The Trevor Bauer sweepstakes is down to two teams. The news was confirmed last night by the pitcher’s agent, Rachel Luba, via Twitter, amid growing speculation that the reigning National League Cy Young would sign his contract. One of those two clubs is the New York Mets, while the other is presumably the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Thursday night was a weird day in the Bauer race. During the afternoon, several outlets reported that the New York Mets were making significant progress in talks.
Several people in the media talked about a potential three-year deal worth between $90 million and $100 million, including one opt-out clause after the first year:
Ok so its @BauerOutage to the Mets for three years approx $93M opt out after one year – first year front loaded more than years two and three
— Craig Carton (@craigcartonlive) February 4, 2021
Bob Nightengale of USA Today broke the news that there was an agreement in place for the talented right-hander, who put a 1.73 ERA and a 2.88 FIP in 73.0 innings during the shortened 2020 campaign.
Trevor Bauer and the #Mets have a deal.
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) February 5, 2021
Not so fast, Mets!
However, less than ten minutes later, Mark Feinsand of MLB.com put water to the rumors and said that while the situation is fluid and there are ongoing conversations, the Mets and Bauer had not reached a del just yet.
Trevor Bauer and the Mets do not have a deal yet, per sources.
— Mark Feinsand (@Feinsand) February 5, 2021
It feels like it’s a matter of time for the news to break. A decision could come in the next few days, and quite possibly in the next few hours.
Bauer would greatly improve the Mets’ already-great chances of advancing to the postseason and making a deep run. If everybody is healthy and the signing materializes, they could have a top five of Jacob deGrom, Bauer, Carlos Carrasco, Noah Syndergaard, and Marcus Stroman, with David Peterson, Joey Lucchesi, Jerad Eickoff and Jordan Yamamoto as depth.