The Mets were one of the two finalists in the Trevor Bauer sweepstakes, but the Cy Young-winning right-hander wound up spurning the club for the Dodgers’ three-year, $102MM guarantee Friday. The Mets made a very competitive offer, though, as Joel Sherman of the New York Post tweets that they proposed a deal worth $105MM over three years. New York would have paid Bauer $40MM in 2021, $35MM in 2022 and $30MM in 2023, and the contract would have included opt-out chances after the first two seasons, per MLB Network’s Jon Heyman, who adds that the Mets would have included $5MM had Bauer opted out after the second year.
Bauer’s Dodgers deal also features a pair of opt-outs, and it likely didn’t help the Mets’ cause that he is a Southern California native who said in the past he wanted to play in Los Angeles. The Dodgers are the reigning World Series champions, which further stacked the deck against a Mets club coming off four straight years without a playoff berth.
The Mets have made a real effort to change their fortunes this winter, largely because of new owner Steve Cohen. So far, the team has used trades and free agency to add Francisco Lindor, Carlos Carrasco, James McCann and Trevor May to its roster. A Bauer signing would have made the Mets even more imposing going into 2021, but they’ll have to either enter the season with the starters they have in place or acquire someone for a far less expensive salary.
In before the #LolMets brigade.
suck ass Mets
Mets… Still a playoff team… and you never know what happens in the playoffs. The Dodgers made the dance without bagging the prom queen several times before last year.
The Mets will be fine. Roll the dice and go get Paxton and Odorizzo.
trust me u don’t want Paxton I’ma Yankee fan and whenever he pitched well ya knew there would be 3 to 4 bad starts to follow
The Mets are a playoff team until mid April.
lol agree haha
Bagging the prom queen? Do you by chance work in the Mets’ classy front office?
yes I do how could u tell
Cey Hey! How dare you?! They only send pics, they bag no one, sir!
everyone says the mets are a playoff team in February, and then the season starts and its the same old Lolmets!
Clever comment
Are Dodgers hands off with things like his normal warmup routine? The floppy pole and long toss stuff? Just curious how he is integrated.
Tbf a lot of pitchers have implemented the pitching q-tip or “floppy pole” or whatever you want to call it into their routines. The same goes for long toss. If he says that he likes the new-aged thinking of the Dodgers, then I’d imagine that he’s still allowed to do what has led to him never having an injury in his career.
Sounds like a good fit then. I remember reading, ages ago, the D-backs not agreeing with his “antics” so it’s good he is somewhere that he can train without doubt.
Yep, he didn’t like their org for that reason. Good call.
He definatley does fit there though, and I bet tons of success will come from it.
He was on the R2C2 podcast in, I think Feb 2020. I did come to like him more when you get to hear him talk first hand, and obviously with CC there he’s not going to try to throw out any BS. I’ve come to like/respect quite a few players just from listening to that podcast. I’d recommend it.
Interesting. Huge podcaster but hadn’t heard of that one. Thanks for the heads up
there have been like 3 variations. originally it was a subset of the players tribute, then R2C2, which was first UNINTERRUPTED, then now it’s the ringer or something. it depends on what software you use for the feeds it may differ.
Called a BodyBlade. And pitchers have been using those for years. It help loosen up and strengthen the shoulder. Willing to bet the Dodgers have 50 of them in the clubhouse/weight room
Kershaw has done long toss since his rookie year. They let the guys decide
He would’ve fit into this team so well, but the truth is that he just loves living the SoCal life. Geography actually played a factor in this decision. *I just got reminded of Anthony Rendon when I said that…* Oh and BTW, LOLANGELS.
Last time I checked the Angels, as terrible as they are, were better than the Rangers….
People never learn… Stating one thing doesn’t negate another thing.
Anywho, I’d like to show you something… These are the Angels and Rangers payroll trackers for 2021 (you can see their complete 26 man roster payroll at the top). One team’s number is waaay bigger than the other team’s number, and one of those teams is gonna be raking in good draft picks for the next two years while the other will be stuck in middle with an expensive roster and no playoffs because they can’t pitch. Guess which is which:
Team 1: docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1FsmsUpbOz2RsyxdPSM…
Team 2: docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1anXbV-uZY8xKIm4t7n…
guess which team doesn’t have the GOD-KING David Fletcher
Don’t hurt me master; for I have sinned.
2016 ALDS opponents. Who would you rather be now Jays or Rangers. Kid you have no room to throw shade on anyone with how badly the Rangers are run.
The Angels are a joke, they surround the best player in the game with washed up Justin Upton and Dexter Fowler in the of and sign no quality pitchers for the millionth offseason in a row. Free Trout, he deserves much better than this.
OK, these details all but confirm that the Mets got played hard by Bauer and Luba. However, Mets fans, I think it was for the better…dodged a bullet here.
Agreed. Bauer is unpredictable
If anything, it was LAD who got played.
