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Los Angeles Dodgers’ Trevor Bauer pitches shutout inning vs. San Diego Padres with one eye closed

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GLENDALE, Ariz. — Trevor Bauer immersed himself into a budding rivalry between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Diego Padres with one eye closed.

The Dodgers’ prized offseason acquisition navigated through his first inning against the Padres on Saturday afternoon by pitching mostly with his right eye closed, a training method he said he uses frequently as a means to make himself uncomfortable.

“I figured if they can’t score off me with one eye open, it’s gonna be difficult to score off me with two eyes open,” Bauer said after throwing three scoreless innings from the Dodgers’ facility. “Just having a little bit of fun.”

Bauer didn’t go into specifics for why he occasionally chooses to keep an eye closed, though Dodgers manager Dave Roberts mentioned that it had something to do with recalibrating his command.

“I think there might have been one curveball I think he did with both eyes closed,” Roberts said while holding his laughter. “I don’t know, but there is a method to his madness.”

Bauer, 30, said he routinely keeps at least one eye closed in bullpen sessions, while playing long toss and when facing hitters over the offseason, adding that he likes “making myself uncomfortable and throwing different stuff my way and trying to find a solution for it.”

Bauer gave up a single to Jurickson Profar to begin his outing, capping a nine-pitch at-bat, then issued a walk to Tommy Pham before retiring the next three batters, the last two on strikeouts. Over the next two innings — with both eyes open, apparently — he retired six of the seven hitters he faced.

The Padres were coming off a Friday night game and didn’t play most of their starters, which meant Bauer didn’t get another crack at third baseman Manny Machado, who is famously batting .588/.667/.1.412 against him in 17 career plate appearances. Bauer previously made a YouTube video analyzing Machado’s success against him, and Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman joked about the desire to figure something out against Machado shortly after signing Bauer to a three-year, $102 million contract last month.

Bauer joked that Machado was “already ducking me” by not making the trip.

When the games begin counting, Bauer said he’ll have plenty of chances against him.

“Just wait,” Bauer said behind a wry smile. “It’s gonna be a fun year.”

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Dodgers Reach 2-Year Arbitration Deal With Walker Buehler

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By Jeff Todd | at

The Dodgers have inked a new contract with righty Walker Buehler, but it won’t expand upon the team’s control rights. Per Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (Twitter links), the deal will resolve Buehler’s arbitration case by guaranteeing him $8MM over the next two seasons.

MLBTR had projected Buehler to earn in the $2.3MM to $3.1MM range for the 2021 campaign. The contract provides a $2.75MM salary along with a $3.25MM rate of pay for 2022. That latter number is obviously light, which is why Buehler will also enjoy a $2MM signing bonus.

The Dodgers gain cost certainty and avoid a hearing with a critical young player. In exchange for sacrificing some contractual upside, Buehler will lock in some serious career earnings and gain some long-term protection from injury.

Buehler will also retain a chance to boost his earnings through escalator provisions. Per Rosenthal, the deal calls for Buehler to earn an additional $500K upon reaching each of six games started thresholds (14, 16, 18, 20, 24, 28). Cy Young voting outcomes can also bump the payday: $1.125MM for a win or $625K for a top-three finish.

The 26-year-old Buehler reached arbitration eligibility as a Super Two player. He’ll have two more arb-eligible campaigns to go after this deal runs out. The sky is the limit on his earning power for those seasons and beyond. Through 365 2/3 career innings to date, Buehler owns a 3.15 ERA with a 28.6% strikeout rate and 6.3% walk rate.



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Sports

Trevor Bauer signing with Los Angeles Dodgers, set to be MLB’s top earner in 2021, ’22, sources say

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Trevor Bauer, the 2020 National League Cy Young Award winner, has agreed to join the Los Angeles Dodgers, with the California native announcing his move in a YouTube video Friday.

Bauer and the Dodgers are in agreement on a three-year, $102 million deal that has opt-outs after Years 1 and 2, sources told ESPN’s Jeff Passan. Bauer is set to make $40 million in 2021 and $45 million in 2022, sources said.

Bauer, who has a notable online presence, appeared to tease his destination earlier Friday by offering a giveaway for a signed Dodgers hat on his website — though he also had several brief references to the New York Mets, believed to be the other finalist, on the site as well.

Sources told Passan that the Mets offered a higher overall value than the Dodgers, but Los Angeles’ offer will make him the highest-paid player in each of the next two seasons.

According to Spotrac’s MLB team payroll tracker, Bauer’s $40 million salary for the 2021 season is higher than the projected 26-man payroll of the Pittsburgh Pirates ($30 million), Baltimore Orioles ($34.2 million) and Cleveland Indians ($36.5 million).

Bauer, a 30-year-old right-hander, was the first reigning Cy Young Award winner to enter free agency since Greg Maddux in 1992.

A first-time free agent who played last season for the Cincinnati Reds on a $17 million deal that was prorated to $6.4 million, Bauer was one of the most dominant pitchers in baseball in 2020, going 5-4 with a 1.73 ERA, a 0.79 WHIP, 100 strikeouts and 17 walks during the pandemic-shortened season. Opposing batters hit .159 against him, which led all major league pitchers. In addition to WHIP and ERA, Bauer led the NL in ERA+, which adjusts for his hitter-friendly home ballpark, and hits allowed per nine innings (5.055) in 2020.

