Major League Baseball’s arbitration process allows a player to request an exact salary, and when pitcher Trevor Bauer concluded that he and the Cleveland Indians were not going to reach an agreement on a deal for the 2018 season, he started to consider potential incomes. The first number he suggested was $6.9 million. Warned that was too high and that it risked him losing his case, he workshopped a few other options before settling on the money he wanted this year: $6,420,969.69.

“I just think it’s a good number,” Bauer told Yahoo Sports. “I think it accurately reflects my place in the salary structure relative to other athletes.”

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Despite his desire to make a mockery of the arbitration system, Bauer eventually agreed to file at a number with no weed or sex references: $6,525,000. Though Bauer won the case, his wish to be paid $6,420,969.69 did not abate, and it has spawned a most unique campaign of philanthropy. Bauer launched what he’s calling The 69 Days of Giving. Starting Thursday on opening day, he will donate $420.69 a day for the next 68 days to a different charity, the majority of which he plans on choosing after soliciting suggestions from fans on his website. On the final day, Bauer will give $69,420.69 to a charity he’s keeping secret.

In total, he will donate $98,027.61, starting with a contribution Thursday to the Lone Survivor Foundation, a favorite of Bauer’s that supports wounded veterans. The leftover $6,002.70 will go to Taiki Green, the campaign manager for the 69 Days who will administer the website and shot the hype video that went live on the site Wednesday. Subtract those two numbers from his salary, and voila: $6,420,969.69.

“That’s what I want to play for this year,” Bauer said. “I made up my mind. And since I got more than that in arbitration, I decided to give up the difference.”

Bauer’s embrace of a new subcategory of giving – benevolent trolling – is quite on-brand. At 27 years old, he is one of baseball’s sharpest characters – and one of its hardest to define. His unparalleled-in-baseball embrace of science runs into conflict with his full-throated endorsement of a president who devalues it. His hobby of building and flying drones – and the mangled finger one caused during the 2016 playoffs – belies the countless hours Bauer spends honing his pitches. He is the unathletic athlete, built more through hustle and inquisitiveness than genetics and traditional methods. And, yes, he is the guy who doesn’t smoke or drink but gleefully makes donations that start with 420.

“I’m just trying to give to charity, man,” Bauer said. “I’m fortunate enough to be in a position where I have the ability to do that. I have the means to do that. I’m in a good spot. And I can use my platform to spread stuff that I’m passionate about.”

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When Trevor Bauer devotes himself to something, he cannot settle for a typical explanation. He must unpack it, understand its essence, experience it. The Indians were willing to offer well above the $5.3 million number at which they filed in arbitration. Bauer wasn’t budging. He wanted to see what he said is a “flawed” system at work.

“When it was first brought about, it was good, because it gave players a way to increase their salaries while teams have years of control,” Bauer said. “I think it’s outdated in a lot of ways now. It suppresses players’ salaries mostly. It should be reworked. The way teams are treating free agency this year, and all the years of team control, it’s got to be looked at.”

View photos It’s safe to say Trevor Bauer sees the game a little differently. (AP) More

Bauer is under the Indians’ control for three more years, and he’ll hit free agency following the 2020 season, at which point he hopes to have finally evolved from a right-handed pitcher with strong advanced metrics and solid classic numbers to one of the game’s finest arms. Because his plan for free agency may change baseball.

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