I wouldn’t pay a #3 starter that much money, but hey, I’m not the owner of the Dodgers either. Bauer pitched a shortened season against the same people for his part of 60 games. Which gave him a sample size era for 2020. Bet if he pitched his part of 162 his numbers and contract wouldn’t reflect what he was paid. Don’t like the signing only on the part of how much he was paid. Great fit for the Dodgers though.
The dodgers actually had the better short term deal and pretty negligible total. LA weather probably worth 3 million dollars when your rich.
I wouldn’t say they got played. Simple negotiating by a player and his agent trying to secure the best deal.
Who really got played? The Dodgers are paying $85 million over the next two years for a wildly inconsistent pitcher who has a tendency to alienate fans, management, and his fellow players. And if he’s terrible in those two years, they’re going to be on the hook for another year at $20 million. I get that the Dodgers print money, but still.
Also, Bob Nightengale, who once again embarrassed himself and had a ‘scoop’ completely blow up in his face.
Where do the Mets go from here?
Up. Think about all the money they just saved
I would assume that they could extend Lindor hopefully.
Odorizzi / Walker & MarGon / util
OR
JBJ & Paxton / Hill / etc. (more likely if DH)
My guess.
I’d love to see them sign Turner to play 3rd base. Then use the rest of the money for Odorizzi and a bench piece or 2. Hopefully a 4th outfielder(right handed centerfielder)and a solid back up for McCann.
I’d rather see JD there.
@bradthebluefish- looks like Jake Odorizzi or James Paxton for the Mets.
they do nothing because they are still a top 4, if not top 2 team in the NL, (baseball) and can always add at tbe deadline. that or maybe add another RP.
Play the game? They lost out on a top free agent. It happens. I give them an B+ for the
effort and an A for the offseason.
The way I see it. Bauer wants to be a free agent again after 2022. So it was 2/85 or 2/75 and the Dodger offer fit better into his long range plan. That’s my take.
Except he really wants to be a FA after 2021 based on contract construction and in line with his previous comments. Assuming he has a solid season, he capitalizes by opting out after 2021 with 2 years and “only” $62M left. Also, will be curious to see if Dodgers owe extra $ if he opts out, as Mets really would have paid 2/80 if he opted out after ‘22.
What about the fact that there won’t be a 2022 season ?
You may want to become more familiar with the definition of the term, “fact.”
Details = It Wasn’t Enough
Why didn’t the Mets go all in for Springer. It’s obvious I’m not a Mets fan but don’t they need a CF more than another starter
I can’t say.
What I do know is that I’m jealous of Dodgers fans right now.
Watch them sign JBJ and they will have their defensive CF next. My guess, they wanted SP more and knew the availability of SP was more limited and a greater weakness.
They didn’t go all in on Springer because they don’t need him. They do need a defensive CF for late innings and rest, though.
But as of now, Conforto, Nimmo, and Dom Smith is a fine OF. And next year when Cano is back, McNeil can move back to the OF. Springer just doesn’t make any sense, especially when Conforto will need to be re-signed next year.
Suarez and Castillo for Mauricio,JD Davis,Szapucki,Gsellman and Familia to offset some of the $$ than sign Pillar.
Not nearly enough – Reds quickly say no.
The Red Legs hang up pretty quick
One of the 10, if not 5 best 3B under locked into a team friendly, long term deal and a very good, inexpensive SP who is still arb eligible? Castillo has been just as good, if not better than Bauer over the last 2 seasons. Both of those players will get at least 2 top 100 prospects back in return plus more depending on how high they rank.
Not terrible for Castillo, especially if you take Familia out, but no way you get Suarez along for the ride. Mauricio is indeed a major stud prospect and could headline a deal for either Castillo or Marquez. But I don’t think either the Reds or Rox are taking Familia’s money. Might have to plug Dom Smith in for JD Davis too, and replace Familia with another prospect.
I’m pretty sure the Mets front office is quite high on Smith. He is the better 1B glove, but Petey is there….for now. Smith in LF isn’t ideal, but his bat is worth it. Elite hitting skills.
Not nearly enough. I think Alvarez is the one untouchable right now, that being said it would take Mauricio, Allan, Baty, Pete crow + ! It would deplete the farm system so I don’t see that trade happening. Maybe just Castillo though, that would be interesting.
Bauer is good but he’s not worth the money he’s getting. The Mets dodged a bullet there.
Guess he doesn’t like DeBlasio either..
Because Newsom is better than DeBlasio? I doubt politics influenced his decision much.
FYI – Eric Garcetti is the mayor of Los Angeles, also a Dem.
Newsom is the mayor of LA?
It’s funny how easily they took the bait
John Silver
No one likes Diblasio not even Chirlane McCray
He doesn’t care about politics for his baseball team’s home city, and neither would I.
Bauer never wanted to go to NY. He wanted LAD or LAA. The Angels didn’t step up so he dragged his feet with the Mets for a month until the Dodgers committed.
As a Mets fan I wanted Bauer to be greedy – but in the end it might be for the best as they can now reallocated that money.