He rejected a one-year, $18.9 million qualifying offer from the Reds, who will get a compensatory draft pick, approximately No. 60, with him signing with a new team. The Dodgers will forfeit their second-highest pick in the July amateur draft and $500,000 of international signing bonus allocation.

Bauer joins a Dodgers rotation that was one of the best in the majors in 2020 and now has three former Cy Young winners in Bauer, Clayton Kershaw and David Price. Last season, the Dodgers ranked first in WHIP and second in ERA, opponent’s batting average and opponent’s OPS.

The Dodgers’ odds improved slightly following Bauer’s announcement. Already the World Series favorite, the Dodgers are now listed at +400 (up from +450) to win the title at Caesars Sportsbook by William Hill, while their NL pennant odds moved from +220 to +200 and their NL West odds went from -200 to -220.

Bauer’s arsenal includes a variety of pitches, and he found great success with his cut fastball while throwing an NL-high two shutouts last season. According to ESPN Stats & Information, Bauer set up batters to knock them out on the outer half of the plate, leading the NL with 63 strikeouts while holding hitters to a .145 batting average in that location.

Off the mound, Bauer has voiced opinions and criticism on everything from commissioner Rob Manfred to MLB-MLBPA negotiations to insinuating that Houston Astros pitchers were applying substances to baseballs to increase spin rate. In 2018, Bauer was fined for throwing a baseball from the mound over the center-field fence before being removed from a game. In 2016, he was scratched from Game 2 of the American League Championship Series after he sliced the tip of his finger while doing maintenance on his drone.

The Reds acquired Bauer in a trade with the Cleveland Indians at the deadline in July 2019. He made 10 starts after the deal that year, going 2-5 with a 6.39 ERA for the Reds.

In nine seasons since he broke into the majors with the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2012, Bauer is 75-64 with 1,279 strikeouts and a 3.90 ERA. His only All-Star selection came in 2018.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Mets, Dodgers are finalists to sign pitcher

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Mets pitchers and catchers report to spring training in less than two weeks, and by Friday afternoon team officials should know whether Trevor Bauer will be among those attending.

The ace right-hander’s agent, Rachel Luba, announced Thursday on Twitter that Bauer has narrowed his choices to two teams — with all indications pointing to the Mets and Dodgers as the finalists.

Bauer, the top free-agent starting pitcher on the market, received an offer from the Mets about three weeks ago, according to an industry source. The belief in the industry has been that if offers are close, Bauer will choose the Mets because a desire to grow his personal brand in the biggest market possible.

Bauer has sought to become baseball’s highest-paid pitcher in terms of average annual value, but the Mets’ initial offer to him was short of the $36 million per year Gerrit Cole is receiving from the Yankees, according to a source. The offer was expected to fall within the three-to-four year range (north of $30 million annually) and include at least one opt-out.

Last season the 30-year-old Bauer won the National League Cy Young Award, after going 5-4 with a 1.73 ERA in 11 starts for the Reds. His addition would give the Mets a dynamic 1-2 punch atop their rotation, with Jacob deGrom (who won the Cy Young Award in 2018 and ’19) as the other component.

Trevor Bauer’s free agency decision is nearing.
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The Mets already have enjoyed a fruitful winter under new owner Steve Cohen, with the trade that brought Francisco Lindor and Carlos Carrasco from Cleveland. Bauer’s addition would reunite three components from the Indians’ World Series run in 2016.

James McCann and Trevor May, both of whom signed as free agents, are the Mets’ other significant additions this winter. That doesn’t include Marcus Stroman, who accepted the Mets’ qualifying offer to return for 2021.

The Mets rotation to begin the season would potentially be deGrom, Bauer, Carrasco, Stroman and David Peterson. By June, the team is hoping Noah Syndergaard returns from Tommy John surgery rehab to provide another high-octane arm.

Other rotation possibilities include Joey Lucchesi and Jordan Yamamoto, both of whom arrived in trades and have minor league options remaining.

Wherever he lands, Bauer’s words will be scrutinized following multiple incidents of social media bullying. Most notably, he harassed a female college student on Twitter two years ago and later apologized. Bauer’s responses to the woman included digging up a photo from her timeline of her drinking before her 21st birthday, subjecting her to ridicule by his 414,000 followers. Bauer tweeted 17 times at the woman or at others while discussing her over three days.

His volatility also would be under extra scrutiny on a Mets team reeling from PR disasters following the dismissal of GM Jared Porter for sending a reporter lewd texts and allegations that former manager Mickey Callaway harassed reporters.

“I have been made aware that some of the interactions related to a specific Twitter exchange may have had a negative impact,” Bauer said in a recent statement. “That was not my intention. I will wield the responsibility of my public platform more responsibly in the future.”

Bauer’s addition would put the Mets right up against or above the luxury-tax threshold of $210 million. If they surpass the figure, they will pay a 20 percent penalty on every dollar spent beyond $210 million.

But even with Bauer, the Mets might not be finished spending as they look for potential upgrades in center field and at third base.

If the Mets don’t sign Bauer, they could pivot toward a middle-of-the-rotation option such as Jake Odorizzi or James Paxton.

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