Will any team sign pitcher Bauer with the controversy he would bring?
BOSTON — A text to Sam Kennedy went unanswered and Chaim Bloom offered no comment. It came as no surprise. Trevor Bauer became a free agent this past week and his future is the third rail of topics for baseball executives. It’s best to leave it alone.
Or in this case, you have no choice.
The Red Sox and most other teams are adhering to a rule within the collective bargaining agreement that prohibits declaring a lack of interest in any free agent to the media because it would diminish the player’s value.
Major League Baseball fears that the ever-litigious Bauer would file a grievance through the Players Association seeking damages and has warned teams to keep quiet. Still, it has been reported elsewhere via anonymous sources that the Guardians,
Mets, Padres, Twins, and Yankees have no interest in Bauer.
The Red Sox have buttoned up on this issue. But it’s hard to believe that a team that has hired two women as minor league coaches and has Raquel Ferreira as an executive vice president and assistant general manager would sign a person such as Bauer.
Ideally a team should feel free to go on the record and say, “No, we are not interested in employing a player who was suspended 194 games for violating the league’s policy on domestic violence. That goes against our values as an organization.”
But that isn’t being allowed.
This is a saga that will not go away. Bauer, who turns 32 on Tuesday, had a 2.24 earned run average in his previous 28 major league starts before he was placed on administrative leave July 2,
2021, after being accused of physical and sexual assault by a San Diego woman seeking a restraining order.
Bauer contended his actions, which included beating the woman, were consensual, which the woman denied. A judge lifted a temporary restraining order on Bauer, but MLB extended his leave as police investigated the matter. Two other women subsequently came forward making similar allegations.
Police did not press charges, saying they did not have sufficient evidence to go to court. But MLB’s investigation led to a 324-game suspension from commissioner Rob Manfred last April. Bauer denied violating the league’s policy and appealed. An independent arbiter dropped the suspension to 194 games in December, which amounted to time served, and reinstated Bauer. That decision came with an additional punishment of playing the first 50 games of the season without pay.
The Dodgers were sharply criticized in Los Angeles for not designating Bauer for assignment immediately after the arbiter’s decision. The team instead waited the full 14 days until it had to decide. The Dodgers then waited seven more days before releasing Bauer. As expected, no team was willing to trade for him.
The Dodgers are responsible for the $22.5 million remaining on his contract. Any team signing him would pay only the major league minimum salary of $720,000.
Bauer is one of 17 players suspended for domestic violence in MLB history. His suspension, even with the reduction, is the longest by 32 games. Manfred said the league’s investigation clearly warranted the lengthy suspension.
Given the violent acts he was accused of and subsequently punished for, Bauer would bring a torrent of controversy for any team that signs him.
Teams have welcomed back players who served PED suspensions or were arrested for other crimes.
In time the stigma fades. But a record-setting suspension for domestic violence is not something easily explained to team employees and the fan base. Bauer also has a history of bullying women on social media.
The guess here is that Bauer will remain a free agent into spring training, then sign with an independent league team that craves publicity more than it cares about the ethics of the situation. Or perhaps Bauer will pitch in simulated games broadcast on one of his social media platforms.
Teams invariably have a need for pitchers and maybe the passage of time will lead to his coming back. There may be a small-market team willing to absorb the bad publicity to get a front-line starter for a minimum salary.
“It only takes one,” an American League general manager said. “I’ve learned you can never say never.”
Bauer, who lost $37.6 million because of the suspension, doesn’t seem worried. He’s planning to hire a videographer to chronicle his activities. He’s proceeding as if nothing happened, having forcefully denied all allegations. Contrition is not part of his playbook.
It’s a sordid situation that baseball can’t avoid. Bauer can still pitch and is one phone call away.