MLB rumors: Trevor Bauer, Dodgers agree to contract, leaving Mets at the alter

Finally!

Free-agent right-hander Trevor Bauer is off the market, after agreeing to a contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers, according to MLB Network’s Jon Heyman.

Bauer decision will surprise some folks. But he’s going home and to a champion. #dodgers

The New York Post’s Joel Sherman reports the “#Mets had created deadlines yesterday and today trying to push Bauer to a decision and not use the NYM because they feared he want home and defending champs. #Mets offered more money to try to seduce Bauer out of #Dodgers, but going home to SoCal, defending champs, modern/cutting edge pitching shop won out. #Dodgers were in big for Gerrit Cole last year. He took the most money and NY. This time the LAD bid less for Cole’s UCLA teammate and kept him from NY.”

ESPN’s Jeff Passan reports it’s “a three-year deal that has opt-outs after Years 1 and 2.”

Bauer confirmed the news with a video he posted to his YouTube page, with him already suited up in a Dodgers uniform:

The Dodgers, who are the defending World Series champions, and the New York Mets were the finalists for Bauer, who won the 2020 National League Cy Young Award after posting a career-best 1.73 ERA for the Cincinnati Reds.

He will be the third Cy Young Award winner in the Dodgers’ starting rotation, joining Clayton Kershaw (NL in 2011, 2013, 2014) and David Price (AL in 2012).

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Bauer had been hoping for a contract which rivaled the average annual value of the deal signed by New York Yankees ace Gerrit Cole: $36 million, thanks to the record-setting nine-year, $324 million contract he signed one year ago.

But by taking a (somewhat) short-team deal, Bauer ensures he will get another crack at free agency while still near the prime of his career.

The 30-year-old Bauer spent the offseason flirting with the Mets on social media, going out of his way to praise new owner Steve Cohen and the Mets’ fan base.

Bauer’s only All-Star season came in 2018 with the Cleveland Indians. One year later, the Indians traded him to the Reds as part of a three-team deal with the San Diego Padres.

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