NL West

The New York Mets were on the verge of signing Trevor Bauer after a mishap on his personal website dropped Mets merchandise. 

Appearing on the Starting 9 podcast, Bauer's agent, Rachel Luba, said the reigning National League Cy Young winner was prepared to join the Mets after the mistake (warning: contains profanity):

"Call the Dodgers, it's done. It's gonna be the other team," Luba said Bauer told her. "I can't do that to a fanbase. This decision's been made."

Speculation that Bauer was going to sign with New York began when his website started selling a signed Mets hat on Feb. 5:

That same day, Bauer announced in a YouTube video he was signing with the reigning World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers. The 30-year-old later signed a three-year, $102 million contract that includes opt-outs after the first two seasons and will make him the highest-paid player in MLB in 2021 ($40 million) and 2022 ($45 million). 

The Mets were the other finalist in the Bauer sweepstakes. MLB Network's Jon Heyman reported New York's offer to the right-hander was for three years and $105 million with opt-outs after the first two years and up to $80 million in salary through 2022. 

Bauer became the first pitcher in Cincinnati Reds history to win the NL Cy Young award. He led the NL with a 1.73 ERA and finished second with 100 strikeouts in 73 innings pitched. 

The Colorado Rockies reportedly aren't expected to sign All-Star shortstop Trevor Story to a contract extension "anytime soon."

Jon Heyman of the MLB Network reported Tuesday the Rockies don't currently have the budget flexibility to make an offer to Story, who can become a free agent after the 2021 season.

The 28-year-old Texas native burst on to the scene with 27 home runs in just 97 appearances during his 2016 rookie season, and he really hasn't stopped slugging ever since.

Story has posted a .277/.343/.535 triple-slash line with 134 homers and 80 stolen bases in 603 regular-season games over the past five years. His 17.9 WAR over that time span ranks fifth among MLB shortstops, per FanGraphs.

He explained when spring training got underway last week that he's focused on the upcoming season, not his contract situation.

"I'm focused on personally being the best teammate I can be," Story told reporters. "I try not to look too far ahead. I'm trying to be where my feet are, which is right here in spring training with the Rockies."

He'll carry an even larger offensive burden for Colorado in 2021 after standout third baseman Nolan Arenado was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals during the offseason.

If the Rockies' financial outlook in wake of the COVID-19 pandemic doesn't improve by July and a lucrative, long-term extension isn't feasible, the question becomes whether the front office becomes aggressive in  trying to trade Story to a contender before he can hit the free-agent market.

Colorado was able to obtain four prospects and 27-year-old left-hander Austin Gomber, who posted a 1.86 ERA in 14 appearances (four starts) last season, for Arenado and could further bolster the depth in its system with a Story blockbuster before the July 31 deadline.

Whether the Rockies are still in playoff contention as that date moves closer will also be a factor. The team was 26-34 last year, finishing fourth in the NL West.

Story and Co. open the 2021 campaign April 1 against the reigning World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers.

San Diego Padres outfielder Tommy Pham thought his baseball days were over after he was stabbed in October.

"The doctor here basically told me that if I wasn't so muscular, I might be dead or paralyzed," Pham told reporters on Sunday (h/t Bob Nightengale of USA Today). "So I'm lucky to even be able to play. I thought I wasn't going to be able to play again."

The 32-year-old was stabbed in the lower back in the parking lot of a San Diego strip club, resulting in a wound that he said required 200 stitches to close. 

No arrests have been made in the incident, though he sued Pacers Showgirls International for his "catastrophic injuries, which have and will continue to cause him significant economic damage, including but not limited to his earning capacity as an elite professional baseball player," while also noting that employees did not call for law enforcement. 

Pham will take the field Sunday when the Padres open spring training with a game against the Seattle Mariners. He said he is about 80 percent recovered, and while he has been able to get some swings in this offseason, his back limited him with heavy weights, per Nightengale. 

His return to the field comes at a pivotal time. Pham will become a free agent after this season, and he'll be fighting to prove himself after a hand injury kept him to 31 games in last year's pandemic-shortened season. He hit .211 with 12 RBI and three home runs in those outings. 

"I know what I'm capable of bringing to the table with my speed and my athleticism," he said. "I know I'm being an above-average, elite player in the game."

Trevor Bauer addressed the past "mistakes" he has made on social media during his introductory press conference for the Los Angeles Dodgers earlier this month, but he is already making headlines for engaging in back-and-forths with members of the New York Mets' pitching staff.

On Sunday, Bauer suggested that Marcus Stroman should stop "subtweeting me constantly" even though Stroman's tweet was a reply to multiple accounts, including Bauer's: 

Stroman tweeted an emoji in reply to a GIF of Bauer flexing his muscles and the words "when you flex your privilege over women and minorities."

Stroman's tweet and the GIF were part of a lengthy Twitter exchange between a number of accounts, including Bauer's, that included the Dodgers pitcher talking about his opinions on immigration.

