Trevor Bauer, winner of the Cy National Award for the 2020 National League, has agreed to join the Los Angeles Dodgers, and the California native announced his move to a YouTube video on Friday.
Bauer and the Dodgers have agreed to a three-year, $ 102 million deal that has exit options after years 1 and 2, sources told ESPN’s Jeff Passan. Bauer is expected to earn $ 40 million in 2021 and $ 45 million in 2022, sources said.
Bauer, who has a notable presence on social media, appeared to make fun of his fate early Friday by giving a gift for a Dodgers-signed cap on his website, though he also had a few brief references to the New York Mets. which was believed to be another finalist, also on the site.
Sources told Passan that the Mets offered a higher overall value than the Dodgers, but the Los Angeles offer will make him the highest paid player in each of the next two seasons.
The 30-year-old right-hander is the first Cy Young Award winner to join Greg Maddux’s free agency in 1992.
Bauer, a first-time free agent who played for the Cincinnati Reds last season in a $ 17 million, $ 6.4 million deal, was one of the most dominant baseball players in 2020. , going 5-4, ERA 1.73, WHIP 0.79, 100 hits and 17 walks during the shortened pandemic season. Opponent hitters hit .159 against him, leading all major league players. In addition to WHIP and ERA, Bauer led the National League in ERA-plus, which is consistent with his hitter-friendly home stadium, and in allowed shots in nine innings (5,055) in 2020.
He turned down a $ 18.9 million one-year qualifying offer from the Reds, who will receive a draft draft pick by signing with a new team. The Dodgers will lose their second-largest pick in the July amateur draft and a $ 500,000 international signing fee.
Bauer joins a Dodgers rotation, which was one of the best in the major classes in 2020 and now has three former Cy Young winners at Bauer, Clayton Kershaw and David Price. Last season, the Dodgers ranked first in WHIP and second in the opponent’s ERA, with a batting average and OPS.
Bauer’s arsenal includes a variety of pitches, and he had great success with his fast ball, while throwing two shutouts in two full games last season. According to ESPN, Bauer was preparing the hitters to eliminate them in the outer half of the plate, leading the National League with 63 strokes while keeping the bats at an average of .145 beats in that location.
Outside the mound, Bauer voiced his views and criticisms on everything from Commissioner Rob Manfred to the MLB-MLBPA negotiations and suggested that Houston Astros pitchers applied substances to baseballs to increase spin speed. In 2018, Bauer was fined for throwing a baseball from the mound over the center fence before being kicked out of the game. In 2016, he was retired from his opening in Game 2 of the American League Championship Series, after cutting off his fingertip while maintaining his drone.
The Reds acquired Bauer in a deal with the Cleveland Indians in July 2019. He made 10 starts after the trade that year, going 2-5 with an ERA of 6.39 for the Reds.
In nine seasons since entering the major standings with the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2012, Bauer has 75-64, with 1,279 hits and an ERA of 3.90. His only All-Star selection came in 2018.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.