The Los Angeles Dodgers have agreed to earn $ 102 million worth of three-year deal with Trevor Bauer, the reigning winner of the Cyber League Cyber Award. The agreement includes opt-outs to the 2021 and 2022 seasons, according to Mark Feinsand of MLB.com. Bauer is expected to become the highest paid player in the game in each of the next two campaigns.
Bauer, who attended UCLA school, was on two teams – the New York Mets and reigning champion Dodgers – before finally making his free decision to return to Southern California on Friday. The Mets offered more money to try to seduce Bauer by choosing the Dodgers, according to Joel Sherman of the New York Post. Bauer went to his YouTube channel to make the announcement:
Bauer, 30, was named by CBS Sports as the third best free agent available in the off-season, as well as the leading overall appetizer. Here is what we wrote at the time:
Over the course of the 2020 season, Bauer’s career numbers have a strange resemblance to those that AJ Burnett had during the same period of his career. He created separation this season by collecting an ERA of 1.73 and a ratio of 5.88 between three and three overs and 73 overs. Bauer has had the good for a long time and according to his press clippings the intelligence to be a forerunner. He has now compiled the results to support the idea in two of the past three seasons. Can he keep it up? This is one of a few questions that teams will have to answer, starting with how he improved his turning point a few years after implying that it was only possible through substances. Another one is whether he is compatible on a long-term agreement. Bauer became unfavorable in Arizona and Cleveland, and he did not always cover himself with glory on social media. Again, state of mind changes just as surely as Sturgill changes words; If Bauer wants to follow his example and change his perception of a staff leader in every sense of the term, he will have to do more than keep up the good work.
It is noteworthy that in 2019, Bauer tweeted more than 80 times about a student who reported his behavior to Twitter and to the Cleveland organization, which employed Bauer at the time. The student later told USA Today that she felt harassed by his behavior.
Bauer joins a Dodgers rotation that includes Walker Buehler, Clayton Kershaw and a returning David Price. The Dodgers need to determine who among Julio Urias, Dustin May and Tony Gonsolin is their fifth starter.
Over the past three seasons, Bauer has started with 72 games and amassed a 3.18 ERA (144 ERA +) and a 3.68 strike-to-walk ratio. He posted an ERA of 1.73 in 2020, while averaging more than six innings per start with the Cincinnati Reds. In addition to his season with the Reds, Bauer also spent time with Cleveland and the Arizona Diamondbacks. He put together one All-Star team and he received the Cy Young Award twice. Since 2018, he ranks sixth in the ERA, fourth in the opponents’ average and fifth in the results.
Bauer is the first major addition the Dodgers have made this off-season. Andrew Friedman had previously stuck to adding pieces to the bull, trading for Corey Knebel and signing the injured Tommy Kahnle for a deal with more than a year. The Dodgers have yet to address the openings on third base and left field, as Justin Turner remains a free agent and Joc Pederson has signed with the Chicago Cubs.
The highest average annual value ever handed out to a pitcher remains the $ 36 million that Gerrit Cole gave last season. Bauer’s $ 34 million AAV was third, also behind the $ 35 million AAV that Stephen Strasburg received last winter.