Trevor Bauer Ranks His Top 5 Fan Bases

Reigning National League Cy Young Award winner Trevor Bauer took to the “airwaves” on Saturday to rank the best pitches he has seen by a team’s fan base in an attempt to lure him to that particular city. He narrowed it down to the top five. The entire video can be seen on YouTube.

https://twitter.com/BauerOutage/status/1337924022407860224?s=20

Bauer used three criteria in ranking the finalists: creativity, consistency and volume. He awarded as many as 10 points to each of these and added the results to find a winner. Thirty was the top score a fan base could get but none of the finalists reached that goal.

Coming in at number five were the New York Yankees. While mindful of the history of the organization, Bauer was less impressed by the “sales job” the Yankees promoted. He went so far as to call some of the Yankees’ assertions “fake news.” One of the areas that bothered Bauer was the Yanks’ insistence that the New York media is “not that bad” when in fact he stated that they could be the opposite. He also didn’t care for some musings out of the Bronx questioning his ability to get along with current Yankee stars such as Gerrit Cole.

He awarded the Bombers an eight for consistency, a four on creativity and a four on volume for a total of 16 points.

Next came the San Francisco Giants in the fourth position.  He admitted knowing very little about the Giants’ fan base and relied on teammates and friends to enrich him. He liked the creative idea of “pre-selling” Trevor Bauer jerseys and was impressed with the collection of memes and billboards dotting the San Francisco landscape. Bauer was less satisfied with the consistency, noting that management seems to “fall-off” one premise in deference to another.

He awarded the Giants 18 points: nine for creativity, five for consistency and four for volume.

The top three follow and Bauer called each of them “impressive.” Number three were the San Diego Padres, calling them “the most fun team in baseball.” Noted were the Padres’ top five farm system and the creativity of photoshops with current star, Manny Machado. He called the fans “fun,” “young,” and excited for the prospects of their team going forward and they desperately want a front line starter to augment the mix.

The Padres garnered seven points for consistency, eight for creativity and six for volume for a total of 21.

“What a great time to be a Mets fan,” extolled Bauer as he anointed the Amazin’s as number two on the list. He admits to seeing the Mets “a lot” and being impressed with many aspects of the organization, specifically noting the Mets’ new owner on social media. Bauer also liked the fans’ fiery compassion when competing with the Yankees in the same city.

He called the photoshops “spectacular,” pin pointing several that revolve around the strength of the Mets starting rotation and the prospect of having back-to-back-to-back Cy Young winners in the same dugout. At the end of the mostly praiseworthy diatribe, Bauer said under his breath, “They’ve been great.”

The Mets got 25 points from Mr. Bauer, getting tens in both consistency and volume while getting a rather disappointing five in creativity. He did note that after the video was shot, he noticed an uptick in that category and it could go higher in the future.

Finally, the winner: the Los Angeles Angels. Bauer noted up front, the fun-filled memes abounding in LA ranging from SpongeBob to one of a blank check signed by Angels’ owner Arte Moreno with the amount of the check reading, “Whatever it takes.”

He scanned the team’s line-up pausing at Mike Trout and noted how impressed he was at the team and organization as a whole. He felt the fans were “fun” and passionate and delivered the best lure of any team in baseball.

He awarded the Angels 26 points: ten for consistency, nine for volume and seven for creativity.

In watching the video, and reading between the frames, it is clear that Trevor Bauer has mixed feelings about New York. His criticism of the Yankees was surprising, the praise for the Mets, welcoming. In fact, despite finishing second on his list, anyone watching the entire presentation would be hard pressed to name any team he was more excited about than the Mets. His respect for Steve Cohen was evident and this was before the Mets named a new GM, bench coach, and starting catcher.

Of course, the whole list is arbitrary and can be taken with a grain of salt, but not totally dismissed. It gives the viewer a poignant look at where Bauer’s mind and heart are at right now. Though he will likely do as other free agents do and sign with the team that pays him the most, it is clear that he has put much thought into this and is mindful of his future.

The Trevor Bauer sweepstakes rolls merrily along. The Mets are in the running and based on this video, they have a great deal more than a puncher’s chance in landing the All-Star. We will keep you updated.