MLB Weekly Update - 2/11/21
It finally happened. Trevor Bauer, the reigning NL Cy Young, ended his free agency. It came down to the Dodgers and Mets with both teams offering about the same amount of money over 3 years. It really came down to where Bauer wanted to play more and in the end he chose Los Angeles. The Dodgers signed the 30-year-old right hander to a 3-year $102 million contract. Bauer has an opt out after the first two years in which he will earn $40 million in 2021 and $45 million in 2022. That makes him the highest paid player in baseball. The Dodgers, who already had a boatload of pitching depth, got even better. Their rotation options are as follows - Clayton Kershaw, Walker Buehler, David Price (remember him?), Julio Urias, Dustin May, and now Trevor Bauer.
The Dodgers made this move for two reasons. One, because they can. They have the money, they have the motivation to compete, they have the depth to cover the chance Bauer doesn’t pitch up to expectations. Two, because of what the Padres have done this offseason and the scary reality of what a Mets starting rotation would look like in the postseason with Bauer on it. The Dodgers didn’t just improve their pitching staff, they also one-upped the Padres and disabled the Mets. I am very excited to see how Bauer will pitch in LA and even more excited for what should be the best division race in baseball between the Dodgers and Padres.
As the Bauer news took over baseball, there were other moves that took place and here at TLDR we won’t ignore them. The Atlanta Braves re-signed their outfield slugger Marcell Ozuna to a 4-year $65 million contract. Ozuna has one of his best seasons in 2020 and will come back to one of the best lineups in baseball. The Texas Rangers traded their long-time shortstop Elvis Andrus to the Oakland Athletics for DH Khris Davis. Both of these players have declined in previous seasons so this may just be a swap of washed up ball players. Yadiar Molina will be back for the Cardinals for at least one more year after signing a 1-year $8-million deal. Molina turns 39 in July and this will be his 18th season catching for the red birds. Lastly, the Red Sox traded outfielder Andrew Benintendi in a three team deal with the Kansas City Royals and New York Mets. The Royals get Benintendi, the Red Sox get OF Franchy Cordero and prospects from Kansas City and New York. The Mets get more prospects from Kansas City. The Royals will easily win this trade if Benintendi can rebound from a disappointing 2020. Boston continues to trade away home grown talent and toes the line between rebuilding and contending.
On the podcast this week we talked about our predictions for the American League East Division. I wanted to include my final standings for this division on this article but checkout Episode 33: “The Grind” for more details on each team. Thanks for reading and I’ll see you here next week for more MLB Updates!
AL East Division Predictions
1) New York Yankees (95-67)
2) Toronto Blue Jays (90-72)
3) Tampa Bay Rays (86-76)
4) Boston Red Sox (82-80)
5) Baltimore Orioles (70-92)