Dodgers pull a stunner and sign hometown kid Trevor Bauer

Despite most of the speculation suggesting Trevor Bauer was heading to the Mets, he stunned all of baseball.

Bauer, the reigning NL Cy Young award winner, is heading home. The California kid is signing with the Los Angeles Dodgers, hoping to win his first World Series in the process.

The Mets were favored to sign Bauer up until the last minute, as it was thought billionaire owner Steve Cohen would give the star pitcher a blank check of sorts to bring him to Queens. Instead, New York is left hanging, with Bauer instead forming a super-rotation in LA.

Bauer, who went to high school in California and attended UCLA, was always connected to the Dodgers due to his familiarity with his home state.

What does Bauer bring to the Dodgers rotation?

Bauer took a huge step in his career in the COVID-19 shortened 2020 MLB season, finishing the year 5-4 with an ERA of 1.73. Most the metrics suggested he was among the best pitchers in baseball last year, and the writers backed up that claim by gifting him an award that’s long eluded him.

The Dodgers rotation, with Bauer included, now rivals the best in baseball.

The looming NL West battle between the Dodgers and Padres just got even more interesting. This likely rotation doesn’t even take into account that Tony Gonsolin and Dustin May can slide in whenever necessary.

Bauer left more money on the table from the Mets, per Bob Nightengale.

While the Dodgers still have a hole to fill at third base, they’ll likely turn to bringing back Justin Turner should front office management deem they can afford it (lol).

As is often the case in the modern MLB, the rich got richer. Any path to the 2021 Fall Classic runs through LA for a reason.