Starting pitcher chose the Los Angeles Dodgers over the New York Mets in one of the Major League Baseball offseason's biggest moves, signing a three-year, $102 million contract with the defending World Series champions.
Before the announcement, links selling Mets merchandise appeared on Bauer's website, as Charles Curtis of For the Win noted. That included a signed Mets hat:
"And some Internet sleuths started seeing some strange stuff popping up on Bauer’s personal site—a signed Mets hat giveaway, a reference to New York, and a lot more. There was also a signed Dodgers hat.