The Los Angeles Dodgers signed 2020 Nationwide League Cy Young Award winner Trevor Bauer to a $102 million, three-300 and sixty five days contract on Friday afternoon, making him the supreme paid MLB participant in 2021.
Per USA TODAY Sports, the contract has an decide-out clause after the predominant two seasons and pays Bauer $40 million in 2021 and $45 million in 2022. Up to now as pitching abilities goes, Bauer had a standout pandemic-curtailed 2020 season, topping the Nationwide League with a 1.73 ERA in 11 begins.
There turned into as soon as never any doubt that Bauer would be highly compensated after turning correct into a free agent, and simplest time will notify if the Dodgers screwed themselves with this broad deal. What I will firmly recount even though, is that despite his broad arm and now, baggage and baggage of cash, Bauer stays a deeply unlikeable online troll and harasser, and it’s OK to never root for guys delight in him.
Over the previous couple of years, Bauer has taken a web train out of any other sports web space playbook and over and over engaged in harassment campaigns on social media, turning his a complete bunch of thousands of followers on of us even a small bit serious of him. Most particularly, Bauer went after a college Houston Astros fan after she tweeted he turned into as soon as her “least celebrated particular person in all sports.” Bauer barraged her Twitter memoir with messages, tagging her over 80 occasions in tweets, over and over calling her out even though she had lengthy since stopped responding.
It turned into as soon as notorious, depraved behavior that Bauer never apologized for. When pushed by the media, he as a replacement made himself out to be the sufferer and described the harassment as “lawful natured.”
the arena. I had been made aware that about a of the interactions linked to a particular Twitter alternate can delight in had a detrimental impression. That turned into as soon as not my device. I am going to wield the duty of my public platform more responsibly within the lengthy flee.
— Trevor Bauer (?????????) (@BauerOutage) January 9, 2019
Without reference to his yelp that he would be use the platform “more responsibly” Bauer’s continued to invite his Twitter followers to pile on to day to day customers as not too lengthy within the past as October of 2020, going after a fan who said she didn’t ought to shuffle searching for Bauer find yourself in LA, to boot any other particular person who pushed Bauer on his behavior.
It’s decided that, after repeated attempts at it, Bauer knows precisely what roughly harassment he’s endorsing. No longer simplest does he not care, nonetheless appears to revel in it, glorying in punching down with out acknowledging the deep energy imbalance he wields as a excessive-profile athlete.
Hello all americans. @ZLess1995 has been blowing up my mentions the final couple hours making all forms of ridiculous accusations and judgements attempting desperately to safe attention. Let’s all come together to invent this small boys day greater and give him what he’s been begging for.
— Trevor Bauer (?????????) (@BauerOutage) July 27, 2018
Harassment is upright the tip of the Bauer abilities even though. He’s tweeted climate alternate denials, transphobic jokes and thinks President Barack Obama wasn’t born within the US.
the climate changed sooner than humans and would perchance well alternate after. For us to deem we are able to preserve a watch on this would possibly increasingly be very ego centric.
— Trevor Bauer (?????????) (@BauerOutage) February 10, 2017
that identical president who supposedly wasn’t born in america did the correct identical ban
— Trevor Bauer (?????????) (@BauerOutage) February 10, 2017
No longer simplest is his Twitter presence especially toxic, nonetheless it’s decided he hasn’t realized anything else from his imperfect behavior neither is he drawn to changing. Bauer sees himself as a insurrection or an outcast or no topic appears standard, nonetheless essentially he’s upright an unlikable dude who has leveraged the capacity to throw a ball.
From a 2019 Sports Illustrated profile:
“I are trying to invent the issues that I recount be basically based totally essentially, basically based totally in facts, and honest,” Bauer says. “And if that’s the case, and you are going to like to be upset at me for stating the actual fact, that’s your substitute. I don’t know if I’m not shy of sticking middle fingers in of us’s faces, or if I revel in it. But I find yourself doing that rather a lot.”
Expert sports has repeatedly valued abilities over character and rewarded considerable more reprehensible behavior than that of Bauer’s true online outbursts. But that doesn’t point out followers ought to abdomen it. Yeah, Bauer has a lawful arm and is going to invent Scrooge McDuck money, nonetheless you never ought to root for a guy who thinks harassing ladies folk online is a fun pastime.