Pitcher taken aback by MLB rebuttal
GOODYEAR, Ariz. — All-Star pitcher Trevor Bauer thought the Cleveland Indians had presented a better overall case against him in their latest salary arbitration hearing, until the last 10 minutes in a rebuttal by Major League Baseball labour relations staff he viewed as “character assassination” against him.
“That kind of put a black mark on what I thought was a really well-argued case on both sides,” Bauer said Thursday, a day after beating the Indians in arbitration for the second year in a row.
A day after Wednesday’s hearing in Florida, Bauer was awarded $13 million by the three-person panel over the Indians’ $11 million offer. Bauer who won’t be eligible for free agency until after the 2020 season, said he never plans to sign more than a one-year contract. The pitcher said the process hasn’t soured his feelings about the team.
“No, I understand it,” Bauer said. “I look at it as a very intellectual pursuit.”
He had sent formal personalized invitations to Indians president Chris Antonetti and general manager Mitch Chernoff to attend his hearing. He said that was meant as “kind of a joke and ease the tension that could be created” by such situations, and Antonetti said it was taken as a “good-natured joke.”
In his 2018 case, Bauer won a raise from $3.55 million to $6.52 million after Cleveland offered $5.3 million.
That was more money than even he anticipated, so Bauer donated that extra to charity.
Bauer already anticipates going through the arbitration process again next year.