When the 2021 trade deadline passed, the biggest deal made by the New York Mets was the addition of infielder Javier Báez from the Chicago Cubs.
To get the superstar, the Mets paid dearly; they traded away one of their top outfield prospects, Pete Crow-Armstrong. But the Mets were desperate. Francisco Lindor was on the shelf and the team’s hopes of winning the National League East were sliding in the wrong direction.
Since he was acquired, Báez has been a headline-grabbing phenom in every way. The Thumbs Down controversy was supposed to cost him millions of dollars in free agency.