Trevor Bauer Rumors: Mets Thought Contract Was Agreed to Before Dodgers Deal

The New York Mets fell short in the race to sign Trevor Bauer, but team officials reportedly thought they had reached a deal with the free-agent pitcher before he signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

According to Joel Sherman of the New York Post, the Mets thought contract terms had been approved by both sides and they were finalizing the details with one of Bauer's agents.

However, Bauer didn't sign a contract and he ended up joining the Dodgers on a three-year, $102 million deal.

This change led to some confusion in the final days before anything was finalized.

Bob Nightengale of USA Today had reported the Mets and Bauer agreed to a deal Thursday. This mindset continued after the pitcher put signed Mets hats on his personal website:

This appeared to be little more than trolling, as he signed with Los Angeles a short time later.

Mets president Sandy Alderson said he never had negotiations progress so far without reaching a deal, per Sherman.

New York had reason to be confident besides the process. According to Jeff Passan of ESPN, the team offered more money overall compared to the Dodgers.

The result is still the reigning NL Cy Young Award winner pitching for a different team in 2021.