Will Work For Free? Trevor Bauer Hypothetically Offers To Sign A '$0 Salary' Deal With Any Mlb Club

Trevor Bauer wants to transportation successful nan fields again — truthful overmuch truthful that he’s consenting to commencement complete successful nan lowest levels of nan insignificant leagues and activity his measurement up.

And he’s consenting to do it without being paid.

That’s nan hypothetical Bauer projected Friday connected X: A talented erstwhile Cy Young Award victor signs a insignificant convention woody pinch an MLB squad for a “$0 salary” and tin beryllium trim astatine immoderate clip astatine nary financial consequence to nan organization.

Since his past MLB commencement connected June 28, 2021, arsenic a personnel of nan Dodgers pinch a $102-million, three-year contract, Bauer has been accused of intersexual battle by 4 women. He served a 194-game suspension for violating nan league’s intersexual battle and home unit policy. He has denied each nan allegations and has ne'er been charged pinch a crime.

While immoderate mightiness deliberation signing Bauer mightiness beryllium a risky move for an MLB organization, Bauer feels his scheme is foolproof successful that regard.

“Hypothetical: You’re nan proprietor of an MLB team,” Bauer wrote. “I connection to return $0 net and motion a insignificant convention statement and spell to Low A. If nan ‘he sucks now’ crowd is correct and I get lit up, you trim me, suffer $0 and there’s nary consequence to nan large convention club.

“If nan ‘clubhouse cancer’ crowd is right, you spot it instantly astatine Low A and trim me. You suffer $0 and there’s nary consequence to nan large convention club. If there’s monolithic antagonistic PR, which we already cognize location won’t be, you conscionable trim maine and move on. The communicative is dormant successful a mates days, you suffer $0, and there’s nary consequence to nan large convention club.”

In nan comments connected Bauer’s post, personification challenged him connected nan conception that “we already cognize location won’t be” immoderate antagonistic PR if he is signed. In response, Bauer pointed to his existent stint pinch nan Long Island Ducks of nan independent Atlantic League to support his argument.

“Where has nan antagonistic PR been?” wrote Bauer, who is 3-1 this play and sounded a no-hitter for nan Ducks precocious past month. “I’m playing successful America. In New York of each places. Most ‘hostile’ media marketplace successful nan United States. Stadiums are sold retired erstwhile I pitch. There’s nary boycotts. No media frenzy. Where is it?”

Bauer wrote successful his connection that if nary of nan negatives he laid retired earlier happen, past nan statement tin beforehand their cost-free pitcher done nan ranks, re-evaluating him each measurement of nan way, until he reaches nan large leagues — “if I gain it,” he wrote, “which you’d beryllium 100% successful power of deciding.”

“If you don’t deliberation I’m bully enough, you suffer $0 and there’s nary consequence to nan large convention club,” Bauer wrote. “You could return distant my ‘antics’. You could return distant my societal media. You could inquire thing of me. If I don’t comply, you trim me, suffer $0, and there’s nary consequence to nan large convention club.”

One X personification asked why Bauer doesn’t conscionable return distant his “antics” connected his own.

“Because nary teams really attraction astir that,” Bauer responded. “They bask nan content. And I’m not going to rob shot fans of awesome shot intermezo conscionable to lick a problem that only exists successful nan minds of x bots.”

Informed that nan MLB Players Assn. mightiness person an rumor pinch him playing for free, Bauer replied, “Who gives a crap astir what mlbpa does aliases doesn’t want?”

This isn’t nan first clip Bauer has made what he considers to beryllium a low-risk connection for an statement to bring him backmost into nan league. In 2024, Bauer spoke pinch The Times’ Bill Shaikin astir an connection he made to play for nan convention minimum.

“The logic for that was, I want to spell backmost to work, and I americium trying to find immoderate measurement that I perchance tin to limit nan consequence and vulnerability for a team,” Bauer said. “I recognize location are a batch of different things, extracurricular of nan on-field stuff, that spell into whether to motion me. So I figured that, if I could limit nan on-field consequence arsenic overmuch arsenic possible, possibly that offsets immoderate of nan different perceived risks.”

It remains to beryllium seen whether immoderate nine is consenting to return up Bauer connected his existent offer.

“What logical logic is location to not do this?” Bauer wrote. “At worst, you trim maine and there’s nary consequence to nan large convention club. At best, you get a Cy Young victor for $0 who you cognize tin still transportation and could thief nan large convention squad if and erstwhile you spot fit.”