The video is well-produced. Dramatic. And it gives a sense of suspense.

Trevor Bauer had been the most coveted pitcher on the market, and it was easily arguable that he was the most impactful player left without a team — until Friday.

“This season is about adding to our legacy,” Bauer says in a video tweeted out by him just before noon PT, with the caption “MY NEW HOME!” “And I can’t wait, Dodger fans.”

And with that, Bauer’s announcement was made, refuting Thursday night’s reports that Bauer would sign with the New York Mets. Last season’s National League Cy Young winner will be a Los Angeles Dodger for the price of $102 million over three years. The deal doesn’t set a pitcher record for average annual value ($36 million), but it could end up being worth more per year if Bauer opts out after one of the first two seasons, giving it an AAV in the $40 million range.

According to Mark Feinsand of MLB.com, the breakdown looks like this: $40 million in 2021, $45 million in 2022 and $17 million in the final year. This is the only kind of deal the Dodgers were willing to make with Bauer — short on length, high on AAV — according to sources familiar with the front office’s thinking. The team has stayed away from the six- and seven-year pitching contracts under the current front office.

It made an exception last year, offering up eight years and $300 million for Gerrit Cole, with payment deferrals. In the end, Cole signed with the Yankees, setting the AAV record. 

Regardless of how long Bauer stays with the Dodgers, this deal gives the franchise three of the largest AAV pitching contracts in MLB history. It also gives the Dodgers the highest MLB payroll — about $240 million — and skyrockets them past the $210 million luxury-tax threshold. 

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This deal is much more to the team’s liking, and more in line with how the Andrew Friedman-led front office has operated. The Dodgers also had leverage that allowed them to hold firm on this kind of structure — they are coming off a World Series title, have lots of rotation depth and are still the NL favorites, even for bettors.

Bauer was not a must-have. The rotation is stacked with Clayton Kershaw and Walker Buehler, and choices of David Price, Julio Urias, Dustin May and Tony Gonsolin. 

With Bauer now in the fold, this is the deepest rotation in all of baseball, and likely the best.

The deal does come with a little bit of side-eye, though. In November, the organization, valued by Forbes at $3.4 billion, laid off staff, citing the coronavirus pandemic and lost revenues as the reason, according to the Los Angeles Times. Because MLB teams do not release their financial records — aside from the publicly traded Atlanta Braves — the public does not know how much the team actually lost in 2020.

Clearly, the Dodgers are not allowing those losses to affect the roster — they are also still likely to sign third baseman Justin Turner. Bauer’s signing is a straight-forward push to dominate their division, league and sport. 

For as good as the Dodgers were last year, there wasn’t a lot of room for them to improve unless they spent some money. And that’s exactly what they did to land the best pitcher on the market.