Undeniably, there has not been more preliminary scrutiny over a contract in recent years than the deal the Los Angeles Dodgers made for pitcher Trevor Bauer last winter. While the three-year, $102 million agreement makes Bauer among MLB’s highest-paid players, only time will tell if it was a sound investment. However, based on what we’ve seen already, the reasons that the team went above and beyond to sign the righty starter are starting to become visible, shenanigans aside.
Friday night’s opener against the Giants was perhaps the Dodgers’ most important game of the young 2021 season so far, and Bauer delivered yet another gritty, clutch performance.