Dodgers release pitcher Trevor Bauer after his suspension for potential sexual assault was reduced

The Los Angeles Dodgers announced they are signing DFA starting pitcher Trevor Bauer, removing him from their roster and letting him walk as a free agent.

Under designated free agency rules, the Dodgers have seven days to trade Bauer to another team. If they don’t find a match, he’s free to sign with any team for the minimum of $720k. The Dodgers will also pay $22.5 million of his contract.

This comes weeks after an independent referee reduced his record 324-game suspension to just 194, allowing him to be available at the start of the 2023 MLB season.

The Los Angeles Dodgers have selected DFA Trevor Bauer with the purpose of releasing him

In a statement, the Dodgers said they fully cooperated with MLB’s investigation and take the allegations seriously.

“The Dodgers organization believes that allegations of sexual assault or domestic violence should be fully investigated, with due process for those accused,” the statement read.

“From the beginning, we have fully cooperated with Major League Baseball’s investigation and have strictly followed the process outlined in MLB’s Joint Policy on Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault and Child Abuse.

“Two exhaustive reviews of all available evidence in this case, one by Commissioner Manfred and one by a neutral arbitrator, concluded that Mr. Bauer’s actions warranted the longest suspension of an active player in our sport for violations of this policy. .

“Now that this process has been completed, and after careful consideration, we have decided that you will no longer be a part of our organization.”

The former Cy Young winner with the Cincinnati Reds was charged with sexual assault in 2021

After the initial suspension was handed down, the players’ association filed a complaint on behalf of the former Cy Young Award winner. A three-person panel headed by independent arbitrator Martin Scheinman began hearing the case on May 23.

Scheinman upheld a 194-game suspension in lieu of Manfred’s planned 324-game ban, but reinstated Bauer immediately, effectively assigning 50 games to cover part of the extended time Bauer was on administrative leave while MLB investigated during the 2021 season and early this year.

“While we believe a longer suspension was warranted, MLB will abide by the neutral arbitrator’s decision, which upholds the longest suspension of an active player in baseball for sexual assault or domestic violence,” the league said in a statement when it was announced. reduced suspension. “We understand that this process was difficult for the witnesses involved and we thank them for their participation.”

Bauer’s accuser was unable to obtain a restraining order and Bauer was not charged with any crime.

Bauer was never charged with any crime. His accuser filed for, but was denied, a restraining order against him, and Los Angeles prosecutors said in February there was insufficient evidence to prove the woman’s allegations beyond a reasonable doubt.

Bauer, who has not played since the allegations surfaced and MLB began investigating, has repeatedly said that everything that happened between him and the woman was consensual.

Bauer sued his accuser in federal court, a move that came less than three months after prosecutors decided not to pursue criminal charges against the pitcher. Bauer named the woman and one of his attorneys, Niranjan Fred Thiagarajah, as defendants in the lawsuit. The Associated Press does not typically identify people who say they have been victims of sexual assault.

The lawsuit says “the harm to Mr. Bauer has been extreme” after the woman alleged he choked her unconscious, repeatedly punched her, and had anal sex with her without her consent during two sexual encounters a year. past.

The pitcher said the two had rough sex at his Pasadena home at her suggestion and followed the guidelines they agreed to beforehand.

Bauer said in an earlier statement sent through his representatives that he had a “fully consensual, casual sexual relationship between 2013 and 2018” with the woman, which began when he was pitching for Triple-A in Columbus.

“None of our meetings involved a single non-consensual act, let alone an illegal one,” Bauer said.

Bauer hasn’t thrown a pitch since June 29, 2021 and was placed on administrative leave by MLB

Under Major League Baseball’s Rule 2, Bauer will not count against the Dodgers’ player limits for 14 days, giving the team until today, Jan. 6, to decide whether to cut ties. Under those rules, the Dodgers remain responsible for the roughly $22.6 million owed to him next season and he would be free to sign with any club.

After winning his first Cy Young with the Cincinnati Reds in 2020, Bauer agreed to join his hometown Dodgers. He did not pitch after June 29, 2021 and finished with an 8-2 record with a 2.59 ERA in 17 appearances.

Bauer was placed on administrative leave on July 2, 2021, under the domestic violence policy, a leave extended 13 times.

Among the 15 players previously disciplined under the policy, the longest suspension was a full season and one postseason for free agent pitcher Sam Dyson in 2021. None of the players previously disciplined under the policy appear to have contested the sanction before an arbitrator.