There was a period in the last 24 hours of the negotiation in which the Mets thought they had reached an agreement with Trevor Bauer, three sources told The Post. They considered that the terms had been approved by both parties and that he was working with one of his agents, Jon Fetterolf, to finalize the details.
But no deadline was signed – a key element for memorizing a contract was more formally agreed – and there were Dodgers.
And on Thursday night, the Dodgers had gone from lurking to jumping, starting one last push that resulted in the best free agency headline landing on Friday. Los Angeles felt it was close to a uniform offer between the Dodgers and Mets that Bauer would prefer his Southern California roots and the Dodgers close to certain championship competitions and the modern pitching program.
The Mets offered a three-year, $ 105 million pact, which could be worth $ 80 million if Bauer gave up after two years. But they were worried that even if they were first in the money, they were second in the place Bauer wanted to be, plus the Mets were worried that he might not prefer New York in particular. The Dodgers deal that Bauer entered into was for three years at $ 102 million, with $ 85 million available in the first two years, though possible with postponements that would reduce the current value of the day.
A source said that Mets President Sandy Alderson, who has been involved with three organizations for the past four decades, said he had never done so in negotiations and did not finalize the deal.
Both Fetterolf and Alderson said they would not comment on the details of the negotiations.