In a recent podcast with Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports, Indians right-hander Trevor Bauer suggested he’d only take one-year deals for the remainder of his career (partially due to the high stakes of a bet with a childhood friend). Although that seems radical and somewhat irresponsible on the surface, Eno Sarris dives into the subject in a piece for The Athletic and discovers that maybe the idea isn’t really all that bad. Although Bauer would be giving up a lot of security, he’d likely earn a significant bump in average annual value. Bauer has never had health issues, so in his case the health risks might not be as severe as other players seeking long-term deals to lock up the most total dollars possible. All in all, Sarris comes to the conclusion that the contract strategy could feasibly benefit Bauer in the long run.
Here are some other pitcher-related notes from around baseball…
- The Twins placed righty Aaron Slegers on the disabled list today with shoulder inflammation, and plan to recall rookie Fernando Romero to make a start in his stead. Slegers had a rough go of it in three appearances (two starts) this season, allowing eight earned runs in 12 2/3 innings with just five strikeouts. Romero, on the other hand, has made ten starts this season and turned in a reasonable performance thus far ( 4.38 ERA).
- Braves right-hander Brandon McCarthy is rehabbing his knee injury, David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports, but oddly enough he’s doing it at his home in Arizona with his own physical therapist. Obviously that’s far from the norm at this point in the season, particularly given Atlanta’s status as a contending team in the NL East. McCarthy came to Atlanta in a financially-motivated trade with the Dodgers, but has barely managed to exceed five innings per start in his tenure with the Braves thus far, and has posted an ugly 4.92 ERA.
- Another Rangers prospect has gone down with the dreaded ulnar collateral ligament injury, and will require Tommy John surgery, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News reports. This time, it’s right-hander Kyle Cody, who had been attempting rest and rehab as an alternative to surgery. Cody was shut down for an extended period after experiencing issues during spring training; he’ll now go under the knife and likely be out until the beginning of 2020. The towering 6’7″ hurler was a sixth-round pick of the Rangers back in 2016.
Yahoo? Really?
Passan is a good reporter
Something must be in the water in Minnesota, everyone is getting injured.
Trevor Bauer is a climate change denier, so it’s not surprising that he takes only a short-term view of things.
Seriously, you went there?
smh…..
I sure did. People like you are going to be the end of society. I don’t even have kids and I’m more worried for their future than most conservative parents are.
Fact- climate change is real. Why weve had 5 ice ages. Earth naturally cycles.
Fact- people influencing climate change is overly exaggerated.
Wanna know what killed the dinosaurs? Hint- wasnt all the CO2 in the air that was being released by volcanoes……..it was a meteor that blocked sunlight and caused the earth to cool.
And the cure to CO2 issues has been known since 7th grade science. Idk why we need millions billions of dollars to figure out that plants turn CO2 into oxygen….
None of that could’ve possibly happened. The earth is flat.
We know the answer to excessive C02, but humans are eager to pave over every last spot of green to build expressways and parking lots (encouraging even more fossil fuel consumption). And we cut down old-growth forests to farm (still growing plants, but they’re not as efficient at C02 removal, and then we add C02 and methane with fertilizer and meat production). If only planting more trees were enough to solve climate change.
Youre just saying vague statements without really saying anything at all.
“It was cold before, done gonna be cold again” “My 8th grade science teacher said plants are important…”
Your ideas are the quintessential of a dude who doesn’t take the time to do the research trying to sound smart.
You might be the smart dude in your milwaukee groups, but do better, sheesh.
Settle down Annie, take a few breaths, pull your head from your butt and just relax
So you’re saying the dinosaurs drove cars and created high CO2 levels? Man you’re almost as idiotic as the Indians front office
Thanks Oprah
Speaking of research- guess you missed the fact that human production of CO2 pales in comparison to naturally occurring CO2…….
