Trevor Bauer, a Los Angeles native and former UCLA Bruin, is heading home.
Bauer, baseball's most polarizing personality, has agreed to a deal to join the Los Angeles Dodgers, according to RADIO.COM MLB Insider Jon Heyman. The Dodgers, the reigning World Series Champions, edged out the New York Mets.
Indeed, Bauer confirmed he's heading to Los Angeles on his YouTube channel:
Bauer's deal will be a three-year/$102 million deal according to Mark Feinsand of MLB.com. While Bauer's deal does include opt outs after 2021 and 2022, he's pretty incentivized to remain in Los Angeles given that he'll collect $40 million in 2021 and $45 million in 2022, the highest amounts that a players has ever made in a single season.
Bauer, the defending National League Cy Young Award winner, went 5-4 with a 1.73 ERA and 2.88 ERA for the Cincinnati Reds in the pandemic-shortened season. Even though his 2019 season - a campaign split with Cleveland and Cincinnati - was relatively underwhelming, FanGraphs says that Bauer has been the sixth-best pitcher in baseball over the past three seasons.
If the Dodgers get the 2018 or 2020 version of Bauer, it will give them one of the sport's best rotations. As they look to stay ahead of the San Diego Padres in the National League West, Dave Roberts and the Dodgers will now have a rotation that could include Bauer, Clayton Kershaw, Walker Buehler and David Price. Julio Urias, Dustin May and Tony Gonsolin are also options.
We'll have more on this story as it comes in...