his homer in the Futures Game off a hanging breaking ball. He's still rough around the edges at short, agile enough to play but lacking the finesse or the focus to do so at a major league level. That same Futures Game performance also saw him lollygagging on a ground ball to short and delivering a lazy throw when he needed to fire one over to first base. Makeup may be the biggest concern here. Otherwise, Baez has the raw ability to become a 35-40 homer guy at second or third base.