In a contest that was more one-sided than expected, Cincinnati Reds ace Trevor Bauer easily won the 2020 National League Cy Young Award becoming the first Reds pitcher in history to cop the coveted award. Bauer received 27 of 30 first place votes and comfortably out-distanced runner-up Yu Darvish of the Chicago Cubs.

The final tally was 201 points for Bauer, Darvish next with 123 and two-time defending champ Jacob deGrom third with 89 points. DeGrom was gunning for his third-straight Cy Young Award, which would have made the star righty only the third pitcher in MLB history do accomplish such a feat. Only Greg Maddux (who won four straight) and Randy Johnson have managed the difficult achievement.

Somewhat surprisingly, deGrom received zero first placed votes despite leading the league in strikeouts with 104 and Ks/9 with 13.8. He was no doubt hurt by his September 16 start against the Phillies where he left the game with a hamstring pull after allowing three runs in two innings. He finished with a 2.38 ERA.

 

Bauer excelled in 2020 from the start. He finished first in ERA (1.73) and WHIP (0.79), finishing second in strikeouts (100) and third in fWAR (2.5). He allowed one earned run or fewer in eight of his 11 starts, while striking out at least 12 batters in four of them. He also led the NL in ERA+, complete games and shutouts.

The 29-year old Bauer can now take his new award to the bank as he is set to become a free agent this off-season. One possible landing spot is Queens. Mets’ new team president, Sandy Alderson was asked on Tuesday about the potential have luring Bauer to New York. He spoke effusively about the prospect:

“This is an entertainment business. … We’ve got to be open-minded about how players express themselves,” Alderson said.

“The thing that’s interesting about Bauer is he brings along with him a lot of ideas, a lot of routines, a sort of technical orientation that I bet we can learn from. If a guy can perform. It doesn’t really– to me as long as it’s not disruptive in the clubhouse and basically if guys see someone performing, they’ll live with whatever the baggage is.”

“I actually think Bauer would be a great personality in New York. I think he’s the kind of guy that fans would embrace.”

The take home here is that if Bauer joins the Mets, their dugout would sport the winners of the last three Cy Young Awards. That would certainly create a big splash as the new era in Mets baseball begins.