Bauer slapped with two-year suspension
WASHINGTON — Major League Baseball has suspended Trevor Bauer, the star Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher accused by several women of assault, for 324 games — or two full seasons — the longest suspension in the seven-year history of MLB's domestic violence and sex assault policy.
Bauer immediately announced he was appealing the suspension, signalling that in the legal saga that has already seen Bauer sue one of his accusers and media outlets who have covered the case, his next enemy will be Major League Baseball.
Just hours after MLB announced the suspension, The Washington Post reported that another woman claimed Bauer choked her until she was unconscious and assaulted her without her consent, the third accuser to make similar allegations publicly.
MLB cited an “extensive investigation” in a statement Friday but did not detail its findings or the rationale behind the record suspension, and said that due to the confidentiality terms of its policy, the league “will not issue any further statements at this point in time.”
“I am appealing this action and expect to prevail,” Bauer tweeted within minutes, adding: “As we have throughout this process, my representatives & I respect the confidentiality of the proceedings.”
Bauer has not played since June, when a Southern California woman filed a temporary restraining order against him, claiming that he choked her until she was unconscious and then assaulted her during sex without her consent, leaving her hospitalized. MLB opened an investigation soon after and Bauer has been on paid administrative leave since.
The suspension is without pay and means that, if it is upheld, Bauer will not be eligible to play in MLB until late April 2024. Under the policy, Bauer can appeal to an independent arbitrator. The suspension is twice as long as the previous longest punishment under the policy, that of pitcher Sam Dyson last year.
“We will let the action taken today by the MLB speak for itself,” the Ohio woman's attorney, Joseph Darwal, said Friday. The Post typically does not name victims of alleged domestic violence unless they ask to be identified.
Bauer earned US$38 million, a single-season record, from the Dodgers last year, despite missing the season's second half and the playoffs. He was still owed $64 million over the next two seasons by the Dodgers, which he will not be paid if the suspension is upheld.
The Dodgers said in a statement that the team “takes all allegations of this nature very seriously and does not condone or excuse any acts of domestic violence or sexual assault,” and that it has “co-operated fully with MLB's investigation since it began.”
“We understand that Trevor has the right to appeal the Commissioner's decision,” the statement continued.
“Therefore, we will not comment further until the process is complete.”
The long-awaited announcement of discipline from MLB, and Bauer's vow to appeal, promises to extend the legal saga surrounding the allegations. In August, Bauer invoked his Fifth Amendment right to avoid taking the witness stand during a lengthy hearing to determine whether his Los Angeles accuser should be granted a restraining order against him.
A Los Angeles Superior Court judge denied the restraining order, determining the woman did not make clear her parameters during consensual sex with the pitcher. And in February, following months of deliberation, the Los Angeles District Attorney's Office declined to prosecute Bauer, announcing that prosecutors were “unable to prove the relevant charges beyond a reasonable doubt.”
Bauer treated the DA's decision as a vindication. But in levying a suspension, MLB does not have to adhere to the same standard of proof, instead having only to find — and defend in any grievance proceeding — that Bauer violated its joint domestic violence and sexual assault policy with the players union.
In Los Angeles, the allegations against Bauer included that he punched his sex partner and sodomized her without her consent. He denied those accusations in February in a video he filmed following the decision by the DA's office.
Bauer sued that accuser and her attorney Monday, claiming that the woman's pursuit of a restraining order was part of a scheme to “lure Mr. Bauer into having a rougher sexual experience” and “lay the groundwork for a financial settlement,” which she has denied.
Bauer also has sued two media outlets, Deadspin and The Athletic, that covered his case. Both outlets have denied his claims.