Yankees: Trevor Bauer debunks feud with Gerrit Cole, signing could be possible

trevor bauer, New York Yankees
Sep 30, 2020; Cumberland, Georgia, USA; Cincinnati Reds starting pitcher Trevor Bauer (27) pitches against the Atlanta Braves during the fifth inning at Truist Park. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

The New York Yankees are short on true difference-makers in the rotation. Outside of Gerrit Cole, the other true top-of-the-rotation arm, Luis Severino, is injured and probably won’t return before June 2021. Masahiro Tanaka, James Paxton and J.A. Happ will be free agents, and while Deivi Garcia, Domingo German, Clarke Schmidt and Jordan Montgomery are certainly talented, they are still not on Cole’s level.

As the New York Yankees are looking for answers in the rotation, one notable arm is hitting the market after the World Series: Trevor Bauer. Since his Cincinnati Reds were eliminated in the Wild Card round, he has been writing on Twitter at virtually every team to engage with fans and offer his services.

Bauer, a strong candidate to win the NL Cy Young, finished the 2020 season with a 1.73 ERA in 11 starts. He would certainly fit in nicely in any club, let alone one with so many aspirations as the New York Yankees.

But there is an issue. For years, the media has talked about an alleged feud between Bauer and Cole. The two pitched together in college, at UCLA, and the so-called dispute has its origins there. Cole has never talked about the subject.

Will they fit together in the Yankees?

The two have extremely different personalities. Cole is a quiet man, who doesn’t particularly enjoy social media and only minds his business: pitch and dominate. Bauer is outspoken, controversial, some would say a clown.

One would have to think that, if there is a feud between the two, the Yankees won’t sign Bauer before running it by Cole.

Recently, former assistant coach at UCLA Rick Vanderhook had this to say about the two patching things up: “I would have to say the odds of the earth burning up are better than that. That’s not going to happen. It’s just not. They are opposites, just such complete opposites.”

But Bauer put some water to the fire: “Well, whatever chances there are of Gerrit and I squashing this non-existent, fictitious beef, they’re certainly higher than the chances of this former UCLA coach winning a College World Series,” he tweeted.

There you go. It will all depend on whether the Yankees want to pay the man, or if Cole ultimately decides to accept him on the team. But Bauer is saying all the right things.