Trevor Bauer is 33. He won the NL Cy Young Award in 2020. He's informally blackballed from MLB.
Bauer is pitching in Mexico. He's 7-0 with a 1.53 ERA and 76 strikeouts in 53 innings.
Last season, Bauer pitched in Japan: 11-4 with a 2.59 ERA and 160 strikeouts in 156 2/3 innings.
Bauer has still got it.
Put the right-handed thrower in the No. 4 spot in the Pirates rotation, and they're a lock to make the playoffs.
Bauer would play for the MLB minimum: $740k.
But the Pirates won't do it.
Charges against Bauer were thoroughly disproven.
Bauer is a nutjob. There would be theoretical risk to clubhouse chemistry, but very minimal. Bauer would be at the last-chance saloon, and he'd know it. Maybe he could hire Russell Wilson's publicist.
It would be an educated, worthwhile gamble by a team that hasn't won a playoff series since 1979. It's an incredibly cheap option.
But the Pirates won't do it.
When the Pirates narrowly miss the playoffs, we'll be able to look back at several clearly defining reasons why.
Not getting Bauer will be one of them.
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