Bauer’s Record-Breaking Contract

Trevor Bauer went through free agency as one of the bigger names on the market. Bauer’s name rang off the top of people's heads as the NL Cy Young winner in 2020. Along with a solid 2020, another topic that came to people's minds when thinking about the name Trevor Bauer was his internet content. Bauer posts vlogs on YouTube through his Momentum brand channel, along with random informational videos for subscribers on his personal channel. Between Bauer's performance and many efforts off the field to grow and show off the game, along with his agent, Rachel Luba he was able to find himself a record-breaking contract with his favorite childhood team. The Los Angles Dodgers signed Bauer to a 3-year deal worth up to $102 million dollars. Here is where the record lies; in ’21 Bauer will be paid $40 million dollars which is the most a player has been paid annually in Major League Baseball history. It doesn't stop there because in ’22 he is set to break the record again making $45 million dollars. So besides the talent from his agent, Rachel Luba, how did Trevor Bauer get a contract like this by really only having one elite short 2020 covid season?

First off let us start with the performance on the field that proved well for Bauer in his contract negotiations. Bauer had his best years in Cleveland between 2016 and 2018 where he had well-pitched seasons averaging 170 innings per season, especially in 2018 with a 2.21 ERA. Coming off of a Cy Young-winning season though really helped Bauer’s contract negotiations since it was his most recent season. It is no doubt that he pitched super well in 2020 with a 1.73 ERA along with shutting down the Braves in the postseason with a shutout through 7 and 2/3rds innings. He performed great but with this special offseason, it wasn't clear how teams would value performance in a shortened season as well as determining what they would be comfortable doing with their money foreseeing an uncertain future. While considering on-field performance is what every front office does when considering the value of a player, teams would now have to look at production off the field; Trevor Bauer is a different case as he has many other endeavors going for him off the field that relate directly back to Baseball. Bauer has a goal to spread awareness and grow the game he grew up loving. Bauer has built a company revolving around this idea, “Momentum is an athlete-driven media company that uses storytelling to connect athletes and fans on a human level.” This is his company’s mission statement, which can be found on the about page of their website that will be linked below. Bauer also has his own vlogs which he started at the beginning of the 2020 season. In these vlogs, viewers have the opportunity to see into the life of a professional baseball player on a more personal level with behind-the-scenes content. Bauer has continued to make his vlogs through the offseason along with working on some other business ventures. His company Momentum has brought new content which helps people within the sport grow the game in the form of vlogs from minor league players including Tom Hackimer, pitcher in the Twins minor league system, as well as Aiden Mclntyre, a pitcher in the Athletics minor league system. Momentum also features vlogs from his agent Rachel Luba where she gives a cool insight into her life and profession as a professional sports agent. Along with that as you can see in Bauer’s vlogs is his efforts in creating a baseball training facility. Along with more ventures he partakes in off the field these are things that draw fan attention and help the game of baseball grow and at the end of the day provides value to the business side of Major League Baseball and its teams. All these things provide the team he goes to value as they will be a big role in his brand and content. I believe this is what on top of his good performance really made him capable of receiving a contract this large. I will link a YouTube video titled “Making My Free Agency Decision” where he discusses what he really looked for in a team to play for.

In the future, I think that the players' comparison to Bauer will help players get more money in negotiations, as that is one thing teams look at when valuing a player. I also think that players will see what Bauer is doing and realize that his love for the game as well as his time and financial investment into the game will encourage them to maybe start their own form of creating content and growing the game. Players don't have to do exactly what Bauer is doing but other players finding new ways to share their lives will help grow the game of baseball and teams will find value within that. It will be interesting to see the future of Bauer’s performance on the field. He is a very entertaining pitcher to watch from his pure talent as well as the emotion that he shows on the field throughout a game. The future of his content will be really cool to watch because he will show the behind-the-scenes of what he is going through contrary to how the media shows what he or any player is dealing with on a daily basis. It will be cool to see the behind-the-scenes of what it is like getting acclimated to a new team, seeing more baseball personalities, learning more about players' interests outside of baseball. Bauer was able to use his assets and passion for growing the game to help secure himself a large sum of money within his contract that will ultimately help grow his brand and the game of Baseball.

Trevor’s YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCczKsS4gTjJzU5zayrNnwEA

Trevor’s free agency video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m19X6HVpFyU&ab_channel=TrevorBauer

Momentum’s website: https://watch-momentum.com/

Momentum’s YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtbR0PykhOjHOMqfkbIw5kA