Trevor Bauer

Trevor Bauer Discusses Free Agency

By Mark Polishuk | January 10, 2021 at 10:22pm CDT

Trevor Bauer has relied heavily on social media to keep fans aware of his trip through free agency, and the right-hander shared his latest thoughts in a new YouTube video detailing his top priorities in finding a new team. Some of these sentiments have been shared by Bauer in past interviews, though it is certainly worth checking in to see what the offseason’s top free agent is looking for, particularly since the free agent market as a whole has yet to really develop as we approach the middle of January.

To begin with, Bauer says that geography and market size aren’t big factors in his decision-making process. The Los Angeles native seemingly doesn’t mind one way or the other about playing close to home, and as Bauer points out, his online presence allows him to publicize himself and his brand from anywhere in North America, no matter the size of his next team’s media market.

What is important, however, is that team’s willingness to allow Bauer to continue his attempts at growing a brand and being more visible, as well as a willingness to include teammates in those endeavors (if they so choose) as part of his efforts to grow broader interest in baseball. It all ties into Bauer’s desire for “a partnership” with his next team, and a two-way effort by both sides.

In regards to his personal training methods and data-driven approach, the reigning NL Cy Young Award winner wants “to be able to be with an organization that values those things, that can give me information that I can learn from and increase my knowledge base and my understanding of the game. But I also want an organization that’s open to some of the things that I’m doing and can learn from me.”

For instance, as it relates to Bauer’s oft-stated desire to pitch every fourth day, he isn’t insistent that his team deploy him in such a fashion, but simply that the team be open to seriously considering the possibility. Naturally, Bauer’s plan will hinge on how his pitching on shorter rest could impact the rest of a rotation — “I don’t want to ever take away from my fellow players’ ability to go out and do their job to the best of their ability,” Bauer said, since the point is to get “everybody performing at a higher level.”

Since Bauer feels he’ll be “as good or better” pitching on three days’ rest, however, he sees this ability as a plus to a pitching staff. Depending on a team’s needs, Bauer pitching more often could help address multiple situations, as he notes that it could help other pitchers who perform better with more rest, or pitchers who are on innings limits.

Particularly coming off an abbreviated 2020 season and questions about how many pitchers will now have to rebuild arm strength for a longer 2021 campaign, Bauer’s argument is certainly persuasive. He also said that the Reds, his former team, were “great about actually having that discussion” about potentially making more frequent starts in 2020, though Bauer ended up pitching only once last season on three days’ rest (delivering one of his best outings of the year).

Aside from mentioning pitching for the Reds, Indians, and Diamondbacks over his career, Bauer didn’t provide any specifics about particular teams who might be candidates to sign him, or any details about his contractual demands, whether they be longer-term or shorter-term deals. He restated that he wants to play for a team that will make an aggressive push to contend every season (“My career is too short to really be part of a rebuilding window. I just don’t want to do that.”) and he wants “to be fairly compensated for my value,” which covers both what he offers a team based on past track record and what he’ll offer going forward in projected future performance.

Broadly, Bauer has a simple overall goal for the next step of his career: “I want to be happy.” While quite probably not a sign that Bauer is exploring a return to Cincinnati or Cleveland, Bauer did say that over “the last couple of years…I’ve enjoyed playing baseball a lot more than I have earlier in my professional career. I don’t want to go back to being miserable playing the game I love.”

Trevor Bauer Had Meeting With Blue Jays

By Steve Adams | January 1, 2021 at 10:55pm CDT

In the latest chapter of Trevor Bauer’s unconventional trip through free agency, the right-hander revealed in a video that he had a call set to talk with the Blue Jays — specifically mentioning that he planned to talk with their pitching coach (Pete Walker) and high performance coach (presumably VP of high performance Angus Mugford).