Its like you contributed nothing to the conversation bkbkbk. But I get a feeling youre an expert and naturally gifted at contributing nothing of significance. Please go find the nearest plant and apologize for wasting the oxygen it produces.
“Dinosaurs drove cars and created high levels of CO2”
So CO2 wasnt around when dinosaurs walked the earth? Weird. Well guess those high CO2 levels during the time of dinosaurs must be fake couldnt possibly happen according to Thomas Swanson cause Dinosaurs couldnt produce CO2 since they didnt have cars. Nice deduction skills there tommy.
Irving Berlin wrote the song ‘Havin A Heat Wave’ in 1933. It was sung in the Broadway musical ‘As Thousands Cheer’ by Ethel Waters. The song was a big hit and became a classic.
Mr. Berlin was a songwriter – very possibly the best. He had no background in climate science. After the song came out, Americans did not walk around deranged screaming that the sky was falling.
This generation of Americans – with help from the ever expanding media looking for ratings and clicks – gets hysterical over everything (I’m still waiting to read about the millions of Americans that died recently from the Ebola virus). Every time some “journalist” states that a player, agent, manager, and/or front office person hiccuped, MLBTR puts out an article, and the comment section draws hysterical conclusions.
Win!
We should target the real enemy then. Real estate agents.
All the hot air being released by you blowhards is gonna kill the future!!
God has control over the climate. I trust in Him, not some loony climate “scientists”.
Man has control over his actions affecting the planet. I trust in science, not some loony Christian dead-enders.
FTFY. I think my version makes much more sense, give it a try.
I did at one time, which is why I now believe in God. I discovered the Truth.
You’re lost, but there’s still hope for you.
A man was trapped in his house during a flood. He began praying to God to rescue him. He had a vision in his head of God’s hand reaching down from heaven and lifting him to safety. The water started to rise in his house. His neighbor urged him to leave and offered him a ride to safety. The man yelled back, “I am waiting for God to save me.” The neighbor drove off in his pick-up truck.
The man continued to pray and hold on to his vision. As the water began rising in his house, he had to climb up to the roof. A boat came by with some people heading for safe ground. They yelled at the man to grab a rope they were ready to throw and take him to safety. He told them that he was waiting for God to save him. They shook their heads and moved on.
The man continued to pray, believing with all his heart that he would be saved by God. The flood waters continued to rise. A helicopter flew by and a voice came over a loudspeaker offering to lower a ladder and take him off the roof. The man waved the helicopter away, shouting back that he was waiting for God to save him. The helicopter left. The flooding water came over the roof and caught him up and swept him away. He drowned.
When he reached heaven and asked, “God, why did you not save me? I believed in you with all my heart. Why did you let me drown?” God replied, “I sent you a pick-up truck, a boat and a helicopter and you refused all of them. What else could I possibly do for you?”
Didn’t Dino drive one on the Flintstones?
That’s right, quite a few of your fellow travelers DO believe that man walked with dinosaurs and that the world is only 6,000 years old.
Yeah he sure did….sounds like something the Indians would say
He’s not a climate change denier. He’s skeptical that humans have as much of an effect on it as is commonly stated. Do some actual research before believing the first thing you read.
From Bauer’s twitter: “Obviously the planet’s climate is changing. I’m sure humans are contributing in some way. I don’t think anyone has any clue exactly how much or to what degree.”
List of people who need to do more research:
1: Trevor Bauer.
He really is such a condescending a-hole. I can’t stand seeing his face
I’m sure once he reads JDGoat’s comment, it’ll weigh heavily on his mind for the rest of the season
Yep, it definitely will
paul your spaghetti sauce sucked.
try the popcorn.
Then don’t look. Close your eyes. Then go away.
“Although Bauer would be giving up a lot of security, he’d likely earn a significant bump in average annual value.”
Wouldn’t you expect that to be the case, Kyle? If he remains healthy and productive he will be able to take advantage of inflationary market conditions every year. Of course “healthy and productive” isn’t exactly guaranteed nor, over the short term, is an inflationary market.