This isn't the first time in the last few days that Bauer has gone back-and-forth with a Mets pitcher on Twitter.

He and Noah Syndergaard exchanged barbs Friday, with the latter appearing to troll Bauer. The Mets were one of the teams interested in signing the 2020 National League Cy Young winner, and some fans started to think he was headed to New York when there were some references to the team on his official website before he joined Los Angeles.

Bauer even apologized for the situation and promised to donate money to New York-based nonprofits.

Here is the exchange (some language NSFW):

In another instance on social media, in January 2019, Bauer tweeted at a college student 80 different times. One of those tweets included a transphobic joke. 

The Mets and Dodgers are both championship contenders in the National League, and Bauer's social media exchanges with multiple New York pitchers could serve as a backdrop storyline if the two teams meet in the playoffs.

Clayton Kershaw is heading into the final year of his contract, but the Los Angeles Dodgers star isn't ready to retire any time soon.

"I have no intention of hanging them up," Kershaw said Sunday, per Bob Nightengale of USA Today. "I'm only 32. I have a few years left in the tank. I'm excited about this year."

The left-hander is coming off a strong 2020 where he finished 6-2 with a 2.16 ERA, playing a key role in helping the Dodgers win the World Series. After years of criticism of his playoff failures, he posted a 2.31 ERA in two starts during the final round.

Back injuries slowed Kershaw down a bit in recent years from his peak when he won three Cy Young Awards, one MVP and five ERA titles, but even his worst seasons are still among the best in the league. He went 16-5 with a 3.03 ERA in 2019, which was the only time with an ERA higher than three since his rookie year in 2008.

He was even better in 2020 with a 196 ERA+ that would have ranked sixth in the majors with enough innings to qualify.

It's hard to expect someone with this type of production to step away.

On the other hand, Kershaw has accomplished just about everything you could want during a major league career. He is almost certainly headed to Cooperstown when eligible—listed behind only Justin Verlander among active starting pitchers on Baseball Reference's Hall of Fame monitor—and he finally won his first title last year.

With free agency on the horizon, it would be a reasonable time to retire after 14 years in the sport.

Kershaw apparently doesn't agree and is ready to stay on the mound for at least a few more years.

Los Angeles Dodgers third baseman Justin Turner spoke with reporters (h/t Gabe Lacques of USA Today) about his experiences in isolation after being pulled in the seventh inning of Game 6 of the 2020 World Series following notice that he had tested positive for COVID-19.

"It was extremely difficult," Turner said about getting pulled and sitting alone during the moments afterward, which included watching his team win the World Series and celebrating on the field:

"I think I experienced just about every range of emotions you can possibly have: Getting taken out of the game. Trying to figure out what was happening. Winning the World Series. Being thrilled seeing Julio (Urias) getting that last out. You finally accomplished your goal.

"But for me, sitting back in that room and watching the guys dogpile, personally it felt like the third time I had to sit and watch a team celebrate a World Series. That was tough. That’s something at the top of my list. I still have not been on the field for the last out to celebrate a championship and that’s something I’m determined to show up and work every day and have that experience at the end of this year." 

Turner eventually left the room anyway despite the COVID-19 diagnosis and celebrated with his team on the field, taking part in numerous team photos. MLB harshly criticized him in a statement but ultimately decided against punishing him any further. Turner also received much criticism from many media outlets.

The Dodgers and Rays underwent 14-day quarantines in their homes following the positive test result, per Josh Peter and Bob Nightengale of USA Today.

Turner was allowed to go back home to Los Angeles but arrived back in California on a separate flight from his team.

The 36-year-old, who hit a team-high .307 for the Dodgers last year, re-signed with Los Angeles on a two-year deal during the offseason.

Even though Fernando Tatis Jr. recently agreed to one of the most lucrative contracts in Major League Baseball history, the San Diego Padres superstar owes a portion of that money to an investment fund.  

Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic originally reported on Friday that when Tatis was a 19-year-old playing in the minors, he entered into a deal with Big League Advance, "a company that offers select minor leaguers upfront payments in exchange for a percentage of their future earnings in Major League Baseball."

Per Jared Diamond of the Wall Street Journal, Tatis will owe BLA an estimated $27.2 million as part of the agreement he signed with the company during the offseason ahead of the 2018 minor league campaign. 

ESPN's Jeff Passan reported on Wednesday that Tatis agreed to a 14-year, $340 million extension with the Padres. 

Michael Schwimer, a former pitcher in the Philadelphia Phillies farm system who is now BLA's president and CEO, told Rosenthal in April 2018 the company's mission is not dissimilar to the stock market, but players don't owe anything if they never make it to the big leagues. 

"I tell every investor, 'If you invest in the stock market and you lose, you're losing money on Apple stock or whatever," Schwimer said. "If you invest in Big League Advance and lose, you have changed someone's life.'"

