MLB free agency: Trevor Bauer has questions for Tony La Russa, White Sox



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The biggest free agent in the market talks about the White Sox.

Trevor Bauer is at the top of most White Sox fan’s winter wish list. The team are openly looking to start pitching, and adding someone of Bauer’s caliber would give the South Siders a 1-2-3 championship-level punch.

But free agents also read the news.

New White Sox manager Tony La Russa was already raising questions across the fanbase ahead of Monday night’s announcement that he had been charged with a DUI the day before he was hired. The team admitted to knowing about the arrest before hiring him.

Already, a top-level free agent has weighed in. Marcus Stroman responded to tweets on La Russa and the White Sox, calling the lessor “confusing on every measure” and writing that “no amount of money” could convince him to play for La Russa, pointing to past comments from the director of the Hall of Fame on athletes protesting police killings of black Americans, in addition to today’s news.

Then it was Bauer’s turn. The launcher spent 20 minutes discussing the situation on his YouTube channel, although he was not sharing anything that is so prevalent on social media. Dressed in a T-shirt that said “call my agent,” he seemed to take an open-minded approach to La Russa, choosing to reserve his opinion until after gaining some personal experience.

“Do I think (the DUI) will affect the players who sign there? Would it affect me to have a manager like the one who has problems off the pitch? Bauer wondered. “It could. It couldn’t.

“Overall, I was pretty forgiving until I met someone in person and they interacted with me and judged their character for myself. I don’t like to leave based on someone else’s character judge. I like to meet someone and have a conversation. So I’m sure that in my free agency this process would be important to me.

“I can talk to the manager of any team I’m going to sign with and get to know him and understand what his principles are and how he manages, his style and stuff like that. I want to be happy wherever I choose to go, and that’s largely because you interact with the manager every day. “

While Bauer was far from closing the door on a potential landing with the White Sox, he explained that other free agents could be turned off and the consequences could be significant for the team.

“As an organization, if free agents are against (La Russa’s presence due to his DUI charge), it really calls into question the effectiveness of a manager who can move your team forward,” Bauer said. . “Because now you have, potentially, a player you would like to sign who doesn’t want to sign with you. If you lose with that free agent, it could be the difference between winning the World Series and not making the playoffs and not.

Bauer did not break new ground in his analysis, listing potential concerns White Sox fans have been voicing since before the team officially hired La Russa.

What’s new, however, is that these possible concerns are being raised by the biggest free agent in the business, a guy who sits at the top or near the top of the White Sox’s list of potential targets.

As Bauer said in the video, that might not be a problem at all. In a hypothetical reunion with brass La Russa and White Sox, Bauer could completely adhere to all aspects. He said he won’t know until he has this meeting.

But there are answers that Bauer will be looking for, questions raised that might not apply to another manager. And so the White Sox have some explaining to do if they are going to land the biggest free agent fish of the offseason.

“How is (the personality of today’s players) going to fit in with Tony La Russa, who hasn’t been in the game in that capacity for quite a while and whose vast majority of did his managerial career take place in a very different landscape? Gambling? “Asked Bauer.” Is he going to use analytics in a way that can help people who have analytical minds, players who think that way, move them forward? be able to develop players in this area? And is that even what the White Sox are trying to do? Do they want to go in that direction or not?

“I don’t know. I’m not a White Sox. Maybe I’ll be at some point later this offseason. Maybe I won’t. But these are all questions you need to start. to think about to attract free agents These are questions I will ask the teams.

“The arrival of La Russa at least raises these questions. These are questions to answer when trying to attract free agents. “

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