UPDATE: The Los Angeles Dodgers are releasing controversial pitcher Trevor Bauer.
The former Cy Young winner was designated for assignment by the team today in a widely expected move.. Bauer was reinstated from a two-year suspension by an arbitrator last month. He was accused of sexual assault by a woman to precipitate the Major League Baseball suspension. Bauer has vehemently claimed the relationship was consensual.
“The Dodgers organization believes that allegations of sexual assault or domestic violence should be thoroughly investigated, with due process given to the accused,” the Dodgers said in a statement. “From the beginning, we have fully cooperated with Major League Baseball’s investigation and strictly followed the process stipulated under MLB’s Joint Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault and Child Abuse Policy. Two extensive reviews of all available evidence in this case — one by Commissioner [Rob] Manfred and another by a neutral arbitrator — concluded that Mr. Bauer’s actions warranted the longest ever active player suspension in our sport for violations of this policy.
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“Now that this process has been completed, and after careful consideration, we have decided that he will no longer be part of our organization.”
Bauer can now sign with any major league team for the $720,000 minimum and can play immediately. Whether any team will bite on the former Cy Young winner remains to be seen.
EARLIER: Trevor Bauer, the L.A. Dodgers pitcher who was serving a two-year suspension, was reinstated to Major League Baseball today by an arbitrator.
Bauer’s suspension, originally slated for 324 games, now amounts to 194 games. Bauer is eligible to resume playing immediately, but the Dodgers will have to mull whether they want him back. They have 24 days to decide if the former Cy Young award-winner will be worth the bad publicity.
The suspension of Bauer was baseball’s longest since adopting a domestic violence policy. Bauer was accused of punching and choking a woman into unconsciousness during two sexual encounters. He has claimed all acts were consensual and filed defamation lawsuits against his accuser and her attorney.
The 31-year-old pitcher’s defamation lawsuits against his accuser and her lawyer claimed they filed a false police report in which she claimed he “sexually assaulted her during their second sexual encounter by choking her unconscious on two occasions, punching her in the face and vagina repeatedly and scratching her face.”
MLB will not fight the arbitrator’s decision.
“While we believe a longer suspension was warranted, MLB will abide by the neutral arbitrator’s decision, which upholds baseball’s longest-ever active player suspension for sexual assault or domestic violence,” MLB said in a statement.
Bauer last pitched in 2021 after winning the Cy Young award in 2020. He signed a three-year deal worth $102 million with Los Angeles before the 2021 season.
MLB Commissioner Robert Manfred Jr. said Friday that, following an extensive investigation by the league’s Department of Investigations, “Bauer has received a suspension for 324 championship season games (representing two full seasons) without pay, effective today, for violating Major League Baseball’s Joint Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault and Child Abuse Policy.”
The statement added: “In accordance with the terms of the Policy, the Commissioner’s Office will not issue any further statements at this point in time.”
Read details of the case below.
UPDATED, SEPTEMBER 10: Trevor Bauer, the second-highest paid player in Major League Baseball for the 2021 season, is done for the year.
MLB has extended his administrative leave from the team for the rest of the regular season and postseason. That’s as the District Attorney ponders next moves on allegations of sexual assault.
Bauer’s co-agents, Jon Fetterolf and Rachel Luba, confirmed the news in a statement on Friday.
“Today Mr. Bauer agreed to extend his administrative leave through the playoffs in a measure of good faith and in an effort to minimize any distraction to the Dodgers organization and his teammates. He continues to cooperate with the MLB investigation and refute the baseless allegations against him,” the statement read.
The Dodgers are currently three games back in the standings to the San Francisco Giants in the NL West division, but are way up in the wild card standings. The team was counting on Bauer, who was pitching well, but has since bolstered its rotation with a trade for former Washington Nationals standout Max Scherzer.
UPDATED: Major League Baseball has extended the administrative leave for Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Trevor Bauer through Sept. 3, as the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office ponders its next steps.
The Pasadena Police Department has concluded its investigation into assault allegations on Bauer. He stands accused of sexual assault by a woman who claimed he choked, punched and sodomized her without consent in two encounters at his Pasadena home in April and May.
Bauer hasn’t pitched for the Dodgers since June 28. He is still being paid but hasn’t been around the team.
UPDATED: Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Trevor Bauer has responded to a report that he had a sexual assault allegation filed against him by a woman in Ohio. The Washington Post report making the allegations arrived two days before a hearing involving a California woman’s temporary restraining order against Bauer, who is currently on administrative leave from the team.
The California hearing is set for Los Angeles County Superior Court and could last for days.
Bauer, in his first public comments since the California incident happened, called the Ohio legal issue “a game.”
“This is a continuation by the woman and her attorneys to make good on their threats to harm me by perpetuating false narrative,” Bauer said in a social media post. “This has been a game to her from the beginning, but my life is not a game and I won’t stand by idly and allow this conduct to continue.”
PREVIOUSLY: Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Trevor Bauer, currently on an extended administrative leave by Major League Baseball for an alleged assault on a woman, reportedly had an earlier protection order obtained last year by a different woman.
The Washington Post story on Saturday cited sealed court records the media outlet obtained. The Post claimed an Ohio women sought the protection order in June of 2020 while Bauer was pitching for the Cincinnati Reds.
The Post story said photos it obtained show bruises on the woman’s face and blood in her eyes. In that case, her attorney claimed the injuries were caused by Bauer punching and choking her during sex without consent.
The alleged victim also complained in 2017 about Bauer, the Post story said. He was pitching then for the Cleveland team. In that incident, the woman claimed to police she was at his apartment and sustained injuries to her eyes that she said Bauer caused. Instead, the police arrested her for underage drinking, The Post reported.
Copies of messages Bauer allegedly sent the woman and published by WaPo led to her seeking a protection order. “I don’t feel like spending time in jail for killing someone,” reads one. “And that’s what would happen if I saw you again.”
Bauer was the National League Cy Young Award winner with the Reds in 2020 as the league’s top pitcher. He then signed a three-year deal worth at least $102 million with the Dodgers.
In a statement to The Post, Bauer’s lawyer and agent, Jon Fetterolf, and agent Rachel Luba called the allegations Bauer “categorically false.” They also questioned the validity of the photographs and the threatening messages.
Bauer’s current administrative leave stems from a California woman who obtained a protective against Bauer, 30, in June, claiming he assaulted her during a sexual encounter in May.
Major League Baseball placed Bauer on administrative leave, which has been extended through Aug. 20.
Erik Pedersen contributed to this report.
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