Tigers insider reveals upsetting reality with team's mindset on Javy Báez

With how little he's been mentioned this offseason, when he's not actively giving fans anything to complain about, it's sort of easy to forget that Javy Báez is a Detroit Tiger. While hype builds around Tarik Skubal's follow-up to his Cy Young-winning season, Riley Greene already getting early awards hype, and the rest of the young players providing some hope for Detroit's future, Báez is an inconvenient afterthought.

The Tigers just aren't going to drop his contract; that's something most fans have already come to terms with. If they're not willing to spend $200 million on Alex Bregman, then they'll never throw the remaining $73 million on Báez's contract down the drain to get him off the roster.

Báez was basically a non-factor through the Tigers' August-September run toward the postseason. Although he did find a little more power than usual in August (.405 slugging), he was on the IL throughout September after undergoing hip surgery, which left him out of the actual postseason run.

Next season, the Tigers plan to platoon a guy they'll end up giving $140 million to, when all is said and done, with a rookie at shortstop. That's pretty bleak.

Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press listed Báez as the Tigers' Opening Day shortstop in his latest roster projection, and reported that the Tigers are still clinging to false hope for him.

Tigers still hopeful for a Javy Báez bounce back after hip surgery in 2024

Petzold writes, "Báez, 32, underwent season-ending right hip surgery in early September to address pain in his lower back, which the Tigers believe limited his ability to rotate as needed when swinging. If the surgery fixed the problem, the Tigers will want to give Báez an opportunity to reclaim his role as their starting shortstop, especially since there isn't a clear-cut better option."

Sweeney had a decent first 36 games in the majors after being called up with Jace Jung in August. He batted .218 with a .642 OPS in the regular season and got just two hits down in the postseason, but it was probably still better than what the Tigers could've expected out of Báez. Sweeney's defense was also a breath of fresh air.

If a hip surgery is really the magical fix that the Tigers were waiting for, then great. We'll take back some of the Báez-bashing. But the likelihood of that happening feels very low when he's already spent two full, mostly healthy seasons batting .230 with a .273 OBP. At this point, the Tigers should just publicly admit that they don't want to dump his contract. It'd probably earn more respect from fans than continuing to stand by him.