While many fans have had some fun with the fact that the Blue Jays have been linked to virtually every free agent on the market this winter, Bauer’s meeting with them is still plenty notable. Few clubs are expected to be major spenders this winter, but Toronto is among the likeliest teams to sign a major free agent. The Blue Jays’ current $84MM projected payroll (via FanGraphs/Roster Resource’s Jason Martinez) is about half the franchise-record $163MM, set back in 2017.

Beyond that flexibility, the Toronto front office — headed up by president Mark Shapiro and general manager Ross Atkins — is quite familiar with Bauer. Both Atkins and Shapiro were in the Indians organization when Cleveland originally acquired Bauer from the Diamondbacks; Shapiro was the team’s president at that point and Atkins the director of player development.

Among top-tier free agents, the Blue Jays have been most prominently linked to outfielder George Springer in recent weeks. The Jays reported to be one of two finalists to sign Springer. The Mets, the other apparent Springer finalist, have been tied to Bauer in their own right, although Springer is said to be New York’s priority at this time.

Toronto’s current rotation features Hyun Jin Ryu, Robbie Ray, Tanner Roark, Ross Stripling and highly touted 24-year-old Nate Pearson. Penciling Bauer into that mix alongside Ryu would give them a formidable one-two punch atop the rotation with plenty of upside behind them. Ryu is coming off consecutive Top 3 finishes in Cy Young voting, while Bauer of course won the National League Cy Young Award in 2020.

Latest On Trevor Bauer

By Steve Adams,Connor Byrne and Tim Dierkes | December 30, 2020 at 6:13pm CDT

Right-handed ace Trevor Bauer has been the No. 1 free agent on the market since it opened almost two months ago, though not much has been said about the type of contract he’s seeking. Now, though, Jon Heyman of MLB Network tweets that teams interested in Bauer “suggest” he’s looking for a five- to six-year accord worth $36MM to $40MM per season.

The always outspoken Bauer unsurprisingly chimed in, replying to Heyman (on Twitter): “I’m learning so much about my free agency from your tweets!” While Bauer and agent Rachel Luba may hope to control the flow of information regarding the 2020 NL Cy Young winner’s free agency, that may prove impossible given the number of team employees privy to conversations.

There was some back and forth between Heyman and Luba/Bauer on Twitter. However, neither Luba nor Bauer chose to directly address Heyman’s report.

At the end of the day, the matter of Bauer’s asking price was largely sidestepped. And setting aside the pointed exchange between the involved parties, that’s par for the course for any player/agent combo when reports on asking price surface. It’s not in the best interest of Bauer or Luba to tip their hand one way or another regarding contractual expectations. Luba has declined to do so in previous appearances on MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM, as one would expect. Nothing about this, save for the social media finger-pointing, is atypical.

Mets Looking Into Tomoyuki Sugano

By Steve Adams | December 22, 2020 at 10:42am CDT

The Mets are “looking into” right-hander Tomoyuki Sugano as they seek to upgrade their rotation, reports Joel Sherman of the New York Post. Sugano was posted for MLB clubs earlier this month, and teams have until Jan. 7 to complete a contract with him before that posting window expires.

New York has been prominently connected to Trevor Bauer as a potential free-agent target, but numerous reports have indicated over the past week-plus that George Springer is the team’s primary focus at the moment. Sherman agrees, calling Springer the “centerpiece” of their offseason plans. As such, an expectation has emerged that the Mets will look to the second tier of starting pitchers in their search to augment their rotation, and the 31-year-old Sugano is arguably the best of the bunch.

One of the premier pitchers in Japan, Sugano is a two-time winner of the Sawamura Award — Nippon Professional Baseball’s equivalent to MLB’s Cy Young Award. After a “down” 2019 season that saw him log a 3.89 ERA, Sugano rebounded with 137 1/3 innings of 1.97 ERA ball in 2020, averaging 8.6 K/9 against 1.6 BB/9. Dating back to the 2015 season, Sugano has thrown more than 1000 innings with a 2.19 ERA while averaging better than eight strikeouts and fewer than two walks per nine frames. Of note, Sherman writes that large-market teams may have the upper hand in pursuing Sugano, as NPB’s Giants are viewed as the “Yankees of Japan,” playing their home games at the famed Tokyo Dome.

