Chicago Cubs: Five dark horse candidates for the starting rotation

Chicago Cubs: Just keep him away from the drones…

Let’s be honest- this one doesn’t feel right and doesn’t seem like a good fit. Aside from the online friendship with Yu Darvish and his lights out performance, there are a lot of red flags with Trevor Bauer. But… but… but…

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The guy is really good and his stuff is otherworldly. The Cubs got to see him firsthand twice this past season as Bauer  “shoved it up the Cubs asses” in the second game. And there it is. The duality of Bauer is something that whoever signs him is going to have to contend with.

Bauer is a lightning rod for controversy with his outspoken nature and smarmy affect. That kind of personality doesn’t exactly seem to jive with some of the other guys in the Cubs clubhouse, but maybe the disappointment of a fourth straight season without a return trip to the World Series is enough to roll the dice on a guy who could sign a single year contract.

The right-hander has gone on record saying he only wants to do one year deals, but after this past season, there has been chatter about him possibly going after a long term deal to capitalize on his performance and age.

All of the baggage aside, Bauer would give the Cubs a trifecta of aces who could be given the ball in any situation, including a postseason series that would set up awfully nicely for the Cubs. The last time the Cubs had that same kind of firepower at the top of the rotation was 2016… that worked out alright.