Mets: 3 free agents to sign and 1 to avoid this offseason
By Scott Rogust
Scouting Report. 1. player. Pick Analysis. SP. Cincinnati Reds. Trevor Bauer. 61
When it comes to pitching, the Mets own one of the best starting rotations in the league. Jacob de Grom is the obvious ace, with Noah Syndergaard and Marcus Stroman following him. But as we’ve seen in years past, having a dominant pitching rotation can lead to success. They saw it first hand in 2019, when the Washington Nationals used Stephen Strasburg, Mx Scherzer and Patrick Corbin to win the franchise’s first World Series.
If the Mets want to really put themselves over the edge, how about they add reigning NL Cy Young winner Trevor Bauer? Sure, they don’t need him, but why not add him as a luxury?
When everyone looks back at the truncated 2020 season, we’ll all look at Bauer being arguably the best player in all of professional baseball. His initial arrival to the Cincinnati Reds in 2019 was far from ideal, as he posted a 6.39 ERA in 10 starts after being traded off the Cleveland Indians. That was an albatross of a season because Bauer is usually better than that. Of course, he proved that to be the case in 2020.
In 11 starts, Bauer led the NL in ERA (1.73), complete games (two), WHIP (.795), hits allowed per nine innings (5.1) and ERA+ (276). Additionally, Bauer struck out 100 batters in 73.1 innings of work. That’s pretty good.
Who knows if the Mets will be able to secure Bauer’s services because he’s got more than half of the league interested in signing him. But the Mets have the chance to outbid their counterparts to create a Cy Young-winning duo in the starting rotation. Admit it, Mets fans. You want this to happen so badly.