Bauer signing met with little reaction in Japan
TOKYO » The signing of Trevor Bauer to a oneyear contract by the Yokohama DeNA BayStars generated little reaction Wednesday in the Japanese media.
The 2020 NL Cy Young Award winner was released by the Los Angeles Dodgers on Jan. 12, three weeks after an arbitrator reduced his suspension imposed by Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred from 324 to 194 games. The penalty followed an investigation into domestic violence, which the pitcher has denied.
Since his release, Bauer has been shunned by big league teams in the United States.
The Yokohama team announced his acquisition on Tuesday. Japan’s mainstream newspapers had small stories in their sports sections Wednesday about Bauer, noting his Cy Young Award and the domestic violence case.
RonSpo, a small outlet devoted to sports, began its story by saying: “An astoundingly big-name major league player is coming to Yokohama.”
An informal survey of young fans outside the Tokyo Dome buying World Baseball Classic tickets yielded a mix of responses. Several knew Bauer was coming to Japan, but only a few knew about the allegations against him.
“Some Japanese baseball fans will know his name, but most don’t know anything about him,” said Ichiro Mizutani, an 18-year-old fan of the Tokyo Giants.
Cuba reaches semifinal
TOKYO » Alfredo Despaigne hit a tiebreaking sacrifice fly and Yoelkis Guibert followed with a tworun single in three-run fifth inning as Cuba beat Australia, 4-3, in the WBC quarterfinals.
Using current major leaguers for the first time at the WBC, Cuba plays on Sunday in Marlins Park against the winner of a quarterfinal between Venezuela and the second-place team from Group C: Canada, Colombia, Mexico or the U.S.
Former Phillies prospect Rixon Wingrove, who led Australia with seven RBIs in the tournament, hit a go-ahead RBI sngle in the second and had a two-run homer in the sixth off the Cubs’ Roenis Elías.
MEXICO 10, CANADA 3 » Randy Arozarena had two doubles and five RBIs, Rowdy Tellez added a tworun single and solo homer, and Mexico pulled away late from Canada to earn a spot in the quarterfinals. VENEZUELA 5, ISRAEL 1 » Eugenio Suárez homered, singled twice and had three RBIs and starter Jesús Luzardo struck out five in four scoreless innings to lead Venezuela, which already had clinched the Group D title and a quarterfinal berth.