Was A Line Crossed In The 'Relationship' Between Dodgers Pitcher Trevor Bauer And His Agent Rachel Luba?
Trevor Bauer continues to be one of the most talked about as well as one of the most polarizing players in all of sports, not just Major League Baseball.
He's coming off a season in which he won the National League Cy Young Award in Cincinnati, and he cashed it in for a mega contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers. He will make a guaranteed $102 million over the life of the three-year deal.
Bauer's agent, whom we will talk about quite bit here in a second, worked out a deal so that if the pitcher opts out after 2021, he gets an extra $2 million. If he opts out after 2022, he gets $15 million.
Bottom line, it's exactly the type of deal that Bauer wants. It doesn't lock him into a franchise for years and years and yet pays him a huge amount of money so he can be comfortable for a long, long time to come.
Now on to the agent.
If you've never heard of Rachel Luba, you're not the only one. She's a relative newcomer to representing players, including Bauer, who was the first ever client at her agency, Luba Sports. Bauer inked with Luba after the 2019 season, and a successful 2020 gave her and Bauer even more exposure on the MLB scene.
As is stated on her website at lubasports.com, she's the first female to ever represent a Cy Young winner, the first female to negotiate a $100M+ contract, and the first MLB agent--male or female--to negotiate a $40M+ per year contract in MLB history.
Luba is described on her site as 'an elite-level gymnast' who was a member of the UCLA Gymnastics Team. After leaving gymnastics, she moved on to boxing at UCLA and was on the school's boxing team. She went on to win bronze in the first-ever national championship for women’s collegiate boxing.
So where are we going with all this?
While Luba has been working hard to make a name for herself and her agency the last few years, over the weekend there was a tweet with some photos that surfaced that appeared to cross the line a bit. It showed Luba and her client, Bauer, being a little bit more than just friends who worked together to get a new deal for the pitcher.
Here's the original tweet from Casey_J516, who has 11.4K followers on Twitter. Without question, this account was going after Bauer, as his Twitter is littered with nothing more than tweets on the Mets, the team that Bauer turned down in the end to go to Los Angeles.
You can see for yourself if you think these pictures are more than just a client and agent, or if they are more 'romantic' in nature.
Fans have been torn in their responses to the pictures. Some have blasted Luba (who went on the offensive most of the weekend on her own account which you can see HERE), and some have given the two a pass, saying that it's their business and if they are in a relationship, that's their private life which should be left alone.
Sadly though in this day and age, just about anything and everything that happens on social media for athletes, celebrities, actors, celebrity chefs, reality stars, you name it, becomes news.
Bauer is no exception. He hasn't said anything over the weekend about Luba and whether they are together.
Luba has done an excellent job in a short time breaking down walls in her representation of male athletes, which is why dating a client could be considered a serious conflict of interest by many.
Will anything come of it? Will Bauer release a statement on the matter via Twitter or via video on his platform?
Only time will tell, and only time will determine if this could hurt Luba and her brand as she looks to break barriers in sports.