The Cleveland Indians Trevor Bauer Story: Drones, Arbitrations, and Trades

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.

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.

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.

Chicago Cubs

Prior to the 2018 season, Jake Arrieta, who in 2016 led the Cubs to their first World Series since 1908, opted to go the Philidelphia Phillies. This left a gaping hole within the Cubs starting rotation.

Despite the fact that the Cubs had ownership over 1st place in the NL Central starting on July 13 until game 161, and having a 4.5 game lead over the 2nd place Milwaukee Brewers on September 1, the Brewers took the world by surprise by tying up the division and forcing a game 163.

After the Brewers won game 163, they forced the Cubs into a sudden death situation. In what would be one of the most epic games of all time, the Rockies upset the Cubs by winning 2-1 in the 13th inning of the NL Wild Card Game.

The Cubs saw that their starting rotation was a problem early on in the season. To have any chance at a postseason, they had to finish depleting their farm system in order to obtain Cole Hamels from the Texas Rangers. Hamels definitely helped, but it wasn’t enough.

Adding Trevor Bauer to their rotation could re-solidify the Cubs as top dog in the NL Central. The problem is, who do they give up for Bauer. After last year’s trade deadline, Joel Reuter of Bleacher Report, reassessed every teams farm system. The Cubs had the 2nd to worst farm system in MLB.

Is Bauer to the Cubs likely? No. We have seen Theo Epstein overcome bigger obstacles before, however. So, don’t count the Cubs out.

New York Yankees

The New York Yankees already made a splash for a top tier starting pitcher this offseason when they traded away with their top pitching prospect for “The Big Maple“. Still, Brian Cashman has made no bones about adding another arm or two to the Yankees pitching staff.

Pair this with the fact that it seems the Yankees might after all be interested in acquiring Manny Machado, who better than Trevor Bauer to pitch under the bright lights of Broadway. For one thing, the days of “The Boss” spending money recklessly are over, and Bauer is under control for two more years. Secondly, Bauer had the lowest HR/9 (0.5) in MLB. Given the fact that Yankee Stadium is home run hitter’s paradise, adding Bauer could potentially neutralize the opponents power bat.

There are multiple ways for the Yankees to pull off a deal for Bauer:

1. If the Yankees really are serious about Machado, there would be a logjam on the left-side of the Yankee infield. They could remedy the situation by dealing Miguel Andujar for Bauer straight up.
2. The Yankees could part ways with some of their prospects, including Clint Frazier, who was once the Cleveland Indians top prospect.

The only thing that could be standing between the Yankees and Trevor Bauer is Patrick Corbin. Long rumored to be a top target for the Bronx Bombers, Patrick Corbin is arguably the best available pitcher on the free agent market. However, Bauer checks off more boxes than Corbin.

• He’s younger (27 vs. 29)
• Steadily improving
• Playoff tested
• AL experience

Will the Yankees be willing to part ways with the Rookie of the Year runner-up for a potential ace? Only time will tell.

Milwaukee Brewers

The Milwaukee Brewers shocked the world last season when they forced a game 163 in the NL Central, and then demoted the Chicago Cubs to 2nd place in the very last game of the season.

It was truly a season to remember. Christian Yelich solidified himself as a premier player in baseball by winning the 2018 MVP award and coming 1 RBI and 2 HR away from a triple crown award; and the Brewers came within 1 game of the World Series, despite outscoring the Los Angeles Dodgers by a single run.

The difference in this, one could argue, is pitching. In 2018, Brewers starting pitchers were only able to muster an ERA of 3.92 and a FIP of 4.32. The Brewers rotation simply just doesn’t feature a single, surefire ace.

That’s not to call Trevor Bauer an ace – at least not yet. However, Trevor Bauer is a vast improvement over the alternatives. Not only that, he immediately takes pressure away from Jhoulys Chacin and Chase Anderson, who were asked to be front of the line starters when they’re really not quite that.

The Brewers farm system has improved over the years, but in order to obtain Bauer, they’d probably have to part ways with their young prospect Carlos Rodriguez who raked in the rookie ball last season.

While the move makes sense, it’s unlikely.

Tampa Bay Rays

Prior to the 2018 season, the Tampa Bay Rays made headlines with their decision to forego a 5th starting pitcher. The 5th day was to be considered a bullpen day. The decision turned heads and brought upon questions of GM Erik Neander’s fitness to run the Rays front office and manager Kevin Cash’s managerial choices.

That’s when the Rays proved the baseball world wrong. The Rays are the first organization to deploy “the opener,” a pitching strategy most of you have probably heard of because of MLB Network’s resident sabermetrician, Brian Kenny. While the strategy worked wonders for the Rays, one must admit that the only reason to deploy “the opener” is because you’re short on starters.

This is definitely true for the Rays, even if they don’t cop to it immediately.

With Chris Archer struggling, the Rays totally gave up on their starters. Eventually they traded Archer – their best starter – away to Pittsburgh, leaving a gaping hole in the starting rotation.

Talk about night and day, Bauer and Archer are polar opposites. Since 2016…

• Archer has allowed 1.2 HR/9 since 2016, while Bauer allows 0.9 HR/9.
• Archer has a 4.12 ERA, and Bauer has a 3.57 ERA
• Archer has a 3.64 FIP, and Bauer has a 3.45 FIP

The Rays won 90 games last season, making a run at a Wild Card. With the addition of Trevor Bauer, they could realistically be in the mix with the Yankees and the Red Sox in the AL East. What’s more, their farm system is stacked with talent they could trade away to Cleveland.

Look for this to be a real possibility in the next few days.