As a Mets fan, I’d be more excited for this season if they had signed Springer and/or Bauer. But, I don’t think either of those deals are good for the teams long-term. I’m glad the Mets are actively engaged in the market, but aren’t spending just to spend. Also, Bauer is a dbag.
Now get some more bullpen help (Rosenthal?), JBJ (if he’s willing to come down to 3 years), some RH outfield depth and have Jared Porter’s old office sterilized.
Same. Would have loved either player but not at the $.
Conforto / Syndergaard extensions are hopefully more reasonable. Already stole JdG.
Trevor’s deal is only 3 years so how is it that you would prefer that the Mets sign them but think that it would be bad “long-term’.
Presumably it would make them less likely to sign or extend other more worthy alternatives like Lindor / Conforto.
Fair enough. I didn’t consider that when I read it but would mostly agree with your assessment. However, the Mets do have a win now team and you strike when the iron’s hot.
IMO, the $40+ million for this year alone could be better spent than Bauer, considering the rotation as it sits and with Syndergaard back around ASB.
I understand the sentiment though. JTR is my only regret knowing the $ paid by the ‘winning’ teams, more so if McCann doesn’t work out.
Guess Cohen can’t bear to overpay a bit to get it done. Mets missed out of all 3 of the top FA’s Realmuto Springer and Bauer. Probably won’t be willing to pay Lindor either.
Last owners bet on the Ponzi scheme and lost; this one bet against it but also lost.
Overpay a bit?
Trading for and extending Lindor, along with Conforto, is exactly why they didn’t overpay a little bit. They passed on Realmuto cause they wanted to add Lindor and potentially Springer or Bauer.
But they haven’t extended Lindor or Conforto yet. As of now Mets were going big in FA and signed James McCann and Trevor May.
For what they were willing to pay Bauer and what they are paying McCann, they could have signed Realmuto and Springer for a lower AAV for at least 2021. Outside of injury, I have little doubt Realmuto and Springer will outperform Bauer and McCann, not only in 2021 but the foreseeable future. Then if they wanted more pitching they could have traded Conforto.
So a 2/80 here basically , 5 less than the team he ultimately wanted-
Score one for team Luba, I did not see this market becoming so robust
Dodgers are paying 37 year old Scott Kazmir 8 million this year in deferred payments.
Kazmir deferral would make him the second highest player in the Indians roster.
Tired of seeing fans say they don’t care about the price… well you want only the large market teams to consistently win? That is why the $210m salary penalty exist. Baseball is better when teams like the Brewers, Indians, Reds, etc are spending money. Players want those team to spend money too. Teams that tank are no good for the game, for the players trying to get paid or the fans.
Good luck with that message when the majority of the posters are represented by large metropolitan areas.
The problem is the soft salary cap does cause the big market teams to control spending, but it does nothing to encourage the Rays, Indians, Pirates and A’s to spend. They’re happy to sit back and collect the revenue sharing dollars from the other teams.
There was no revenue sharing this year.
Not relevant. I’m talking about the overall system as constructed.
as a fan of a lrage market team who knows finance enough to know small market teams can also reasonably maintain the same payroll? yes, yes I do.
I think Bauer will be much happier facing those NL West lineups rather than what he would have faced in the East on a more regular basis.
Oh yeah, cuz the Phillies, Marlins and Nats have such scary lineups! Those are three of the most mediocre (and int he case of Miami that’s kind) offenses in MLB.
Philly was one of the top offenses in baseball and has JT and Didi back but okay.
The NL West has two of the top hitters parks in Chase Field and Coors Field, and last time I looked the Dodgers will face the Padres offense as well. The NL West isn’t all that easy to pitch in.
This is honestly fine. Nobody should ever beat upset about not signing a pitcher with a 3.90 career ERA for 40-45 mil annually.
Go get walker or odorizzi for depth. JBJ is a boras client and he’ll dupe some team into giving jbj a 4+ year deal…I actually would prefer they trade for kiermaier anyway.
Then just extend conforto, lindor and maybe Noah and call it a day.
Kiermaier is an interesting piece. TB wary of even modest salaries. Has some upside offensively, defensive stud. For budget-minded TB, would Dom get it done? Personally, I think his bat and 1b glove are for legit; but he’s not an outfielder. I wouldn’t do it.
Could also just get Jake Marisnick for small $.
KK is really pretty awful. Those who haven’t seen him other than in the Rays’ playoff run last year are probably unaware of how much he’s declined, both offense and defense, in the past couple years. Albert Almora can probably get you what KK does with 1/5 the cost.
It has to be a bit dissapointing for Mets fans that they didn’t land any of the big fish — Bauer, Spring, Realmuto, Ozuna, DJLM — some of whom they tried harder on than others.
One bright side, to the extent that money is a factor (which seems to be the case), is that they have more room available to extend/re-sign Lindor, Conforto, Syndergaard, and/or Stroman.
And they can still sign Odorizzi or Paxton and/or Justin Turner. Or trade for other SPs or 3B.
Realmuto is my only disappointment after seeing the $ each received.
