Colorado Rockies: Free agent starting pitcher Trevor Bauer, his agent are in Denver

Both 2020’s NL Cy Young Award winner, Trevor Bauer, and his agent are in Denver today. Could that be a sign of a meeting with the Colorado Rockies?

2020 National League Cy Young Award winner Trevor Bauer is a free agent this offseason and he and his agent, Rachel Luba, have been meeting with teams this offseason and, perhaps, one of those teams is the Colorado Rockies.

Yesterday, the social media savvy Bauer revealed in a vlog on Thursday that he was meeting with the Toronto Blue Jays via FaceTime (a shorter clip of him mentioning the meeting is here). He was in San Diego at the time but he revealed on Friday that he was starting 2021 in Denver, as he asked for dinner recommendations on Twitter.

More from Rox Pile

• A Colorado Rockies Thanksgiving
• Colorado Rockies: What if Todd Helton had played football instead?
• Colorado Rockies: Charlie Blackmon out for the season
• Colorado Rockies: Injuries shift look of roster ahead of Dodgers series
• Colorado Rockies: Has Sean Bouchard earned a second look in 2023?

While you could say that he is, perhaps, just in Denver on a layover, his agent is also in Denver, as she posted on Instagram on Thursday, saying that she was on a “work trip.” She posted that she was in Vail, Colorado on Friday.

What’s likely happening is that they had a meeting with the Rockies just to see where things lie. Entering the offseason, the Rockies were not viewed as a contender for any top free agents but, with their front office not revealing much of their cards, they could be contenders for Bauer, particularly as the offseason wears on and player’s asking prices will drop. A meeting does not mean that the Rockies will be signing him soon. They are likely just doing their “due diligence.”

If Bauer were to join the Rockies rotation, he would make the Rockies rotation, arguably, the best in the National League. In 2020, Bauer went 5-4 for the Cincinnati Reds, who made the playoffs for the first time since 2013, with an ERA of 1.73, which led the NL. He also led the league in complete games and shutouts (two each), ERA+ (273), WHIP (0.795), and hits allowed per nine innings (5.1). He also walked only 2.1 batters per nine innings compared to 12.3 strikeouts.

The Rockies, according to manager Bud Black, are happy with their current starting pitching staff and view it as the team’s primary strength. They would like to acquire a “big bat” this offseason but if that ends up playing out of their price range or if they don’t see a fit, they could look to make their strength an even bigger strength. After all, Black also said that the Rockies would like to get more depth and Bauer would definitely help their pitching depth.