Free agent poll: Trevor Bauer

With the offseason kicking into gear, we are going to run a series of polls asking about what you think the Texas Rangers should do in regards to various players on the free agent market. We have used Jon Heyman’s predictions in the past, but since he hasn’t been doing them lately, we will use the Fangraphs predictions instead, along with the predictions from Kiley McDaniel at ESPN.

Today, we are looking at righthanded starting pitcher Trevor Bauer. Bauer, the #3 overall pick of the 2011 draft by the Arizona Diamondbacks, has the unique distinction of being involved in two different three team trades that involved both the Cleveland Indians and the Cincinnati Reds. Bauer is known for his great stuff and for what is seen by some as a difficult personality. He broke out in 2018, putting up a 5.8 bWAR after totaling 8.6 bWAR the previous four years, was okay for Cleveland in 2019 before being awful in 10 starts after a mid-season trade to Cincinnati, then led the National League in ERA in 2020. Fangraphs projects Bauer to get 4 years, $90 million in free agency this offseason, while McDaniel has him at 1 years, $31 million. McDaniels acknowledges Bauer will get bigger offers in terms of total dollars, but thinks he might bet on himself and seek to re-enter the market next year, without the hindrance of a QO and with what I think everyone hopes will be a less pandemic-impacted market. Bauer has also famously said in the past that he would only done one year deals when he became a free agent, but has backtracked on that claim recently.

In any case, we are going to use the multi-year deal because that is more interesting for purposes of this poll.

At 4 years, $90 million, and the loss of a draft pick, would you want the Rangers to sign Trevor Bauer?

Cast your vote below...