The Boston Red Sox are set to have pitchers and catchers report on Wednesday. This offseason they entered needing to add starting pitching and they did that with the addition of Lucas Giolito but after doing that they traded Chris Sale to the Atlanta Braves for Vaughn Grissom. Since then they have been silent making minor moves, yes fans right now want to sign Jordan Montgomery and he’s the big splash that I understand makes the most sense, especially with the team needing an LHP. Blake Snell is also a nice name to add but the focus for fans is Montgomery. This offseason ownership said the team was “Full Throttle” then backtracked that with we are cutting payroll and is now talking about trading Jaren Duran who became a fan favorite last season; can he replicate what he did last season who knows? As well as potentially trading Kenley Jansen to get his $16 million off the books, maybe that leads Montgomery but there’s a name that has been talked about over the last 48 hours that just makes sense for the Red Sox and that’s Trevor Bauer. Now say what you will about his integrity and what’s happened over the last few years he can pitch and produce so why not add him to the Red Sox? The team wants to shed payroll while Bauer has said he’ll take the league minimum to pitch and compete with incentives. If you’re the Red Sox you aren’t paying him if he doesn’t live up except for the league minimum but if he produces then your team wins and you pay him a little bit more but the team is bringing in revenue and winning. Let’s take a look at what Bauer has done throughout his career and take what’s happened over the last few years with him and look at what he’s done on the field.
Trevor Bauer By The Numbers
Bauer started his career with the Arizona Diamondbacks then pitched for the Cleveland Guardians, Cincinnati Reds, and Los Angeles Dodgers before being suspended for some off-the-field issues. He last pitched in the MLB in 2021 but before that, he won the Cy Young award with the Reds when he went 5-4 in 11 starts with a 1.73 ERA and 100 strikeouts in 73 innings. The Red Sox want a starter that can give them innings on the mound and Bauer has pitched over 150 innings six times in his ten-year career. He is 83-69 with a 3.79 ERA, a 3.87 FIP, a 1.24 WHIP, a 1.1 HR/9, a 3.4 BB/9, and a 9.8 K/9. Last season in Japan he went 11-4 with a 2.59 ERA and 160 strikeouts in 156.2 innings of work.
Bottoms Line: Sign Trevor Bauer
The deal for Bauer just makes sense that even Jonathan Papelbon who is beloved in Boston has said he’ll pay his league minimum contract to the point that any GM can reach out to him and he’ll pay it. Someone beloved in Boston is backing this pitcher and even saying he deserves a second chance so why not have that be with the Red Sox?
