Well, the Indians have added intriguing veteran arms on minor league deals and minor trades in the past couple of weeks. It's my favorite way to add players so I am good with that. Maybe now we have a mass of bodies to get the job done. But it is spring and we are in the desert so anything you see may be a mirage. There is probably a reason these guys hung around as long as they did in free agency and so expect more towards the bottom of their recent performances instead of the top. Then if they exceed those low expectations we all end up pleasantly surprised.
So, the bullpen is looking better...but then there is Bauer.
The guy is outspoken which is not an unusual trait in people that are way ahead of the curve in terms of their abilities. Bauer is that both as a pitcher and as a thinker about aspects of baseball. The problem is the guy appears to have virtually no filter for what comes out of his mouth.
His recent comments about dating might, in some other era, be laughed off. However, in the revelations about sexual harassment and in conjunction with the Me Too movement, Bauer thinks that it is OK to marginalize relationships in a very public way. Hey, I can handle his handling of trolls as an effective way of handling trolls is to out-troll them. Some people call it bullying but I call it giving back as good as you get. So I get that.
But this marginalizing of women following on this troll-fest with a woman just won't sit well in today's world where people are, and rightfully so, standing up very strong against what some would say is just a different form of marginalization.
Hey, this guy is very astute and a very forward thinker from what I have read, not knowing him at all personally. He will leave his mark in a number of ways, most of which will be very positive.
However, why does he have to make it hard for people to like him and hard for his employers to like AND pay him? Hey, he will get paid. He puts his performance where his mouth is. But he would be a lot more sellable and make a lot more money if he would just turn his filter up to "Max" and just play freakin' ball.
Plus, as an Indians' fan, it would increase my confidence that the Indians will keep Bauer on their roster or get a great return for him if they choose to trade him if he would just shut his mouth. He doesn't have to. It's a free country. But, man, just put a lid on it!
Finally, Bauer remaining on this team with his off-the-field history, his on-field confrontational attitude and hia revolutionary on-field thinking, will likely directly impact whether Lindor wants to be hear. How, you say? Well Antonnetti recently called out Lindor indirectly with comments about the Indians wanting players who wanted to sign reasonable long-term deals and that players they would sign long-term had to be fits in the clubhouse for them to do such deals. Do wither of those last two points sound remotely like Bauer? I don't think so.
How could Lindor ever sign long-term with a team that pivots on their words the way the Indians are apparently doing with this Bauer situation? Hey, I want both of them on this team. But if I was forced to choose I would choose Lindor over Bauer 1 million times in a million attempts.
Please, Mr. Bauer, don't make the Indians make the decision that you aren't worth the headache. I think it will only hurt the team if they have to make that decision and I am an Indians fan who wants to see this team as strong as it can be.
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