He can't get more than the league minimum unless someone signs him and then offers him a contract extension. He's still under his Dodgers contract. Even though he's a free agent, he's still bound by that contract because the Dodgers released him while it was still active. The Dodgers will pay all but the league minimum (if he gets picked up) and whatever team picks him up (if they do) will pay him the league minimum. That team cannot offer him more. He cannot make more money during his contract than his original contract dictated.

His 2023 contract has him receiving $22,537,634. If nobody picks him up, the Dodgers will be on the hook for $22,537,634. If someone does pick him up, the Dodgers will be on the hook for $21,817,634 and his new team will be on the hook for $720,000. They cannot offer him more than $720,000 for 2023.

MLB has strict rules regarding this because allowing a team to sign a released player for more than the league minimum would reward a player for being awful and getting released by his team by potentially allowing him to earn more money than his original contract.

I assure you...nobody is picking him up for the 2023 season for anything more than the league minimum before Opening Day.

And you act like he's consistently been an elite pitcher his entire career. Bauer has pitched more awful seasons than he has great seasons. He pitched elite in 2018, 2020, and half of 2021, so effectively two seasons since 2020 and his half of 2021 comprise one season. His other 7 seasons have been complete ass.

He won't sign to any new contract before Opening Day because he's still under his current contract. The Dodgers are on the hook for all but the league minimum. Nobody's going to "extend" him until they see how he pitches after the layoff.