It’s not clear just what type of arrangement Sugano will command on the open market, but a multi-year deal with an eight-figure annual salary seems reasonable to anticipate. ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel predicted a two-year, $24MM deal in his updated free-agent rankings and contract predictions. If a team believes Sugano to be closer to a No. 2 or No. 3 starter in MLB, it’s certainly possible that he could secure a third year or a hike on that annual salary.

The Mets, of course, have Jacob deGrom atop their rotation and will also rely on Marcus Stroman after the righty accepted an $18.9MM qualifying offer. Rookie David Peterson was impressive in a limited 2020 debut, and lefty Steven Matz was also tendered a contract despite a recent downturn in his production. Noah Syndergaard, meanwhile, will be out until this coming summer due to Tommy John surgery.

Emboldened by new owner Steve Cohen, the Mets are a clear win-now team under the watch of returning president Sandy Alderson and newly hired GM Jared Porter. With James McCann and Trevor May already signed to multi-year deals, further additions are a given. If the plan is indeed to add a second-tier arm and make Springer the focus, then Sugano would join Jake Odorizzi, Masahiro Tanaka, James Paxton and Corey Kluber among the best remaining rotation options on the open market.

To this point in his posting window, Sugano has also been connected to the Red Sox, the Rangers and the Blue Jays. Given his stature in Japan, it’s all but certain that Sugano will receive interest from the majority of pitching-needy clubs who are willing to spend in the wake of this year’s revenue losses. In addition to the money owed to Sugano on a new contract, the team that signs him will owe a release fee to NPB’s Giants. That fee is equal to 20 percent of the contract’s first $25MM, plus 17.5 percent of the next $25MM and 15 percent of any dollars spent thereafter (including option years, incentives, etc.).

Latest Rumblings On Sonny Gray, Trevor Bauer

By Steve Adams | December 18, 2020 at 10:59pm CDT

The Padres are among the clubs with interest in Reds right-hander Sonny Gray, Fansided’s Robert Murray reports, although there’s no indication that the two sides have engaged in meaningful discussions to this point.

Gray’s name has persistently popped up in the rumor mill this winter, and while Cincinnati GM Nick Krall has sought to downplay Gray chatter as a matter of performing due diligence, it’s hard not to place some extra stock in the Gray rumblings amid the backdrop of several cost-cutting moves out of Cincinnati. The Reds surprisingly non-tendered right-hander Archie Bradley just months after acquiring him in a deadline trade, despite the fact that he pitched well for them and was due a raise on a team-friendly $4.1MM salary. They also cut loose their other primary deadline pickup, outfielder Brian Goodwin, and catcher Curt Casali. Goodwin had struggled in Cincinnati, but Casali turned in a solid 2020 season.

Perhaps most surprising was the trade that sent closer Raisel Iglesias to the Angels in exchange for righty Noe Ramirez and minor league infielder Leo Rivas. It was a marginal return, at best, on a quality late-inning reliever whose $9.125MM salary isn’t exactly exorbitant. Following both the Bradley non-tender and the Iglesias trade, Krall has spoken of reallocating those resources. He did so again this week in an appearance on MLB Network’s MLB Now (video link):

“I think we’ve done some things to reallocate our resources within the organization, and we’re just trying to figure out what’s the best thing we can do for our organization moving forward,” said Krall.

Some Reds fans may hope to see the team utilize those savings for a run at retaining Trevor Bauer, but that may not be likely. In that MLB Now spot, Krall discussed “adding pitching depth, whether it’s rotation depth with the loss of Trevor Bauer.” MLB Network’s Jon Heyman added further context today, tweeting that the Reds consider Bauer to be beyond their price range and adding that Bauer “will be pitching elsewhere” in 2021. It obviously takes just one change of heart from ownership to push for a deal to come together, but that’s a rather bleak characterization of where things stand with regard to their chances of retaining the reigning NL Cy Young winner.

