The moment baseball fans have been waiting for since the beginning of this offseason — Trevor Bauer has announced he will be signing with the Dodgers. On Friday, Bauer released a video on his YouTube channel talking about this career move, and, of course, the video included some of the reigning National League Cy Young Award winner’s highlights.
The Dodgers reportedly agreed to a three-year deal for $102 million, including opt-outs after the first two seasons. The reigning World Series champions now have a starting rotation that includes Bauer, Clayton Kershaw, David Price, and Walker Buehler. Bauer will also be making the highest salary per season in MLB history, at $40 million in 2021, and $45 million in 2022.
Bauer’s entire free agency run during this offseason has been highly publicized, due to his unorthodox approach to the decision. He had fans all across the league pitching their team as the best landing spot on Twitter and even got his agent, Rachel Luba involved in the conversation. And, his YouTube announcement was not the first video fans saw from Bauer, as he often updated details of his free agency, and made videos discussing how he fit in with top teams. You’ll hear most players say they ignore trade rumors and other free agency talks, but Bauer embraced it head-on, and in some ways, some would say he really milked it.
Most recently, Bauer was tied to the New York Mets, and some reports said he was close to a deal with the team. The Mets even offered him more guaranteed money, but it only seems fitting Bauer would end up with the Dodgers. And, you can’t really blame him. Aside from the Dodgers’ stacked pitching, they also have players like Mookie Betts, and Justin Turner, who is expected to return to LA. On top of all that, Bauer is also from North Hollywood, so he is returning to his hometown.
In terms of what this signing means for the NL West, it really puts both the Dodgers and San Diego Padres upfront. The Padres have also had a booming offseason, adding Blake Snell, Yu Darvish, and Joe Musgrove to their pitching staff. Meanwhile, the Rockies traded away Nolan Arenado, and the San Francisco Giants and Arizona Diamondbacks have had relatively quiet offseasons.
Needless to say, Trevor Bauer made the waves he wanted to this offseason, in a record-breaking signing that will not soon be forgotten, and we can only expect he will continue to draw in fans in Los Angeles.
