Cleveland Indians: Trevor Bauer wins arbitration case, makes history

The Cleveland Indians and Trevor Bauer had to go to arbitration to agree on a contract for 2018, and the pitcher came out on top.

The Cleveland Indians rarely go to arbitration. And when they do, they usually don’t lose.

Leave it to Trevor Bauer to reverse that trend.

Bauer and the team couldn’t settle on a figure for the 2018 season this offseason, but the young pitcher did enough last year to have the ruling go in his favor.

I think it is fair to say that the $6.525 million salary for Bauer is still a bargain, especially if he continues to slot in as the number three starter in this rotation. He could easily make much more on the open market, and another great season may have the Indians thinking about a contract extension.

Bauer made $3.55 million in 2017. With the $6.525 million figure this year agreed upon by an arbitrator, an extension may be the only way to avoid another arbitration case in 2019. Unless Bauer has a terrible season, but that would bring on a whole other slew of problems.

The historical part of this decision isn’t that Bauer took on the man and won, but that he was the first Indians player to do it in a long time.

So there you have it. Bauer is under contract and is back after telling the front office his own worth. I like it.

The rising payroll continues with this deal, but it wasn’t like the two sides were that far off in negotiations to begin with. The good news is that this is over and Bauer can focus on the season with a nice new deal in place.

Next: Predicting who will break out in 2018

He is going to be relied upon as a key piece in the rotation, especially with the news that Danny Salazar is behind schedule. We will see how that plays out as the month progresses.