MLB Free Agency 2020: Trevor Bauer Won't Sign 1-Year Contract; Mets Linked to SP

Free-agent starting pitcher Trevor Bauer, who won the 2020 NL Cy Young Award with the Cincinnati Reds, is no longer interested in signing a one-year contract.

Jim Duquette of MLB Network Radio reported the update Wednesday on SNY based on a conversation with Bauer's agent, Rachel Luba.

"There's been multiple offers and multi-year offers already out there," Duquette said. "He is not going to accept any one-year deals. She said it takes time to sort through the multiple teams that have shown interest."

Mark Feinsand of MLB.com noted Wednesday that "several" clubs are making a push to sign Bauer, but he added the New York Mets "are the team to watch here."

In February 2019, Bauer explained the mindset behind seeking out one-year contracts rather than long-term deals that would keep him with a single club for an extended period.

"I'll go year-to-year my entire career," he told Bob Nightengale of USA Today. "Why would you lock yourself in a situation that may not make you happy? I think that's highly inefficient. Everybody is afraid of risk. Everyone is scared."

He'd previously discussed the unique backstory to that commitment with ESPN's Jeff Passan in 2018:

Bauer's stance on the subject began to soften heading into the 2020 season, though.

"I mean, I don't know how I'm going to react once free agency gets here," he told reporters in February. "I said what I said, but you can never know how it's going to go until you actually get there."

Bauer is coming off a year where he posted a 1.73 ERA and 0.79 WHIP with 100 strikeouts in 73 innings across 11 starts. While it was a shortened season because of the coronavirus pandemic, that'll likely be the best statistical campaign of the 29-year-old California native's MLB career.

In turn, his free-agent value will probably never be higher, especially since he made six of those starts in the bandbox known as Great American Ball Park. The Reds' stadium ranks as the most home run-friendly venue in the league, but Bauer still compiled a 2.08 ERA at home.

So if there was ever a year for Bauer to strongly consider multi-year offers, this is it.

The Mets have already made a splash in free agency with the additions of catcher James McCann and relief pitcher Trevor May. Adding Bauer to that group to form a dynamic duo with ace Jacob deGrom would give New York a legitimate chance to chase down the Atlanta Braves in the NL East.

It sounds like there's plenty of competition for him on the open market, however, which comes as no surprise.