Bauer upset with attorneys tactics

Indians starting pitcher Trevor Bauer is an unhappy multi-millionaire.

Bauer beat the Indians in arbitration for the second straight year when on Feb. 13 the arbitrator declared Bauer should be paid $13 million in 2019 - $2 million more than the Indians offered.

Bauer accused attorneys from the MLB Labor Relations Department representing the Indians in the Feb. 8 hearing in St. Petersburg, Fla., of using “character assassination” to persuade the arbitrator to rule in the Tribe’s favor, according to a story in USA Today.

“They spent the last 10 minutes of the case trying a character-assassination,” Bauer told USA Today. “I learned that giving to charity is a bad thing. I learned that agreeing with someone on a podcast just for the sake of argument that I was worth $10.5 million, and should be the definitive answer why I’m not worth $13 (million).”

Bauer, after winning his arbitration case last year, announced he would establish a “69 days of giving” campaign.

Bauer and Indians president Chris Antonetti, speaking to reporters at spring training in Goodyear, Az. on Feb. 14, explained how the arbitration process works.

First, the agent for the player has one hour to explain to the arbitrator why his client should be paid what he is asking for — in Bauer’s case $13 million. Then the team has an hour to explain why their offer is proper.

The two sides break and then the player’s representatives and representatives from the players’ union have 30 minute to rebut what the club says. Then the MLB RLD lawyers rebut what the agent says for 30 minutes.

The hearing ends with a two-minute closing argument from the player’s side.

In speaking to reporters at Goodyear, after meeting with Antonetti to clarify what he meant in the USA Today story, Bauer made it clear he is not upset with the Indians. In fact, he said he understands the approach taken by the LRD attorneys.

“I have no ill feelings toward anybody in the organization, nor the representatives that were in the room in the arbitration hearing,” Bauer said. “It was an unemotional event for me. I thought both sides presented a really strong case.

“I appreciate all the time spent on my behalf by the Players’ Association and my agency and I respect all the time spent by the Indians representatives and the Labor Relations Department. In a completely unemotional way, I thought the decision to end the rebuttal period with the intent to demean my character was a bad play and a bad decision.”

It is doubtful Bauer’s remarks will force a trade. He is a key player in the Tribe’s rotation, and his beef is not with Manager Terry Francona nor anyone in the Indians’ front office.

“The Labor Relations Department gets some input from the club,” Antonetti told reporters at spring

training. “There was some back and forth. There were things we asked not to be included that were ultimately withheld and there were other things that were left in that were presented in the case.”

Bauer sent formal invitations to Antonetti and Indians general manager Mike Chernoff inviting them to the hearing, but neither showed. Bauer said he would have been fine with the Indians using numbers put up by Bauer to prove their offer of $11 million (Bauer made $6.525 million last year) was fair.

Bauer told USA Today Antonetti and Chernoff not showing up was “unbelievable” and “disrespectful.”

Bauer can be eccentric at times, but said he is serious about what he said concerning Antonetti and Chernoff.

“That’s all true. 100 percent,” Bauer said in the USA Today story. “But that’s the game they play. Not ‘they’ as in anyone specifically, but for a long time, that’s how it’s been done in arbitration. The higher-ups on the team don’t go. They have lawyers argue the case for them.

“That’s the game they play. ‘It wasn’t us. We didn’t say that. We still like you as a player.’ “

Bauer was 12-6 and posted a 2.21 ERA with the Indians last season. He was a Cy Young Award candidate until he suffered

a stress fracture when hit by a line drive while pitching against the White Sox in early August in Chicago. The injury sidelined him six weeks.

Bauer is eligible for arbitration one last time in 2020. He will be an unrestricted free agent in 2021.

Indians invite three

The Indians have invited catcher Tim Federowicz (31) and right-handed pitcher Asher Wojciechowski (30) to spring training as nonroster players. Infielder Ernie Clement, a fourth-round draft pick by the Indians in 2017, has also been invited to camp.

Clement spent 2018 with the Single-A Lake County Captains, Single-A Lynchburg, and Double-A Akron.

Federowicz spent most of last season with the TripleA teams of the Astros and Reds. He totaled 15 games in the majors with both teams.

Wojciechowski spent last season with the Triple-A teams of the White Sox and Orioles. He was 5-4 with a 3.51 ERA in 19 games (12 starts) with the Orioles’ Triple-A team in Norfolk, Va.

Pitchers and catchers reported to the Indians’ spring training complex in Goodyear, Ariz., on Feb. 12. Position players are due in Goodyear on Feb. 16. The first full squad workout is Feb. 18.