LA Angels: Trevor Bauer names 4 deciding factors in free agency update

Joe Maddon is the perfect manager to bring out the best in a personality like Trevor Bauer.

At the beginning of the video, Bauer highlights this isn’t a demands list. The things he is asking for are part of a mutual partnership between him and the organization.

Bauer is known as an outspoken player in the league. There are lots of baseball traditionalists who look down on these types of athletes from the seat of their moral high-horse. I’ve got a newsflash for anyone who thinks this way, it’s 2021. If an athlete wants to speak their mind about things of importance then so be it.

Long gone are the days of an organization expecting their players to keep quiet and only focusing on their pitching, hitting, etc. If the player isn’t saying anything that harms or disrespects the team then there shouldn’t be an issue in allowing them to speak freely.

Bauer has spoken publicly on mental health in the past, and explained in his YouTube video one of the factors in his decision will be the team that makes him feel ‘happy’.

"“I’ve spent a lot of time being unhappy as a person and a baseball player,” Bauer said. “One of the things I’ve been encouraged by the last couple of years has been enjoying baseball a lot more than I have in my professional career. I don’t want to go back to being miserable playing the game I love.”"

Among the factors that will play a role in that statement is a team that will allow Bauer to do the things he wants to training-wise. The right-hander explained when he first came into professional baseball, he wanted to throw weighted balls in his workouts. No one else was doing this at the time, and members of the Diamondbacks organization did not allow this, saying he would injure himself. These days, nearly every team in the league has their pitchers performing the workouts Bauer mentioned from years ago.

In the past, some have criticized Bauer for being un-coachable. In reality, there probably was not much hearing out in the things Bauer wanted to do like his advanced training methods or trying to pitch on four days rest. Angels manager Joe Maddon would be the perfect coach and mentor for a player like Bauer.

I’m from Chicago and watched a lot of Cubs baseball in my lifetime. I didn’t always agree with his decisions, but believe me when I say Maddon is one of the best “players’ coaches” in all of sports. Maddon has a knack for rallying his troops and letting them express themselves on and off the field while keeping his team competitive.

Maddon might be 66-years old, but he certainly lives and thinks in the modern-era of current athletes. There is no doubt in my mind Maddon would bring out the best, while letting Bauer express himself freely.