Trevor Bauer Is Rocking Custom Cleats Trolling The Astros Tonight

Trevor Bauer is back at it again with the fire cleats. This time, it's a nod to the 2017 Houston Astros, who illegally stole signs and banged on trash cans to relay the signs to the hitter at the plate.

Either you love 'em or you hate 'em. I feel like the majority vote coming into this year was hate. But this season, it certainly feels like he has won a lot of folks over. Bauer's not quite the Dennis Rodman of Major League Baseball, but he's cut from the same cloth minus the dating supermodels thing. Every start this year, he's done something, said something or worn something to put the spotlight on him. It also hasn't hurt that while in the process of doing all of that, he's been building a Cy Young-worthy season for the Cincinnati Reds. This shit doesn't fly if you're sporting a 5 ERA, but Bauer's been talking that shit and backing it up every fifth day.

I'm sure there's still a crowd who thinks his act his tired, and that drawing attention to yourself in that way is douchey, etc. Speaking as someone whose act is tired and has made a living off of being a douche -- it comes from a good place. Just as I care about driving eyeballs to Barstool's baseball content, Bauer cares about marketing the game of baseball.

How has he been doing it? Custom cleats, animated celebrations after striking guys out, hilarious postgame quotes to the media, t-shirts with phrases on them under his jersey that he reveals after a complete game, an active and unfiltered Twitter account, and a rivalry with the commissioner of baseball. He's doing things that he knows people will talk about. Because if you're talking about him, whether you think he's the man or you think he's a douche, you are promoting the game of baseball. Advantage: Bauer.