The turner to the Mets angle now is interesting. I don’t hate it at 2yrs or less. The Suarez/Gray chatter keeps popping up to. Suarez might be fine but sonny gray needs to stay far away from big market teams.
Let me ask, do you make this trade:
Mets get: Justin Turner for 2 years 30 mil
Dodgers get: Trevor Bauer 3 years 105 mil
That’s what that feels like. They missed getting a Cy Young winner at 105 mil in return for the cheaper JT to help their offense. I know it’s not a trade, but that’s how it feels to me. I doubt this makes sense to anybody else because what goes on inside my own head is weird, IK.
I miss very few Dodger games, none last year and hardly any at all during Turner’s time in L.A. Truthfully, I’m not sure how much elite-level production JT has left. Even before this Bauer thing, I was okay with the Dodgers letting him go and making do at 3B in 2021 in anticipation of Hoese’s arrival in 2022. I am not worried if the Dodgers don’t re-sign him. If they really want a 3B, there are other guys they can pursue.
As you know, I’m still very high on a Ramirez to L.A trade, and I think it could happen. That would not only make L.A the best team in the past decade, but it would also probably make them likely to break Seattle’s 116 game win record. That would be a super-team if I’ve ever seen one.
As a Dodgers fan, I hope they don’t let Turner go if only for his presence in the clubhouse alone. I think that makes keeping him worth it even if he falls into more of a traditional platoon role with Rios. My guess is that he and his wife really like living in SoCal, too, so I think he would prefer to stay there, but money and contract length could obviously change one’s mind. Of course, that is just speculation on my part.
Someone else seen the gray interview aswell it seems. He said the big market was tol much for him
Don’t be surprised if the Mets’ trade for Marquez or Castillo now. I wouldn’t put it past them. They are in need of one more starter, and if they get that… they will be the favorites in the East. They could also give the Dodgers a run for their money in a series even though they are worse.
What are they giving up for Castillo realistically? Marquez is certainly more plausible. They still need a defensive CF and maybe one more bp guy (ideally a lefty).
I also wouldn’t hate them signing rich hill and use him as a lefty reliever and spot starter.
Marquez is (I’d argue) a better pitcher than Castillo, but Castillo is indeed cheaper. Both have 3 years of control. Either one is gonna cost an absolute mint. Both the Reds and Rox are done with their salary dumps. Any trades of veterans they do now will be value for value.
Mets don’t have the capital to get Castillo. The guy is an ace with 3 years of control (making $4 million this year and 2 more arb years) Won’t happen. The Red Legs are trading him for peanuts. It’ll take a king’s ransom to get him and rightfully so
The Mets have enough to get Castillo I just think that would be a decision since it would deplete the farm. Alvarez, Mauricio, Baty, Allan & Pete Crow are some very good prospects.
Their farm system is pretty middle of the road. It’ll most likely cost them a major league ready player, their top 2 prospects plus a few 2nd tier prospects to get them to listen.
The Reds could do better elsewhere
i mean shouldn’t complain after the Lindor/Cookie trade. that’s as big a splash as signing any of the big fish is.
World Series Champs after pa,ting a 40% schedule.
And yet they had to compete against more teams once the postseason started. Some would consider that an even more impressive task than a year that had the normal number of playoff teams.
World Series Champions.
Fixed it for you. You didn’t need to write anything after that. Every team played an abbreviated schedule, and the Dodgers won more postseason games than any team in history to win a title, and did it playing with no off days until in the Series. And they beat the 2nd best NL team, the 3rd best NL team, and the best AL team to win the championship. They also went 6-0 in elimination games, finishing off their opponents in every game they could end a series, and coming back from a 3-1 deficit in the NLCS. They won games with power, they won games with pitching. They put up a run differential in 60 games that was historically good, and had the lowest ERA and scored the most runs.
Oh, and this is the same team that went to two World Series in three years, and won 106 games in 2019, only to then add Mookie Betts. But sure, they aren’t valid champions.
More champs then any of the other 29 teams. that’s all that really matters.
More like simply World Series Champs. Appreciate greatness.
Signing Bauer would’ve helped the Mets this year, no doubt. Not signing him, allows them the resources to re-sign Conforto, Lindor, and Syndergaard which’ll only make them better for the years to come. Plus, bring it, Punky Brewster, let’s rock.
“Oh, Punky, you have a dog named Brandon.”
NYM are still a work in progress. They are not a championship caliber team and worse – dont have a path to a championship. They don’t have enough young talent that can continue to get better by any significant amount. They don’t have enough CBT space to add enough talent and keep Thor, Conforto etc. Their only real hope is to get hot for the playoffs and hope to surprise a team in the LCS.
They’re gonna blow through the CBT. Probably not this year but next. You don’t want to do it every year and if you can avoid it you should, but the Cohen money is infinite (his hedge fund is way richer than the Dodgers’ owners) and they were prepared to blast by it for Bauer. They’ll certainly do it and then some for Conforto and Lindor and whomever else the want to sign.
