By: David A. Avila
Publish Date: February 5, 2021

Newly crowned Cy Young Award winner Trevor Bauer decided the Los Angeles Dodgers and its two other Cy Young winners were the perfect destination on Friday.

Sorry New York.

A Southern California native, Bauer signed to pitch for the L.A. Dodgers to a tune of $102 million over three years with the first year at $40 million to become Major League Baseball’s highest paid player in 2021. He can opt out after the first or second year according to MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand.

The New York Mets finished second in the bidding.

Bauer pitched his way to the Cy Young award by dominating the Covid-19 shortened season for the Cincinnati Reds in 2020. Over the year he pitched 73 innings and sported a 1.73 ERA and 0.79 WHIP in the regular season. In the playoffs he shut out the Atlanta Braves for 7.2 innings, though his team eventually lost that game and were ousted from the playoffs.

It was the kind of performance that catches the eye and persuaded the Dodgers to enter a bidding war with the New York Mets and their new deep pockets owner Steven A. Cohen. Though New York offered a large amount of money, the lure of returning home for Bauer was a major plus.

For the Dodgers, two reasons for chasing Bauer was watching the New York Mets possibly add another dominating pitcher to its staff that already has Jacob DeGrom and Carlos Carrasco. Or it may have been watching rival team San Diego Padres adding Blake Snell and Yu Darvish to its starting rotation while maintaining the status quo.

The Dodgers made their checkmate move.

Reaction around the league was awe.

“Wow!” said David Price one of the Cy Young winners on the Dodger staff who will be playing for the team after taking the year off due to the coronavirus situation. The other Cy Young winner for the Dodgers is Clayton Kershaw who has picked up three and an MVP Award.

Bauer, a former UCLA Bruin who along with Gerrit Cole led their team to the NCAA playoff finals in 2011. Both have become highly coveted pitchers with flaming fast balls and shut down performances wherever they pitched.

While Cole preferred to pitch in New York City with the Yanks, Bauer preferred to return home to Southern California and its more familiar setting.

“Last year doesn’t matter anymore. Come April, what matters is this team, this group of players, this group of fans and the name across our chest,” said Bauer on his YouTube channel while wearing a Dodger uniform. “This season is about making sure history remembers us as we wish to be remembered. This season is about adding to our legacy. And I can’t wait Dodger fans.”