It’s difficult to think of a free agent in recent memory whose contract has been more difficult to predict than Trevor Bauer.
He’s coming off a career-best Cy Young season. (A clear point in his favor.) But, of course, that season came in a pandemic-shortened year and marked a clear outlier from much of his past experience. (Okay, smudge that initial point a bit.) And teams’ willingness to spend big amid ongoing pandemic uncertainty remained a question mark through the fall and early winter. Then again, he was the only premium pitcher on the market… but he’s also a polarizing figure with a record of inappropriate behavior that raised questions about how teammates and fans alike might respond to a signing.