Blasting through the CBA is not how you win in baseball. It’s not how the Dodgers have done it. The Mets will still be lagging behind d because their organization isn’t there yet. The Braves are clearly ahead of them. By the way, re-signing Lindor is no guarantee. Other teams have money and not everyone wants to play in Flushing.
every baseball owner is rich and could afford to consistently spend well beyond the top CBT. they dont for a reason – just because you have money doesnt mean you want to throw it away.
40 million and a legit chance to win the World Series is a no brainer going to LA. The Mets are not a contender even if they landed Bauer
40 million averages out to $1,250,000 per game
Why does that matter to you?
Be realistic, the Mets as constructed are a contender, perhaps not two or three but you can’t deny they have the talent under the right circumstances to win it all. Would it be easy, of course not, but you can’t dismiss them. They are definitely in the conversation which going into any season it the least you can ask for
So the Mets had the best offer! They got lucky, they don’t have to waste their money on this jackass. Wait till next offseason and be major players at that point. It’s a good day to be a mets fan!
Yeah, another year of battling for the second wild card.
Hey they saved $100 million bucks and don’t have to deal with Trevor Bauer. I’ll just say this, if the dodgers don’t repeat in 2021, we all get to blame Bauer! I can’t wait!
…and if the Mets miss the post-season and watch Lindor march off to “warmer” pastures, what then?
More money to spend. If Lindor starts playing decent, they’ll lock him up….he kinda sucked last year so it could be good if he walks.
Well said !
Anybody in their right mind frame (including Bauer) would of taken the World Champion Dodgers offer instead of the Mets. And he gets to stay home, a total no-brainer.
I mean I guess….I wonder which offer came first? This could just be one of those…oh that’s all the mets are offering? We can do that! Dodgers swoop in and make a comparable offer and its done. Bauer didn’t really have a robust market for his services. This could have very well been a 1 year deal if the mets were not players for him.
It basically is a one-year deal since Bauer has two opt-outs. Who’s to say Bauer won’t opt-out after 2021? Yes, year 2 is $45 million, but he might think he can do better than two years, $62 million if he has a great 2021. It’s clever how the deal is structured. It’s why players like playing for the Dodgers and why other teams like trading with them: they offer fair deals.
Didn’t really have a robust market for his services? And he came away with 85 million for 2 years? I’d call that pretty robust!
Not at ALL robust. Players of his talent (gerrit cole for instance) have multiple teams bidding willing to give multiple years at high dollar amounts. This was his market, a desperate team with a new owner only going 3 years….then an equally desperate team trying to keep up with what the Padres did this offseason by matching the mets. THAT’S IT! That’s pathetic for a cy young winner. Those opt outs are just as attractive to the club than they are to the player because they know they’re buying a major headache off the field.
I think it was pretty robust imo…Im sure he coulda gotten a 5/150 if he wanted to lower the AAV but I think everything him and Luba did was to get that final offer up by LAD and then they ran to grab the pen
Either way ya gotta give credit to Luba and Co….they got what they wanted (multi year record AAV), the team they wanted, and got to put on their little show as well at the end-
I would be excited if they both made the playoffs and the Mets knocked them out
I’m from SoCal and I hate this move. The Dodgers best pitcher makes $570,000 a year (Buehler) and arguably its 3rd best pitcher is pulling in $40M next season. Rarely does a scenario like this end well.
Walker Buehler’s base salary for 2021 will be either $3.3 million or $4.15 million, depending on an arbitration hearing. He is not at league minimum and his time to get paid will come. Btw, when did Buehler overtake Kershaw as the Dodgers’ best pitcher? There are no numbers to support that conclusion.
Also, Buehler publically stated he wanted the Dodgers to sign Bauer, who is his friend of his. Don’t try to invent disharmony that clearly doesn’t exist. The Dodgers are renowned for having a great clubhouse, thanks in large part to their future Hall of Fame manager,
I was actually kind of thinking along these lines. Yeah, I would have liked to get him, but it feels “off” to pay him so much more than deGrom. The Mets have a lot of likable guys that actually want to be here. I’m disappointed for sure, but on the bright side, I get to feel good about the guys I cheer for.
Ha Doc….I kinda thought about the Mets after the sign……… Degroms gonna decline after 22 and THEN what lol????? 1/50 ????? 2/100…. he’ll be going into age 35 so it wont be a long termer prolly, and his agent has to be taking notice of Luba
Kinda a 2 fold blow there w the Bauer signing for them…. I like the Mets btw and Love Degroom
Thankfully the Mets made the Lindor deal; otherwise, this would be a very disappointing offseason for Cohen and company. Signing McCann and May are more filler moves compared to the big name moves fans expected.
McCann is an important signing though. C is arguably the most important position in the field, day-to-day. Or as I like to call him now, JTR-lite
Sure. McCann and May are likely both good signings. Just an observation that expectations don’t always meet reality. Many were sure that when the richest owner in MLB wanted a player he’d get that player. It’s not that easy.