Turning back to Gray, the match between the Reds and Padres is a sensible one on paper but perhaps not so much in practice. The Friars thought they were acquiring multiple years of a high-end rotation option when picking up Mike Clevinger prior to the trade deadline, but he’s now sidelined for all of 2021 due to Tommy John surgery.

That leaves a hole at the top of the rotation, but Murray suggests that even Gray’s $10MM salary might be outside San Diego’s comfort zone at this point. Surely, that’s all the more true given that they’d have to trade away considerable young talent to pry Gray away; even if the Reds are seeking to cut costs, it’s hard to imagine them taking a weak return on Gray when the market for starting pitching has generally been a healthy one to this point.

The Padres already owe $86.05MM to the combination of Manny Machado, Wil Myers, Eric Hosmer, Drew Pomeranz, Craig Stammen, Pierce Johnson, Matt Strahm and Clevinger. They still owe arbitration raises to Tommy Pham, Zach Davies, Dinelson Lamet, Emilio Pagan and Dan Altavilla.

For a Padres club intent on paring back last year’s $150MM payroll to some extent, taking on $10MM in salary might not work unless other payroll can be jettisoned elsewhere. And as Murray points out, there would probably be questions about reuniting Gray with pitching coach Larry Rothschild, who coached Gray during an unsuccessful tenure in the Bronx.

NL West Notes: Bauer, Giants, D’Backs, Arenado

By Mark Polishuk | December 13, 2020 at 9:04pm CDT

“The Giants have discussed” signing Trevor Bauer, John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle reports, though this isn’t necessarily indicative of a full-fledged pursuit since “they discuss the top free agents every year.” There are many reasons Bauer would make sense for the Giants, as Shea illustrates in his pros and cons piece, including the point that Bauer might represent a better upgrade than any of the pitching options available in the 2021-22 free agent market.

However, Shea ultimately opines that Bauer wouldn’t be an ideal fit “for a team that’s not close to championship caliber and is waiting for its top prospects to emerge over the next couple of years.” The Giants certainly face an uphill battle in going against the Dodgers and the Padres in their division alone, though since San Francisco has to some extent overachieved over the last two seasons even while overhauling the roster, I would argue that the Giants could position themselves more firmly into the wild card hunt with some pitching upgrades, and Bauer would certainly qualify in that regard. For what it’s worth, Bauer’s most recent YouTube video listed Giants fans fourth on his list of the fanbases that have done the best job of trying to sell him on joining their team.

Mets Notes: Odorizzi, Springer, Bauer, Owens, Shreve

By Mark Polishuk | December 5, 2020 at 11:11am CDT

The Mets were linked to Jake Odorizzi’s market last month, though the team doesn’t appear to be one of the front-runners for the right-hander’s services, as Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports that Odorizzi “is believed to be much more engaged with other teams right now.” We heard yesterday that the Twins were also falling behind in the race to sign Odorizzi, which could potentially mean good news for the Giants and Blue Jays — the other two teams cited as having interest in Odorizzi back in November.

San Francisco and Toronto are two of the teams considered to be most fervently exploring the pitching market thus far, with Sherman also listing the Padres, White Sox, Red Sox, Rays, and Angels as being particularly keen on adding arms. It’s probably safe to guess that at least a couple of those teams have also checked in on Odorizzi, who was projected by MLBTR to receive a three-year, $39MM free agent deal.

