C_T

While I can appreciate the devil's advocacy here, the fact remains that Trevor Bauer only had one "good" season as an AL pitcher -- 2018, when he ended Cleveland's run by allowing 4 hits and 3 runs in just 1 1/3 innings. They shipped him off the following season. I wanna reiterate that -- a team that was a title contender traded Bauer for a couple of "prospects" that haven't even sniffed the big leagues five years later, a below-average reliever now in the Rockies' MiL system, and Yasiel Freakin' Puig, who lasted all of 49 games with Cleveland before heading off to the KBO. Now you got the Dodgers -- perennial contenders -- throwing him out with the trash and willing to eat millions in the process just to be rid of the guy. It doesn't take Billy Beane to tell something's not right there. If talent like Trevor's can't speak louder than his actions, is that someone anyone wants regardless of title drought?

Even if Bauer were capable of taking a team like the Twins and elevating them instantly into contender status (which he is not capable of doing by a country mile), is it worth it? Do we have red lines we're not willing to cross in order to get a title and piece of hardware anymore? Or has the American Way gone the way of the dodo in America's Pastime?