McCann is the most overrated signing of them all. I am a White Sox fan and I love me some James McCann, but he is a backup. He is a 40-60 game guy. His “All-Star” season he was good the first half, Sox were rebuilding, he made All-Star team and then tanked the rest of the year. Last year, decent numbers. 60-game season guys and he only played 30 games. White Sox are a cost conscious team. There is a reason why we gave Yasmani Grandal the richest contract in team history to be our catcher AFTER McCann’s All-Star season. We would have loved to have him back ….. as our backup catcher. Watch how his numbers crater after May. There is a reason why this guy got cut by a rebuilding Detroit Tigers team.
This will be the worst contract in MLB history! Wow what a dumb overpaid contract! No one player is worth that!
The best-run team in MLB just gave him all that. That makes him worth it.
It’s a 3 year deal at the most, most likely a 2 year deal. This is what the Dodgers want to do with guys like Bauer, pay up for the short term years, let someone else pay him on the wrong side of 30.
I don’t care for his personality and online presence, but I’m intrigued to see what the analytics-driven front office/training staff can do with him. And I’m certain that guys like Kershaw and Betts and the Dodger culture in general will tamp down a bit of that social media stuff from Bauer. For all his faults, he does seem to be a competitor and a hard worker.
Did I just talk myself into Trevor Bauer? Yes, yes I did. If he doesn’t remotely live up to the contract, oh well. The Dodgers don’t need Trevor Bauer to make the postseason, or to win another ring. He’s a luxury at this point, so why not?
Obviously he IS worth it. Otherwise 2 teams would not have made basically the same offer. These modern analytically-driven front offices know what players are worth. Do you get this upset when actors are paid ridiculous sums to make movies?
Enough OBJ’s/Kyrie’s in our sports world !!!
Mets fan. Thank you Dodgers
Big Pat Boone fan, are ya? It is okay that everyone is not different. Enjoy your Metsies battling for that second wild card. It won’t be easy.
who cares If he’s a jerk. winning is all that matters in sports. whiny mets fans. had he signed with the Mets you’d all slobber over a degrom/Bauer combo.
They already were when they thought it was a given that he was going to sign with the Mets.
Nope, not this Met fan. Never wanted him… and slobber? No way, he’s just not that good in my opinion. Many Met fans feel this way but keep telling us what we think.
I don’t have to tell you if you read the comments. It certainly wasn’t every Mets fan, but the majority of them that were posting were all about gloating over Bauer when they thought he was going to sign with the Mets.. deny it all you want…the posts are still there. Check out Luba’s Twitter, if you want further proof. It is full of Mets fans whining about how they feel the Mets were lied to and used. I don’t usually have anything to do with Twitter, but I clicked on a link on this site to see the reaction from Mets fans…and there is a lot of moaning.
Where was the Met’s fans’ outrage for his Twitter fight when he was going to sign there? NOW fans are coming out of the woodwork and jumping on the bandwagon to justify hating this guy. It’s incredible.
I get that. A lot of my co-fans may be now hypocritically slamming him (sour grapes perhaps). But not all of us. Many of us here and elsewhere never wanted him for several reasons.
Yeah, I get that. I wouldn’t either, because he’s immature, not representative of the values my team espouses (or should), and I think his arrogance overshadows almost any other positive value he brings, imho.
Professionally, I think he’s an average pitcher, not worth the contract, and is far from clutch, although he is durable.
@Cosmos2
That’s true, and there have been mixed feelings among Dodger fans as well. I wasn’t telling you what anyone was thinking, though, just referring to what people had actually posted. There is a big difference between the two.
Well, this officially closes the Angels’ off-season in which they promised so much, but gave so little. The Angels owner just doesn’t get it. You’re wasting the greatest baseball player of this generation, and one of the greatest of all-time by dumpster diving!?
The Mutts have always been, and always will be, a garbage organization with a long history of losing and bad character. The fired their gm in a cloud of greasy scandal and disgrace, only one year after firing their manager in a cloud of scandal and disgrace.
They traded half their organization for a guy that hit .250 last year and won’t resign because, like Bauer and Stringer, no one wants to play for the Mutts. They have a DH at first base, a first base in left field and a corner outfielder in center field. Their big free agent signings? A backup catcher and a fifth starter.
Half of their starting staff ends up injured every single year. There’s always all this hype and talk and every year they stink just the same.
People sure spend a lot of time talking about a “garbage organization.” I’m fact, they seem rather obsessed with the “Mutts.” I wonder why that is.
I’m sorry you’ve had a tough life and that you’re so bitter. Keep your chin up. You’ll be fine if you channel your desperation into something positive.
Ad hominem just shows you have no real argument.
Seriously have you been reading this lolz person’s posts? One troll job after another. Why even debate details with someone like that? Ad hominem sounds about right to me.
Batting average over a small sample size for a great player like Lindor? Really?
Would’ve been nice but not a necessity. Other pitchers fit as well.
