The Atlanta Braves are searching high and low for a trading partner as the deadline approaches. Perhaps the Bravos should take a look at Cleveland Indians starter Trevor Bauer, despite the fact that they are firmly entrenched in the AL Central race with the Minnesota Twins.
With Marcus Stroman off the table and a move of San Francisco Giants starter Madison Bumgarner seeming increasingly unlikely, Atlanta Braves fans can turn their attention to other possible targets, and Trevor Bauer could be one of them.
But wait… isn’t that the guy that had a pretty terrible public meltdown on Sunday? After losing the lead in the fifth inning and Cleveland Indians manager Terry Francona coming to take him out of the game, he threw a ball at the netting behind home plate, and then chucked a ball from the mound all the way over the center field fence. Yes, you should watch the video.
“I offer a sincere apology to all my teammates and coaching staff for how I conducted myself today. It was unbecoming, childish and professional. There’s no place for that in the game, and I’m sorry for that,” Bauer said in the video linked above.
So we know Trevor is sorry, but does that effect if that’s the kind of player that the Atlanta Braves want to pursue?
The video described him as ‘socially awkward’ and someone who does ‘weird things’ on social media sometimes. We know that tantrums in the clubhouse can hurt chemistry, and Bauer doesn’t seem like the kind of guy that can hold back easily.
There’s no clear answer as to whether or not that’s the case. Clubhouse behavior, someone being a bad clubhouse guy or a good one is largely speculation and should be treated as such unless it becomes something covered by reputable media sources.
But there’s more.
Bauer has also had a public history with Cleveland.com writer Paul Hoynes, calling him out after a story where he was unhappy over not getting the 2019 opening day start, and in 2018, there was a dispute about an injury return timeframe.
Beyond that, in 2016, he called Hoynes a coward after he didn’t come to the clubhouse on a scheduled off day after he wrote a piece that basically said the Indians had no chance to make the playoffs.
He also got cheeky in a press conference after he didn’t finish out a well pitched game against the Atlanta Braves, basically insulting our team’s plate discipline. He walked five.
For me, it does raise an eyebrow when I think whether the Atlanta Braves should try to acquire Bauer – but does it condemn him?
Could it mean a discount for bad behavior?
Tomahawk Take has discussed acquiring him and I’m doing it again.
His talent is undeniable. A 17-game winner in 2017 turned into an All-Star campaign for Bauer in 2018.
This year, he’s got nine wins and is fourth in the majors with 185 strikeouts, ranking behind only Chris Sale, Max Scherzer and Gerrit Cole. Interestingly, he leads all of MLB in walks, with 63 free passes.
The most intriguing thing to me about Bauer statistically is that despite his penchant for walks, his WHIP is still low at 1.21. He’s only allowed 127 hits through a major-league leading 156.1 innings pitched. The guy is intense, and he’s a workhorse.
Another really excellent tidbit is a stat tweeted by Brad Badini. Bauer strikes out 10.69 batters per nine innings with runners on base. Bauer can step it up a notch when the game is on the line.
That leads to a very obvious question- why would the Cleveland Indians trade him? Writer Hoynes (again) wrote a piece where he said that Bauer certainly would not be on the Indians 2020 roster.
The reasoning behind that, according to Hoynes, is that Bauer is controllable for a year of arbitration in 2020, and the price will be somewhere in the neighborhood of 13 million dollars. Traditionally, Cleveland isn’t a big spender. Additionally, Hoynes said that Bauer hasn’t seemed to show interest in any sort of long term deal.
The Indians trading Bauer at the deadline would likely get a bigger return. As a contender, The Cleveland Indians’ ask would be high, perhaps higher than Stroman’s package of Anthony Kay and Simeon Woods Richardson.
Kay and Richardson are two strong prospects, but no where near the potential haul that many reporters forecasted prior to the deal bring done.
But a discount? The Cleveland Indians have dealt with Bauer’s antics for the past four years. I think that any savvy general manager could angle for that. And his outburst this weekend was probably by far his worst. It stands to reason that Bauer could be a public liability.
If Bauer is in fact on the block, and the price is in fact discounted to some level, I would be open to the Atlanta Braves acquiring him, quirky personality and all.
The year of team control is a nice feature, and you simply can’t deny his arm. A 1-2-3 punch of Soroka-Bauer-Keuchel in the postseason would be a good one. Roll the dice.
We’re under the 30 hour mark before the deadline. We’ll find out soon just exactly what tricks Atlanta Braves GM Alex Anthopoulos has up his sleeve.