Cubs' Javier Baez-Addison Russell Poised to Join MLB's Defensive Infield Elite

Day after day through an October (and early November) he and millions of Chicago Cubs fans will never forget, Joe Maddon wrote out lineups with Javier Baez at second base and Addison Russell at shortstop.

They were 22 (Russell) and 23 (Baez), and anyone watching could understand why they were out there. They made big plays, and they got big hits, and the only question worth asking was whether they were already one of the best double-play combinations in the game.

They were. They are. They will be...as long as Maddon keeps writing both their names on his lineup card.

After all, can they be the best DP combo in the game if they’re not even Maddon’s first-choice middle-infield pairing?

We’ll let Joe figure that one out, just as soon as he figures out how to play his two ultra-talented kids while also using Ben Zobrist and keeping a spot in the outfield open for Kyle Schwarber. As spring training began last week, Maddon told reporters he wasn’t sure Baez could become the full-time second baseman this year.

“It’s all theory right now,” Maddon said, according to Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times. “Of course, he’s going to play a lot. How it’s going to balance out, we’re not 100 percent sure yet.”

It’s not a problem, but it is a challenge—the type of challenge the ever-creative Maddon embraces.

Just know that when it came to the most important games of the Cubs’ most important season in more than a century, Baez and Russell started every single one.

And just know that when scouts from other teams look at Baez and Russell, they love what they see.

Elsa/Getty Images

“Chance to be special very soon if not now,” one American League scout said. “Defense, power, baserunning, with improved hitting.”

Other scouts wonder if Baez swings and misses too often to become a truly elite player. But he showed in the postseason, both offensively and defensively, that he already can be a game-changer.

Baez was the star of the Cubs’ Division Series win over the San Francisco Giants and the co-MVP (with Jon Lester) in their NLCS win over the Los Angeles Dodgers. Russell hit the huge Game 5 home run against the Dodgers, when both the game and the series were tied.

The country also learned what Cubs fans already knew: As a defensive pairing, Russell and Baez can be spectacular.

“With Addison Russell and Javy Baez at short and second, you now have to drop everything every half-inning the Cubs are in the field,” Steve Rosenbloom wrote in the Chicago Tribune last August. “The middle of the Cubs infield plays defense as if it’s trying to hijack 'Web Gems.'”

They did—when they played together. Russell was the Cubs’ regular shortstop last season, with Baez as his backup. Baez played all over the place, starting at second base infrequently enough that he and Russell were the double-play combination for just 38 of the Cubs’ 162 regular-season games.

No matter how this spring plays out, they figure to play together much more regularly in 2017 and even more regularly in the years to come. They may not turn into the modern version of Alan Trammell and Lou Whitaker, but with their youth and skill, they could go on for a long time.

Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images

Even if they’re not the best now, they could be soon. And they might just be the best now.

The competition is strong. The Houston Astros feature Jose Altuve (third in American League MVP voting last year) and Carlos Correa (the 2015 Rookie of the Year). The Boston Red Sox have Dustin Pedroia (a four-time All-Star and an MVP) and Xander Bogaerts (a 2016 All-Star). The Cleveland Indians have Jason Kipnis and Francisco Lindor.

But Kipnis, who turns 30 in April, is more than six years older than Lindor. Pedroia is nine years older than Bogaerts, and Altuve is four years older than Correa.

Russell and Baez were born 13 months apart. They were first-round draft picks in consecutive years, although Russell was taken by the Oakland A’s. When the Cubs got him in the July 2014 trade for Jason Hammel and Jeff Samardzija, some thought it meant Baez was expendable and could be traded.

Instead, the Cubs kept both players, a decision that keeps looking better.

They might have the best double-play combination in baseball. But we may have to wait to see it every day.

Danny Knobler covers Major League Baseball as a national columnist for Bleacher Report.

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