Dodgers’ Trevor Bauer gets suspension reduced to 194 games and will be able to start the 2023 season

Trevor Bauer was reinstated Thursday by Major League Baseball’s independent umpire, allowing the pitcher to resume his career at the start of the 2023 season.

The 31-year-old Los Angeles Dodgers star was given an unprecedented two-season suspension without pay by baseball commissioner Rob Manfred on April 29 for violating the league’s domestic violence and sexual assault policy. after a San Diego woman said Bauer beat and sexually assaulted her. last year, an accusation the pitcher denied.

The players’ association filed a complaint on behalf of the former Cy Young Award winner, and a three-person panel led 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.

Dodgers pitcher Trevor Bauer will be eligible to pitch in 2023 after his suspension is reduced

Bauer will lose more than $37 million in salary for the final 144 games of last season and the first 50 games of next season, through May 23.

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

Although Scheinman issued his award to the parties, a full written decision is not expected until later.

The players’ association declined to comment. A Bauer spokeswoman expected a statement on her behalf to be released later Thursday.

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. last.

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

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.

The suspension will cost Bauer $37,594,233 of his three-year, $102 million contract: $28,131,868 of his $32 million salary in 2022 and $9,462,365 of his $32 million salary in 2023.

The Dodgers have until Jan. 6 to decide whether to cut ties with Bauer, but they still owe $22 million.

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

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.