The Los Angeles Dodgers released Trevor Bauer three weeks after his suspension reduced and he was immediately reinstated by an independent arbitrator.
“The Dodgers organization believes that allegations of sexual assault or domestic violence should be thoroughly investigated, with due process given to the accused,” the team said in a statement at the time.
“From the beginning, we have fully cooperated with Major League Baseball’s investigation and strictly followed the process stipulated under MLB’s Joint Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault and Child Abuse Policy.
“Two extensive reviews of all the available evidence in this case – one by Commissioner Manfred and another by a neutral arbitrator – concluded that Mr. Bauer’s actions warranted the longest ever active player suspension in our sport for violations of this policy. Now that this process has been completed, and after careful consideration, we have decided that he will no longer be part of our organization.”
While the Dodgers took action to cut ties with Bauer, the organization otherwise declined to comment on the matter.
That changed when president and CEO Stan Kasten said the Dodgers reached a consensus on their decision to release Bauer, according to Jack Harris of the L.A. Times:
Kasten insisted releasing Bauer was “unanimous among the people that are charged with having to make this decision” — but once again declined to say which members of the organization were part of that group.
“It was an organizational decision,” Kasten said. “I will say I’m responsible for everything that happens here. But everyone who needed to be involved was involved, was included in the discussion all along the way. It was unanimous at the end for sure. And as I said, and will keep saying, we feel strongly we made the right decision.”
Kasten and Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman had been hesitant to publicly comment on Bauer due to MLB rules restricting what can be said about free agents and the possibility of the right-hander filing a grievance if he felt his market was impacted by statements made.
When recently asked about the Bauer saga, Freddie Freeman said he was not consulted about the matter and deemed it an “ownership call.”
“It played out how I think everyone thought it was going to play out,” Freeman added. “I wasn’t around in ’21 when he was here, so I think that’s more of a question for those guys and how they liked him, or didn’t like him, or what.
Will Trevor Bauer sign with a team?
After getting designated for assignment and subsequently released by the Dodgers, Bauer immediately became a free agent who could sign with any team.
However, to this point there hasn’t been any public reports of the 32-year-old garnering any interest.
The Dodgers owe $22.5 million to Bauer this year, but any contract signed with a new team would be deducted from that amount. Bauer went 8-5 with a 2.59 ERA over 17 starts in his lone season with the club.
Bauer last pitched for the Dodgers on June 28, 2021.
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