Most players, when presented with the choice, opt for long-term security rather than AAV but to each his own. Perhaps if Bauer’s friend were an actuary he’d take a different approach.
Considering the utility of money, the first $100 million is a hell of a lot more important than the next $100 million, which is why most people opt for long-term deals with less guaranteed money at an AAV rate. Unless your life goal is to become a billionaire, there’s no sense in risking the first 100M to get a better shot at the second 100M.
Again dude, that isnt correct. The bigger problem is not the utility of money (a concept that while real, is not super important here), it’s the undervalued risk of constantly doubling down. If Bauer were to make 20, 28, 30, 32 and then 0 the dude is only AAV’ing 22 (a number that would be beneath him on ANY 5 year deal. Even a slight wobble in health reduce the aav over his career by so much that he’d have to make 40 something to compensate.
I picture the Bronx cheering “who’s your daddy!” with your responses. You own him.
And what if he gets injured, say a torn labrum, or a debilitating car accident, in year two? He’s done and the scenario you cite is irrelevant. The utility of money very much does come into play here, genius. The millions in risk you cite is minimal compared to the millions in risk I cite. Bauer’s been healthy; those nasty things aren’t likely to happen. But that is the reason long-term deals exist. Minimizing both of these risks isn’t mutually exclusive.
People like you are into the idea of owning human beings, aren’t you.
I think we’d all expect it to be the case… based on the simple logic that less overall risk is something teams would likely see as something worth paying for, and cemented by the examples that Sarris outlines in his article, Bauer’s strategy could pay off big time if he remains healthy; seems as though it would only take four or five years for him to match six or seven years’ worth of earnings from longer-term pacts.
For the sake of entertainment and a fascinating case study, I hope Bauer chooses this route.
His health is not the only issue eventually his stuff will make him not the same pitcher. Just look @ Felix and verlander there were years nobody would have paid nearly as much as they are or were making and bauer was never as good as those guys.
And while he throws gas today he relies heavily on breaking balls which age much better.
This guy is a POS
Who?
Obviously Bauer
Once he reads this comment, I’m sure he’ll wonder where everything went wrong
Who cares if he read it or not,doesn’t change the fact of what he is
Turn you down for an autograph?
Tre-B has always thought outside the pitchers box…..
I think possibly moving every offseason has to be a factor too. Even as a millionaire, moving to new city with family and adjusting to new clubhouse every spring seems like too much work.
Risky move. It’s a rare pitcher that doesn’t have arm issues at some point. You’re always one pitch away from disaster no matter what your history is.
Although a risky move, if he stayed healthy he “could” be a piece in every contender’s rotation year in and year out. If taking 1 year deals meant winning every year that’s not entirely bad. Still, risky.
Don’t care what he thinks about climate change. For those hating him over his opinion, please look up the word “tolerance”. It’s a word you do not know nor have in your life. You probably need it.
As for significant injuries, if almost bleeding to death on the mound with a finger issue in the 2016 ALCS is not an injury then I’m in-agreement with the story.
Off field injury due to playing with a drone isn’t an arm injury incurred while pitching.
That’s nice. He was pulled from the 1st inning of that start in the ALCS. I don’t think Francona and anyone else cared where the injury occurred when they were forced to pull him.
And that’s nice too when discussing pitching injuries and contract implications.
Wholeheartedly agree with your second point about tolerance. Discussion seems secondary in any debates lately and people are more interested in labeling those with different opinions. It is pretty scary actually.
Rangers have literally no pitching in the minors,
Brandon McCarthy replied to Dave O’Brien’s tweet later in the day with this:
“huh? I’m home because of seeing doctors on west coast plus the break and it’s a mandated rest period. Not out of the norm.”
source: https://twitter.com/BMcCarthy32
O’Brien saw this and retracted his earlier report.