According to Diamond, the company uses a proprietary algorithm to project player performance and future earnings to determine the set amount it will loan a player. 

"For instance, if Big League Advance offers a minor-leaguer $100,000 up front for 1% of his earnings, that player can then decide to accept $500,000 in exchange for 5% or $1 million for 10%," Diamond wrote.

The company has drawn scrutiny from players and agents throughout the sport for its business practices. Per Rosenthal, the MLB Players Association sent a memo in January 2016 in which the union said it "'categorically' did not endorse or approve of BLA and its products and warned the future earnings the company sought from players were 'significant.'"

Padres catcher Francisco Mejia filed a lawsuit against BLA in February 2018, citing the "unconscionable" tactics used to get him to accept a $360,000 payment in exchange for 10 percent of his future earnings. 

Mejia eventually dropped the lawsuit, saying he's "happy with my agreement with Big League Advance" and doesn't "believe Big League Advance has ever deceived me."

Rosenthal noted that Major League Baseball told Baseball America in 2017 that representatives for BLA were attempting to recruit players using media credentials they received from the outlet. 

In 2018, Tatis spoke to Rosenthal about his deal with BLA, saying, "If I'm a successful player and make big money, I'm not going to care about giving that money away. That will be nothing if I make all that big money."

Tatis' $340 million agreement with the Padres is the third-largest in MLB history, behind Mookie Betts' $365 million deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers and Mike Trout's $360 million extension with the Los Angeles Angels. 

Just 22 years old, Tatis has established himself as arguably the best young player in MLB. He has hit .301/.374/.582 with 39 homers and 98 RBI in 143 games over the past two seasons.

Starting pitcher Blake Snell is thrilled to join the San Diego Padres after the Tampa Bay Rays dealt him in a blockbuster deal this offseason. He just wasn't quite ready to leave Florida. 

In an essay published by The Players' Tribune on Thursday, Snell said it took a while to process the December trade after reaching the World Series in Tampa. 

"I have to be honest," Snell wrote of the trade. "In that moment, and even for a few weeks after, there was a huge part of me that was just really, really sad. This is going to sound corny, but my heart was tied super solidly to Tampa. I was there for 10 years. They believed in me, they drafted me, they built me up. That was my family."

San Diego sent four prospects to the Rays in order to acquire Snell, who remains under contract until 2024. 

The 2018 American League Cy Young-winner spent five seasons with the Rays and understood how the team operated. Because of its propensity to develop—or re-develop—prospects and stars before selling high on its players, Snell said some of his strongest relationships were with the security guards, clubbies and janitors at Tropicana Field. 

Those are the people he didn't get a chance to give a proper farewell to, and it's unclear when he'll see them again. The Padres don't play the Rays this season. 

"I had real relationships with all those people," Snell wrote. "Then it's just like … poof! I may never see some of them again. No matter how awesome and fun and incredible the new team is that you're going to … that stuff, the friendships and relationships, having that stuff disappear, it's just….It's not easy."

That's not to say Snell isn't excited for his future.

The ace said he's moved forward, has prepared himself for San Diego and is ready to get back to the World Series. He's already begun forming bonds with Manny Machado and has reconnected with former Rays teammate Tommy Pham. All that's left to do is prove what the roster is capable of.

"It couldn't be more perfect," Snell said. "Because this team … they have fun. They play with swagger, and confidence. And I'm all about that."

San Diego Padres manager Jayce Tingler appears happy his team was able to lock down Fernando Tatis Jr. with a reported 14-year extension.  

"I think the talent is undeniable," Tingler said of Tatis, per Alden Gonzalez of ESPN. "The more you're around him, the organization, the scouts, the minor league guys, the major league coaches, his teammates—it's just a consistent theme. His drive to win, his drive to improve."

Tatis will reportedly make $340 million on his new 14-year deal, which was agreed to Wednesday, according to Jeff Passan of ESPN.

This could be considered a significant risk for a 22-year-old player with only 143 games of major league experience, but the team clearly has faith he will continue to produce as his career progresses.

Despite a small sample size, Tatis has been a star so far in his professional career.

The shortstop finished third in National League Rookie of the Year voting in 2019 despite being limited to just 84 games, ending the season with 22 home runs, 16 stolen bases and a .317 average.

He was just as good in 2020 with 17 home runs, 11 stolen bases and a .937 OPS in 59 games during the shortened season. He was fourth in NL MVP voting after helping the Padres earn the second-best record in the league.

Add his quality defense at a premier position and Tatis ended the year seventh among position players with 2.8 wins above replacement, per Baseball Reference. 

Tingler appreciates everything he brings to the organization, both on and off the field.

"The way he runs, the way he moves, the way he can hit for power, hit all directions, the work ethic, seeing him consistently improve in a lot of areas in the game, certainly defensively, and then the way he plays the game, with just such a fun spirit, the way his teammates view him, the way he treats other people—all those factors," the manager said.