The Cleveland Indians Trevor Bauer Story: Drones, Arbitrations, and Trades
By Manny Gómez
With reports swarming that the Cleveland Indians are more likely to trade Trevor Bauer than Corey Kluber or Carlos Carrasco, we speculate potential landing spots for “Bauer Outtage.”
In five complete MLB seasons, all with the Cleveland Indians, Trevor Bauer has enough stories for a lifetime. From his odd warm up routines to drone accidents, when it’s all said and done, Bauer is by far one of baseball’s great characters.
With rumors swirling that the Cleveland Indians are facing an impending rebuild, reports began to swirl that everyone not named Francisco Lindor and Jose Ramirez is on the block. With organizations bidding for free agent Andrew Miller, and Josh Donaldson signing with the Braves, a rebuild looks more imminent now than ever.
Now, Trevor Bauer, according to Bob Nightengale, is the latest Cleveland Indian to have been reported to be up for grabs.
Teams talking to the Cleveland #Indians say the Indians are much more inclined to trade Trevor Bauer than Corey Kluber or Carlos Carrasco. Bauer has 2 years of club control left, but the only one of the starters with cost uncertainty. He has two arbitration years left before FA.
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) November 27, 2018
Despite missing the better part of a month in 2018, Trevor Bauer had a CY Young caliber season. In 27 starts, Bauer managed a 2.21 ERA and an MLB leading 2.44 FIP.
With Bauer entering his third year of arbitration, his phenomenal 2018 season is turning out to be somewhat of a curse in disguise for the Cleveland Indians. Before last season, after setting career highs in wins (17) and strikeout (196), Bauer beat the Indians in arbitration and walked away with more money than he initially asked for.
What did Bauer do with the difference of the money he asked for ($6,420,969.69) and the money he actually won ($6,525,000)? He launched charitable campaign called “69 Days of Giving,” in which he gave $420.69 to 68 charities – one each day – suggested by fans. On the last day, he donated $69,420.69 to a charity of his choosing.
What’s the meaning of $6,420,969.69? Well, you’ll have to use your imagination on that one.
1) My website is finally live! Check it out here: https://t.co/7ienyNJSrI 2) This is the official announcement for 69 days of giving, a charitable giving campaign I will be running this season! Help me help your favorite cause! https://t.co/ZXUf3Rdm9l pic.twitter.com/YsrG3P0sri
— Trevor Bauer (トレバー・バウアー) (@BauerOutage) March 28, 2018
In 2018 , Bauer set another career high in strikeouts (221) and established himself as one of baseball’s best, most efficient pitchers. Therefore, the Indians are looking at yet another loss to Bauer in arbitration. This paired with his performance creates a sort of incentive for trading Bauer away.
So, in the interest of pure speculation – and for fun – let’s take a look at potential landing spots for Bauer.