Bauer has wanted to be a Dodger his whole life.He isn’t the first and he won’t be the last to incorporate his exercises and training into the Dodger system.This cat is filthy and has a nasty streak
He’s a career 75-64 with a 3.90 ERA. He was dominant in a 60 game season and was really only great in one other season. The Dodgers didn’t sign Roy Halladay. Bauer is cashing in on a short season Cy Young. As a Phillies fan, I can say that the Mets will not regret missing out. The Phils just wrapped up a 3 year, $75 million dollar deal with Jake Arietta. Ugh. I ‘ll bet Carrasco wins more games than Bauer in 2021.
Not a smart bet, Carrasco vs. Bauer. Wins are a team stat, and even if Bauer regresses, he’s likely to win 12-15 games because the Dodgers score runs for him.
l’d say Price is going bye-bye like Kansas within the next one week.
Has a no trade clause.
Wow it really mjust suck to be a Mets Fan. LOL They have this new Billionaire Owner and had such high expectations and they couldn’t land anyone of significance. They traded for Lindor coming off his worst year in the big leagues. Then literally each and every significant free agent used them to drive up the price and then went elsewhere. Realmuto, LeMahieu, Springer, Bauer……. their best signing was a guy who was the backup catcher in Chicago and they woefully overpaid for a guy who can’t hit RHP. smh
Mets are in great shape….I dont think theres any knocks on Cohen yet…tbd…..Tbh the only real move different id have done myself is pay Mccann double and make him a JTR edition catcher- Off seasons not done; if they were willing to go 40 more this year on Bauer they can still mop up before opening day
**What does suck is -What happens after 22 with Degroom now? His agent probably has all sorts of neato-ideas today that are going to cost the Mets dearly to retain him
Longtime Bums fans and I know that pitching wins, especially in postseason. However, very concerned that they won’t sign Turner now. His value is immeasurable. Hopefully they’re able to dump some salaries- Kelly etc. & sign Red
Plenty of Bauer haters stunned over him now- the highest paid player in league! Love it ! Dudes sit around waiting for MLBTR to post an article about him so they can hate and now he’s the highest paid player in baseball lolz!
This is bad for the quality of the league. Dodgers just blew past cap and will still prob keep spending. That happening while other teams are operating like on the verge of bankruptcy (Rockies). Yanks are over cap too and Mets could care less. These big market teams keep spending while many teams cannot/will not so the gap between top teams and bottom widen. MLB, if they cared to put best product on the field, have a lot of work to do
Welcome to Major League Baseball.
Nothing you described is new. It’s the business model.
Ah, Dude….the top 2 teams over the cap right now are the Dodgers and Boston Red Sox….the Yankees are either 3rd or 4th depending on how you add up the money……if anything, there have been endless comments about how they’ve not been doing anything to improve based on an edict from the Boss not to cross over the Lux Tax threshold…..if anything, teams not willing to spend, have weak ownership and subsequently weak balance sheets which determine their fate and subsequent lack of improvement of their teams….not the stronger teams fault!
No a Mets fan but it’s fun to watch what they’re doing. I have to imagine they can put that money to better use, especially where Bauer is not a lock to repeat and they still have a great rotation (and Thor returning at some point).
Not a Mets fan either, but lets see Bauer repeat last years performance before we judge why they Mets didn’t “up” their offer and exhaust the Dodgers for bagging an “ace” right out from under the Mets noses!
If they can avoid injuries to their pitching staff, and assuming they have the cash and interest to trade for help (which there will certainly be as always) at the trade deadline, there is no reason to overpay for a guy who is coming off a career year.
The Mets made their offer, so they were clearly all-in for Bauer.. He simply preferred to play for the. Dodgers. Th Mets, though, were clearly willing to overpay, even offering a larger overall contract.
The Mets didn’t need to up their offer, he just decided to go with the Dodgers, in some strange “Decision” sort of way
Bauer went to the Dodgers and will win the division and play for the world series next 2 years. Met will not win the division in the next two years might win the wild card. I dought it unless they fix their defense, they are bad at 1st base, 3base, all three outfield spots.
That’s just an exaggeration. Yes, 3B and CF defense can be improved. Using Smith at 1B and DHing Alonso solves that issue. Conforto is fine in RF so is Nimmo in LF
it seems very clear he just wants the 2/85 and then is going to dip after year 2.
Agreed, no way he doesn’t opt out unless he absolutely stinks (which probably doesn’t happen, but he may just be okay) and is just milking the contract.
Interesting move for Bauer. I think he went with the smarter move theoretically taking less money overall but more up front from the Dodgers. He’s banking on himself that he will be able to make more that at least $20 mil in 3 years, which sounds reasonable today… plus he’s gonna play for what should be a significantly better team. Better teams win more games and in theory should help pad his stats. Plus, top to bottom, the west is a significantly weaker division, although they with the Padres improvements they still have a legit challenger. It will be interesting to watch this unfold over the years. Just glad the Mets don’t have him. Puck the Mets
Bauer wins no matter what. He either wins hugely, or he wins biggly, or he simply wins.
Picking the most up front money and picking the Dodgers over the Mets are both smart choices.
Cohen wanted Bauer to take a million shares of GameStop shorts, and can’t understand why he refused.
