Trevor Bauer making it hard for MLB to ignore
The polemic pitcher etched his name in the Mexican League record books with nine consecutive strikeouts for the Diablos Rojos del Mexico.
The disgraced, and later vindicated, former Cy Young winning pitcher Trevor Bauer was clear of his intentions when he arrived in Mexico. “I agreed to pitch five games for the Devils between April 11 and May 8 instead of a traditional spring training period, as it is the best way to be ready to pitch. This will help me stay in shape and be able to join a rotation right away when an MLB offer comes in.”
His mission is to regain the confidence of the Major Leagues and put himself back on the scouts’ radar for a return to the Show. The purpose of the Diablos is simply to provide a springboard for Bauer to launch himself from.
Nobody doubts Trevor Bauer’s talent. That has never been in doubt throughout this long, dreadful saga. Without any MLB teams ready to take the plunge and bring him back into the fold, Bauer even offered to sign for the league minimum. Still, there were no takers.
Many argue that the failure to return to the Show has nothing to do with Bauer’s sexual antics or any police investigation, but rather that Bauer had alienated himself from baseball by pointing a finger at MLB itself. Refusing to show contrition in any way, he made it clear that the league and players association should have defended him rather than simply offering him up as a sacrifice to a public baying for blood.
The MLB team owners don’t like to be challenged and Rob Manfred is simply the hatchet man for the owners. Many feel that Bauer was sidelined as a threat to order in the front offices of the league. And with the way that his behavior over the years has alienated many team mates, there were few voices speaking up for him at the MLBPA.
Now Trevor Bauer has to convince the owners and the league itself that they were wrong to turn their backs on him.
The Diablos Rojos are the winningest baseball team in the Mexican League, and Bauer needed only two starts to etch his name in the record books, adding another milestone to his sterling resume; a resume that several MLB teams will surely take a hard look at in the coming days.
Bauer's nine straight strikeouts
In the third game of the Diablos’ series against the Bravos de León, the former CY Young winner came out firing on all cylinders, throwing six complete innings with 14 strikeouts. But the truly incredible part is that nine of those K’s were consecutive; tying the league record set by José Ramon López in 1964 and Gary Williams in 1979.
It took 43 years for anyone of Bauer’s magnitude to appear in Mexico, and given that this was only in his second appearance for the Diablos, the achievement is even greater.
While Trevor Bauer might be problematic for MLB teams, he is certainly not unsignable. With no criminal charges ever filed against him, a civil suit dismissed as being “materially untrue” and now one of his accusers facing felony charges related to the case, Bauer feels that he has been more than vindicated. Players all over the league have been charged, tried, and convicted of violence against wives and girlfriends, including crimes involving firearms, and yet they still play for MLB teams.
Whatever the reason is that Bauer has been a pariah, he is making it harder and harder to ignore him. At some point, the MLB will have to take notice.