During Joe Maddon’s pre-game meeting with the beat writers Wednesday, the Cubs skipper shot down the report from the Sun-Times that Javier Baez was told he will be on the Cubs Opening Day roster.
The Cubs have not made the decision yet on whether or not Javier Baez will be with the big league team on Opening Day.
Joe Maddon said he did not tell Baez he had made the team and he didn’t know where that came from. And he explained that neither Theo Epstein nor Jed Hoyer told Baez that he made the team.
“I have no idea where that came from, that hasn’t been decided yet. It wasn’t told by me. It wasn’t told by Theo. It wasn’t told by Jed.”
According to multiple reports Wednesday, Maddon has been impressed with Baez’s defense and “the young infielder’s baseball acumen.” Maddon and the front office still have to make several roster decisions, including where Javier Baez will start the season.
Carrie Muskat reported, “Conventional wisdom, Maddon said, is to send a player still struggling to the minor leagues because they don’t want him to scuffle at the big league level then have to demote him.”
“There are the occasions where sometimes it works in reverse,” Maddon said, “A guy like him, to go back and accept going back to Triple-A and getting it done there, he might renege at that thought and maybe you’re not going to get the full adjustment you’re looking for and it might take longer. If a guy fails at the Major League level and thinks he belongs in the Major Leagues and then he knows the failed, if he goes back, it might just be easier to get the point across.”
Based on Maddon’s comments, it appears the Cubs are leaning toward starting the season with Javier Baez on the roster.
Joe Maddon pointed out that he will get together with Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer to discuss the best way to make Javier Baez a better Major League player as quickly as possible.