NL West Notes: Padres, Cubs, Porter, D’Backs, Oberg

By Mark Polishuk | December 1, 2020 at 1:30pm CDT

With Mike Clevinger now sidelined for the 2021 season due to Tommy John surgery, the Padres’ need for starting pitching is more pronounced, and the San Diego Union-Tribune’s Kevin Acee writes that the club is considering a range of rotation possibilities. This includes the very top of the free agent market, as “the Padres have let the agent for Trevor Bauer know they’d like to be kept apprised as his market evolves.” San Diego has also “spit-balled” the concept of trying to acquire Blake Snell from the Rays, as Tampa Bay is reportedly open to dealing the former AL Cy Young Award winner.

Other potential targets could include Japanese righty Tomoyuki Sugano (who will be posted this offseason) and possibly the Rangers’ Lance Lynn, who the Padres looked into acquiring at the trade deadline. Acee isn’t certain, however, whether the Padres have re-engaged with the Rangers about Lynn any more recently. While there is a certain amount of basic front office due diligence attached to the Padres’ interest in any of these pitchers, the fact that San Diego is at least open to major moves like a big expenditure on Bauer or trading a significant prospect package to land Snell is certainly indicative that the Padres are willing to think big as they look to contend in 2021.

Reds GM Nick Krall Discusses Pitching Staff

By Anthony Franco | November 26, 2020 at 4:56pm CDT

Reds general manager Nick Krall recently discussed the team’s pitching outlook for 2021 with reporters (including Bobby Nightengale of the Cincinnati Enquirer). The baseball operations head said he wouldn’t rule out a reunion with top free agent Trevor Bauer but reiterated that the parties “haven’t really had substantial conversations” to this point.

Should Bauer depart, the Reds have no shortage of arms who could compete for rotation spots behind Luis Castillo, Sonny Gray, Tyler Mahle and Wade Miley. Recently-acquired Jeff Hoffman could be in that mix, as are Tejay Antone and Michael Lorenzen. Krall also pointed to former top prospect José De León, who struggled in five relief appearances last season but saw his velocity spike into the mid-90’s and remains on the 40-man roster. Brandon Bailey, acquired from the Astros last week, also has starting experience in the minors but is seen as more of a bullpen option for Cincinnati, Krall said.

Of course, there’s also been some discussion of a possible Gray trade. Krall didn’t deny reports the organization is listening to offers on Gray. He did, however, downplay the significance, suggesting those discussions were mostly due diligence. It certainly remains possible another team bowls the Reds over with an offer in the coming months, but Nightengale suggests the most likely outcome is that Gray stays put into next season.

Latest On Twins’ Search For Starting Pitching

By Connor Byrne | November 25, 2020 at 5:19pm CDT

Right-hander Charlie Morton came off the free-agent board Tuesday when he signed with Atlanta, but the Braves had competition in the form of the Twins. Minnesota “had a lot of interest” in Morton, according to Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News. Geography may have worked against the Twins, though, as Morton has said in the past he prefers to pitch on the East Coast.

Even after missing out on Morton, the Twins still have a mostly set rotation with 2020 Cy Young contender Kenta Maeda, Jose Berrios, Michael Pineda and Randy Dobnak among those in the fold. However, with Jake Odorizzi, Rich Hill and Homer Bailey currently on the open market, the team hopes to address its rotation from outside, as Dan Hayes of The Athletic relays.

“Any time you lose Jake Odorizzi, Rich Hill and Homer Bailey to free agency, you’re not going to be complacent,” general manager Thad Levine said. “You realize there are pretty significant holes to fill. But we certainly don’t go into this offseason as if we have to fill three holes.”

Hill, 40, was the only member of that trio to deliver quality results over a sizable sample of innings for the Twins last season, but according to Hayes, they haven’t closed the door on re-signing Odorizzi – who MLBTR predicts will earn a three-year, $39MM payday this offseason. Otherwise, though, it doesn’t appear they’ll shop at the top of the market for pitching help, as Hayes writes it’s “unlikely” the Twins will go after the No. 1 free agent available, Trevor Bauer, or pursue trades for the Rays’ Blake Snell or the Cubs’ Yu Darvish.

[RELATED: Twins Offseason Outlook]

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