Lol- nice…
He never threw a single pitch for us but good riddance anyway! If this was the courtship what would the marriage have been like? Thank you Mr. Drama Queen for spurning us.
This will be remembered like the Barry Zito contract. When Bauer is making $2.5m for the cubs on a minor league deal with an invite to major league spring training in 2025 we will all LOL at his $45m 2022 salary.
Great comparison
Not really comparable at all, considering the length of the two contracts.
Big $
Dodgers Stadium- Pitcher’s Paradise (stat padding)
WS Champs w/ a chance to repeat
Division games pitching in SD & SF
Inter league games in Sea & Anaheim
Great weather
What’s not to like for him?
Trevor Bauer is the Bryce Harper of pitchers. Well known athlete, whom fans either love or hate, with a “rockstar” attitude that is generally said to be a sign of his confidence, arrogance, or both.
Both also had 4 inconsistent seasons in which one year they would be top-tier players before dropping to middling to underwhelming the next and so on.
IMO, Bauer is not worth the contract he got. However, the Dodgers are banking on his performance and presence on social media to help the team win and make money, with the potential risks that come with both.
Mets might win 4 more games than last year.
Their defense is atrocious and Lindor can only cover 50 feet of ground.
Davis and Nimmo will cost them several games.
As a fan I’m ok with him to the Dodgers
This allows them to extend Lindor & talk about extended Conforto and Thor
Bauer may have figured something out
But dude has an ERA under 4 ONCE in a full season
…and that will not win the mets enough to finish above 3rd.
Oh troll take it elsewhere
really?
how will mets do over braves nats phillies?
Well, unlike most teams, the Mets still have plenty of time and budget room to continue up explore options.
Defensive improvement can come with a full spring training to prepare (Davis at 3b and Smith in left) and improved pitching. Not having Wacha, Porcello and Matz getting shelled and Lugo back in the bullpen are all upgrades to the defense.
Davis played 3b throughout his minor league career and Smith 1B. Conforto was forced into center and McNeil into RF, who was also a career infielder.
All these young guys were playing out of position due to injuries and necessity. To their credit, they worked hard and never made excuses. On top of that, they all lost spring training last year which would greatly have helped them prepare.
Defensive improvement can come late in games with double switches and the right personnel, along with pitchers not having rockets hit around the field at 110 miles per hour.
Mets defense will be just fine. If it’s MLB average with healthy pitchers and that lineup, they will be in contention all season.
Incredible money for a guy who’s had SEVEN SEASONS with an ERA north of 4.00 and only ONE season with more than 12 wins; a so-called “Ace” who’s only ever had TWO seasons with an ERA under 3.00 and one of them was a pandemic-shortened season.
He may end up being great, but that’s a lot of money to be betting on it, given his spotty history.
Maybe he’s like Cliff Lee, who didn’t put it all together until his 7th major league season, or maybe he’s the next Carl Pavano, who parlayed one really good year into a big free agent contract, and was never as good as that one good season…
All we know, even if the mets had Bauer they will finish behind the Braves, nats and maybe Marlins next 3-5 years.
Marlins will finish last in 2021, they are not very good in any are except they pitch will in 2020 witch was an outlier,
Your English is coming along. Keep practicing.
That’s just an irrational comment
Hope his 3.50 ERA is worth all the millions
Mets fan here. I’ve said all along that I was pretty much against signing him to a huge deal for more than one year based on last season’s 11 starts.
The good news is that it’s now over and they can focus on other areas and players. Still need another catcher, a true centerfielder and AAA starting pitching depth with major league experience.
Now is the time to sign these injury bounce back guys and let them build back up at AAA. Their starting 26 looks very solid at this time even without additional moves. Love to see them jettison players who might not be in their future plans for healthy A or AS guys. Right now, Betances and Familia are 6th inning or mop up guys. I think if they look healthy in spring training that they should be moved for low level pitching prospects.
The Mets do have a few potential blue chip prospects, but they are realistically 2+ years away. Management can now afford to be patient with them and let them develop.
For the Mets to consistently win
Suarez, Gray
or Bryant Hendricks
McCann backup catcher to Grandal.
trades
no free agency.
Not a single one of those things will happen
Keep on trolling
Since its the MLB and money doesn’t matter to the top teams, it makes no difference if the Mets or Dodgers significantly overpaid just because they can. They need a floor for sure like $100M or even higher (too many cheap owners this seems like a far cry) but they should also probably add a hard cap. SInce money doesnt matter, obviously Mets fans and Dodger fans just want them to sign every player no matter the cost but then you end up with players like Bauer making $40M+ per year.
I’m a Mets fan and I wanted Bauer but man that contract is ridiculous. Bauer isn’t a top 5 pitcher in the league. He had 11 great starts last year but outside of that he’s a career 3.90 ERA pitcher.
Agree. What is like to see the team do now is sign one of the next tier starters to slot into the back end of the rotation. And then, call it a day. Go into spring with that roster, tweak the pen and the bench and play it out until the trade deadline. Then get what they need to replace the injured players.