It is no secret that the New York Mets are in need of a top rotation reinforcement, maybe more. Jacob deGrom is perhaps the best starter in baseball, and Marcus Stroman is a good mid-rotation arm. But Noah Syndergaard is injured and while David Peterson was a nice surprise in his rookie year, more depth is needed.
Trevor Bauer, the reigning National League Cy Young, is available for just money. Steve Cohen, the New York Mets’ new owner, has loads of it. It isn’t always that easy, but all the pieces fit.
After Mets’ president Sandy Alderson had kind words for Bauer, saying that his personality is built for New York and that he basically supports his contributions to the “entertainment business” that is baseball, the hurler was appreciative.
“I heard Sandy’s comments, and it was refreshing to hear him speak that way about me,†Bauer said, via MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo. “In the past, a lot of the narrative surrounding me is I couldn’t handle a big market, a big media market, I was a head case, or whatever the case is, that’s kind of been the narrative. So to hear that someone as high-ranking as Sandy feels the way he feels about that is refreshing and good to hear him speak like that. I’m certainly very appreciative of that.”
Bauer would make a lot of sense for the Mets
Bauer just finished the short 2020 season with a 1.73 ERA, a 2.88 FIP, and 0.795 WHIP. He had a fantastic start for the Cincinnati Reds against the Atlanta Braves during the NL Wild Card round, but his team didn’t score and was swept. Now, lots of teams are interested in services, including the New York Mets.
“I also kind of zeroed in on one of the things he said, which is, ‘Baseball’s an entertainment business.’ We are an entertainment business, and I think that’s a view that I share. It’s something that I’m passionate about. I certainly would like to move that initiative forward, because I think that the players will be better for it when they start looking at it that way. Yes, you are paid to play baseball and to win on the field obviously, but you can’t do that 24/7. So if you can maximize your time and buy into the entertainment side of things, there’s so much opportunity for players to do things like that, and I think that the culture of baseball has slowly begun to shift in that direction.â€
Bauer and the Mets make sense as a long-term marriage.