Trevor Bauer was signed to a 3-year $102m contract by the Los Angeles Dodgers back in 2021 before the sexual assault allegations came to light. Bauer has taken to social media and indicated that he is now willing to accept a league minimum ($740,000) contract with incentives.
“I just wanna play, I’ll play for league minimum. I don’t care, whatever the structure for the team is that makes them most the most comfortable is fine with me. I just wanna go play.” -Bauer via the That’s a Winner Podcast
Bauer’s lead agent/lawyer has also said “This isn’t about the money. Really, what he’s looking for is only a chance and an opportunity.” Bauer and his camp are aware that his addition could (likely would be) a PR nightmare for the team signing him and he is aware that he could simply be let go for the league minimum if anything were to go awry while he was in their uniform.
It is important to note that Bauer was never found guilty of Sexual Assault, rather, the accuser withdrew her claims and Bauer served his MLB Suspension.
Bauer has posted an 83-69 record, 3.79 ERA, 116 ERA+, 2.88 K/BB and a 21.1 WAR over 10 years in the MLB. He was also the Cy Young winner in 2020, finished Top-10 in MVP voting in 2020, and was an All Star in 2018. He has shown the ability to throw 150 or more innings in 6 seasons, topping out at 213.0 in 2019.
During his 2023 season with the Yokohama Baystars Bauer posted a 10-4 record with a 2.76 ERA over 130.2 innings while posting a 4.19 K/BB.
Heading into the 2024 season the Detroit Tigers rotation is middle of the road, at best. There are still big question marks regarding Matt Manning and Casey Mize in relation to their ability to stay on the mound for a full season. Despite adding Kenta Maeda and Jack Flaherty in free agency the rotation still lacks a sure fire 150+ inning pitcher. The addition of a Cy Young winning pitcher like Trevor Bauer would greatly bolster the rotation.
Some baseball executives are still showing unwillingness to sign a guy like Bauer and others have indicated that they believe another year in Japan would do him good, especially if he’s able to prove he can go another season with no known issues. It’s also important to note, according to Jon Heyman, there are still seven or eight teams still in communication with Bauer’s people.
An incentive laden contract could look like this:
Base Salary: $740,000
Incentives:
100 Innings: $1.5m
150 Innings: $4m
200 Innings: $5.5m
Top-10 ERA: $1.5m
Top-5 ERA: $3m
ERA Title: $5m
Top-10 MVP: $1.5m
Top-5 MVP: $3m
MVP Title: $5m
Cy Young Award: $7.5m
Contract Total: $38.24m (if all incentives are reached)
So, what do you think Tigers fans? Would you like to see Scott Harris and the Detroit Tigers add a guy like Trevor Bauer to the starting rotation to a league minimum contract loaded with incentives?