by Editor’s note: This story contains graphic accounts of domestic violence and sexual abuse. If you or someone you know is a survivor of sexual assault or domestic violence, contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-4673 or Hotline for domestic violence at 1-800-799-7233.
After his 324-game suspension for violating MLB’s violence policy was reduced to 194 games and he was reinstated, the Dodgers are cutting ties with Trevor Bauer.
The franchise released one statementst Friday night, saying they were “cooperating fully with MLB’s investigation and strictly following the process under MLB’s Joint Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault and Child Abuse Guidelines.”
“Now that this process is complete, and after careful consideration, we have decided that he will no longer be part of our organization,” the statement read.
ESPN’s Jeff Passan reported that Los Angeles designated Bauer for assignment and he can sign with any MLB team for a minimum of $720,000 and can play immediately. The franchise will reportedly owe him $22.5 million with this move. Per MLB.com’s Mark FeinsandThe Dodgers have until 2:00 PM ET on Thursday to trade him, and he must be placed on unrestricted waivers after that time has passed.
If a franchise does not claim Bauer, he will become a free agent. Bauer’s suspension had been reduced to 194 games by an independent arbitrator, essentially giving him credit for time served and making him eligible to run in 2023.
Bauer, who turns 32 this month, has not pitched since June 2021 while on administrative leave before finally receiving the suspension. It remains the longest domestic violence suspension in MLB history.
MLB suspended Bauer in April for two full seasons following a nine-month investigation, which began when a San Diego woman filed a petition seeking a restraining order against him on June 29, 2021. The woman said Bauer assaulted her during two meetings with rough sex that began consensually. She said he choked her until she lost consciousness, sodomized her and beat her hard enough that she sought hospital treatment.
“I felt like my soul was leaving my body and I was terrified,” the woman said at a hearing in August, according to the Associated Press. Bauer and his representatives have denied the allegations.
After the hearing in August, the woman was refused a restraining order. The court ultimately found the woman’s claims to be “substantially misleading,” and Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Dianna Gould-Saltman said the only evidence that anything happened while the woman was unconscious was from being “struck on the butt.”
The district attorney in Los Angeles decided in February 2022 not to press charges against Bauer. Three months later, MLB suspended him, and Bauer later appealed.
Per Washington Post, MLB investigated two reports made by other women: one that occurred in 2017 and another dating back to ’13. Both women were from Ohio, and the former sought a temporary protection order in ’20. It was granted; but she dropped it after six weeks. The latter woman said that Bauer choked her unconscious without her consent during several meetings. Bauer denied both allegations, and authorities did not file charges in either incident.
Bauer and his legal team have continued to deny the allegations. Bauer filed separate defamation lawsuits against at least two media outlets and the San Diego woman, who countered him alleging violence and sexual assault. In November, a judge denied Bauer’s motion to dismiss her countersuit.
