Trevor Bauer Almost Chose the Mets Over the Dodgers Because of Merchandise

By Brendan Menapace

Los Angeles Dodgers fans celebrated when National League Cy Young winner Trevor Bauer signed with the team this off-season. But, thanks to a merchandise mistake, he almost signed with the New York Mets.

Eagle-eyed fans noticed that a link in Bauer’s Instagram profile led to “LFGM” merchandise, which stands for “Let’s [expletive] Go Mets!” There was also a link for a signed Mets hat giveaway where, upon signup, you got a message from Bauer that says, “I can’t wait to take the mound in New York.”

On Trevor Bauer’s Instagram, if you click the link to his Linktree the first line shows “LFGM! New Merch!” 🤔🤔 #Mets pic.twitter.com/ZlcFY9h72t

— Maybe Next Year (@metselite) February 5, 2021

Bauer had nothing to do with it. It was a mistake on his marketing team’s end. But, not wanting to let the Mets faithful down, Bauer told his agent to call the Dodgers and tell them he was going to New York.

For real. Over a merchandise mistake.

Bauer's agent, Rachel Luba, sent him a screenshot and asked what was up, as she was pretty sure he was going to the Dodgers. He had no idea about why it was there either.

“So we get on the phone with him, and he was just like, ‘It’s f—king over, I’m done. Just call the Dodgers, it’s done. It’s going to be the other team. The Mets,'" she said.

It was over. Done. Dictated by a merchandise link on Instagram.

“I said, ‘Listen, I need you to be honest with me,’” Luba said. “How you reacted just now, did that have anything to do with the merch thing going up and what just happened there?’ He was like, ‘Yeah, but I can’t do that to a fanbase. The decision has been made.’”

In the end, Luba told Bauer to take a walk around the block and clear his head before he made any big decisions about his next few years in the big leagues. Ultimately, he confirmed that he wanted to go to the Dodgers. The “LFGM” merchandise link was changed to just “LFG,” and the hat giveaway became a Dodgers hat.

But don’t let anyone tell you that T-shirts don’t have power. It almost compelled one of the top pitching talents in baseball to go to a team he didn’t necessarily want to go to, just because people already saw that there was merchandise available.