When Major League Baseball suspended Los Angeles Dodgers reliever Joe Kelly eight games for his role in a minor altercation with Carlos Correa and the Houston Astros last month, a multitude of players around the sport immediately came to the right-hander’s defense.
Among them were Cincinnati Reds starter Trevor Bauer, who planned to wear a pair of “Free Joe Kelly” cleats in his outing against the Kansas City Royals on Wednesday night.
He unveiled them on social media prior to his start, which showed Kelly disguised as a goat. Bauer also noted that fans who purchased a t-shirt would automatically be entered to win the cleats.
However, it became evident during Wednesday’s matchup between the Reds and Royals that Bauer was not donning the cleats as anticipated. The 29-year-old took to Twitter to explain why he didn’t wear the customized cleats, revealing that MLB threatened to punish him, and criticizing commissioner Rob Manfred in the process:
For everyone wondering why I didn’t wear the cleats tonight, @MLB threatened to eject me and suspend me and levy unprecedented fines against me if I did. I couldn’t put my teammates at risk like that. Earlier this year, MLB said players could put whatever they wanted on their
— Trevor Bauer (@BauerOutage) August 20, 2020
cleats, so long as it wasn’t political or offensive. Apparently, Rob is not a fan of players following his rules, as “Free Joe Kelly” is not political and is very clearly said in jest. Just leaves me over here wondering how following the rules = ejection/suspension/fine and
— Trevor Bauer (@BauerOutage) August 20, 2020
cheating your way to a World Series = no ejection/suspension/fine…y’all really know how to pick your battles…🙄 learned my lesson though. Fun is bad, cheating is good. Won’t make the same mistake twice, can promise you that 👊🏻👊🏻 pic.twitter.com/Tyh0JdjJZv
— Trevor Bauer (@BauerOutage) August 20, 2020
Bauer has been outspoken of Manfred in the past, not just for his handling of the Astros’ sign-stealing scandal, but other important matters as well.
During MLB’s shutdown in June, Bauer called out Manfred after he cast doubt on whether there would be a 2020 season. The two also met in early March to discuss a wide range of topics.
Kelly suspension reduced to five games
Though Kelly’s original eight-game ban was viewed as excessive, he was able to get it reduced to five games after appealing the decision.
Kelly, however, won’t be able to serve his suspension until he is activated off the 10-day injured list.
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