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Cubs Minor League

Pete Crow-Armstrong and Javy Báez have more in common than the Cubs-Mets trade

1 year agoTony Andracki

The Javy Báez trade from last summer continues to pay big dividends for the Cubs.

When Jed Hoyer shipped the star shortstop to the New York Mets, he acquired an injured outfield prospect in return in the form of Pete Crow-Armstrong.

Crow-Armstrong was the 19th overall pick in the 2020 MLB Draft but was limited to only 6 professional games in 2021 due to a shoulder injury.

In 2022, he put himself firmly on the top prospect radar with a monster season — both at the plate and in the field. He hit .312 with an .896 OPS, 16 homers and 32 stolen bases across two Class-A levels and also took home a minor league Gold Glove Award last week.

The 20-year-old center fielder is honored with his accolade but he considers it more of a team award and a stepping stone along his journey.

“The goal is to win those Gold Gloves at Wrigley Field,” Crow-Armstrong said on Cubs 360 Monday evening.

When Jim Deshaies followed up that question by asking Crow-Armstrong who he models his game after, the Cubs’ No. 2 prospect actually pointed back to the player he was originally traded for — even though they play different positions.

“I modeled my game after Javy, first and foremost,” Crow-Armstrong said. “Energy-wise, style of play, character-wise — I think that’s a guy that a lot of kids should be looking up to in terms of how to keep the fun in the game and the flair in the game and how to be a good leader. Javy was big for me once I started developing as a player.

“But from the start, I’d say it was Andrew McCutchen — he definitely got me excited to play center field. And then [Ken] Griffey [Jr.] and Rickey Henderson, all those guys kinda share a lot of the same qualities in terms of the prominence that they hold on the baseball field, the space that they actually take up. Defensively, offensively — whoever you are as a baseball player, those are all good guys to try and model your game after.”

Crow-Armstrong has drawn a lot of attention for his outfield play in his young career and is considered by many to be near-MLB-ready defensively.

He took Marquee Sports Network’s Lance Brozdowski behind his defensive approach during Spring Training:

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