With spring training about a month away, the Trevor Bauer rumors were bound to heat up. According to sources the New York Mets have made the NL Cy Young-winner a lucrative offer. SNY Network’s Andy Martino says that a formal offer has been made, but it’s not expected to be greater than the average annual value of Gerrit Cole’s contract which was signed last winter.
The Cincinnati Reds have long since been out of the running for Bauer’s services. After extending a qualifying offer to Bauer earlier this winter, the Reds will receive a draft pick as compensation for losing the right-hander to another team. Where exactly that pick will fall won’t be determined until the dollar amount of Bauer’s new deal is revealed.
The Mets might not be the only team involved in the Trevor Bauer rumors.
The New York Mets are the first team to be linked to an actual offer, but they’re far from the only team interested in signing the former All-Star. The Los Angeles Angels, Los Angeles Dodgers, and Toronto Blue Jays have all been mentioned as possible landing designations for Bauer.
Bauer’s camp has been rumored to be attempting to break the $36M AAV that Cole signed for last offseason. I think that’s a stretch considering the loss of revenue most teams incurred last season due to the coronavirus pandemic.
However, if Bauer signs a one-year contract, which would be the absolute worst-case scenario from the Cincinnati Reds’ perspective, there’s a chance that the California native could surpass Cole’s record-breaking contract signed just last year.
According to Mike Puma of the New York Post, the offer extended to Trevor Bauer from the Mets has been the on the table for weeks. With that knowledge, one could surmise that Bauer’s camp obviously wasn’t blown away by the team’s offer.
Lately, Trevor Bauer has come under fire for his past interactions on social media. Our friends over at Dodger’s Way think the history surrounding Bauer’s social media conflicts are enough to warrant Los Angeles avoiding the right-hander all together.
One thing is for sure, these aren’t the last Trevor Bauer rumors we’re going to see over the next few days or weeks. However, with pitchers and catcher reporting next month, one would think Bauer will make a decision sooner rather than later.