Braves won’t sign Trevor Bauer after Spencer Strider injury: beat writer

One of the most connected media members around the Braves believes there’s no way they’ll sign Trevor Bauer.

An MRI over the weekend revealed UCL damage to Spencer Strider’s throwing elbow, and the Braves ace could potentially miss extended time.

Nonetheless, Dave O’Brien, Braves writer for The Athletic, spoke to 92.9 The Game in Atlanta Monday morning and explained why he doesn’t see the team adding an outside starting pitcher.

“No, I mean, that’s why they have all this depth,” O’Brien said.

“Everyone immediately says, ‘You know these are going to be on the market,’ as if there were great pitchers available on the market in April. There’s no.

“No one gets rid of their best pitchers, and that’s what it should be. You wouldn’t go for a pitcher unless he was clearly better than you expected, and there were guys competing for fifth place.

O’Brien clarified that the depth includes Huascar Ynoa, Ian Anderson, Hurston Waldrep, Bryce Elder and AJ Smith-Shawver and that acquiring a “marginal or OK” pitcher – the types typically available in April – would be an obstacle “stupid” to their development.

Bauer, the 2020 AL Cy Young winner, is ostensibly better than “marginal,” but O’Brien thought there was “zero chance” the Braves would bring him in.

“And don’t even mention Trevor Bauer,” O’Brien said, as the hosts laughed. “I don’t want to talk about Trevor Bauer.”

Bauer has been out of MLB since 2021, when he was accused of beating and sexually assaulting a woman.

Bauer has maintained that the rough sex was consensual and that he has not been charged with a crime.

“The Braves put player selection ahead of almost any other team I know, character, clubhouse, that whole No. 1 priority for the Braves, well besides talent obviously,” O’Brien said in its radio spot on Monday.

“They talk about it all the time, about the chemistry of the club and the vetting they do over the players, their backgrounds, the reputation of their club. You’re telling me that when they look at Trevor Bauer, they’ll say, “You know what, everyone says, get this guy, he’s great in the clubhouse, he’s the teammate they want.” No.”

Bauer recently signed a five-game contract with the Diablo Rojos de Mexico, which includes a clause that he can leave the deal if he lands with an MLB team, according to Jon Heyman of the Post.