JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Talk about a wild Friday for area players in Major League Baseball.
Blue Jays player Austin Martin, a Trinity Christian graduate, and Cubs shortstop Javier Baez (Arlington Country Day) were both traded on a busy afternoon in pro baseball.
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Baez, who was drafted ninth by the Cubs out of ACD in 2011, is being shipped off to the Mets, according to ESPN’s Jeff Passan. The deal is pending medical approval. Baez is hitting .248 with 22 home runs and 65 RBIs. He is in the final year of his contract and reportedly turned down an extension from the Cubs in the range of $180 million last year. What the Mets gave up for Baez was not yet announced.
Baez has struggled at the plate, on pace for a record number of strikeouts this season. Baez has whiffed 131 times in 91 games, the second-highest total in the league behind Oakland’s Matt Chapman. But Chapman has played in 10 more games than Baez.
A bigger deal on Friday involved Trinity’s Martin, who was the No. 5 overall pick in the 2020 draft. He was headed from the Blue Jays to the Twins, along with Simeon Woods-Richardson for pitcher Jose Berrios. Martin is hitting .281 with two HR, 16 RBI, 10 doubles and nine stolen bases.