Trevor Bauer is a weird cat. In one of the most fascinating interviews I’ve ever read, Bauer confirmed that he is smart, weird, funny, and a bad boyfriend. Bauer said some really interesting things including the fact that he only wants to take one-year contracts moving forward. He will certainly maximize his earning potential if he stays healthy. The one part of the read that I didn’t find
Check out what Bauer said about Chris Sale. The interview comes our way via Sports Illustrated and I highly recommend reading:
“For instance: Bauer says he was certain he was going to win last year’s AL Cy Young until Aug. 11, when a line drive off the bat of the White Sox‘ José Abreu fractured his right leg. Even though he trailed the other front-runner, Chris Sale of the Red Sox, by a slim margin in ERA, 2.04 to 2.22, “Sale was going to fade,” Bauer says, “like he always does, and I would have run away with it.” Sale wound up getting hurt, and the Rays’ Blake Snell won the award, but Bauer thinks that if the writers were going to give it to a pitcher with only 180 2⁄3
innings-and not Houston workhorse Justin Verlander-then the winner should have been Bauer himself, who threw 175 1⁄3. He tied for sixth.”
A: There is some truth to what he’s saying about Chris Sale. The funky lefty threw a limited innings work load after the All-Star break to keep him healthy in 2018. In 2017, Sale had an ERA of 2.75 before the break and a 3.12 ERA after the break. So yes, he did fade a bit. However, Sale poured his guts out and is a world champion.
B: I don’t understand the motivation to go on these media rants. Go ask Jalen Ramsey how that worked out for him this year. There’s no upside to it. Even if that’s how you feel. Bill Belichick is the master of this. He tells the media that every player on an opposing team is great. It’s not actually how he feels. It’s just the right thing to do to avoid distraction.
Giving Chris Sale extra motivation in a contract year probably wasn’t the right decision. The Red Sox fed off of that noise better than anyone in 2018 and have 118 wins to show for it a year ago.
