The Asian Breeze, a travel club from Japan that plays scrimmage games against Minor League teams, announced Trevor Bauer joined their roster.
The Breeze also revealed that Bauer will be making his debut with the team at Camelback Ranch on Sunday, March 10, against Los Angeles Dodgers’ Minor Leaguers.
The game is likely to take place on one of the backfields at Camelback Ranch, and it’s unlikely anyone prevalent from the Dodgers roster will play against Bauer.
The primary purpose of the Breeze is to get players in front of MLB scouts, and those who are on the roster typically pay a fee to be part of the showcase.
Bauer was previously signed by the Dodgers in 2021 on a three-year, $102 million contract, which drew both praise and criticism at the time due to his off-the-field behavior, which included bullying and harassment of women on social media.
When asked about that, Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said the team did their due diligence and expressed confidence Bauer would be a positive addition to the organization.
However, five months later, MLB placed Bauer on administrative leave amid sexual assault allegations, which ended up keeping him out the rest of the season.
In April 2022, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred announced Bauer would be suspended for a record 324 games for violating the league’s joint domestic violence, sexual assault and child abuse policy.
Bauer’s suspension was reduced to 194 games by an arbitrator that also reinstated him from the restricted list. That was followed by the Dodgers releasing the right-hander.
Since becoming a free agent, Bauer has been hoping to catch on with an MLB team once again, but those efforts so far have proven futile.
Bauer ended up joining the Yokohama DeNA Baystars of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) for the 2023 season, where he threw 130.2 innings with a 2.76 ERA.
Bauer has continued to look for an MLB team to sign him this offseason, even offering to join an organization on a Minor League deal, but he has still not found any team open to bringing him into the fold. It’s unlikely the 33-year-old will pitch at the Major League level again even as he tries to showcase his abilities.
Trevor Bauer faces additional allegations and criticism
Aside from the first and most notable allegation, three other women have accused Bauer of sexual assault, but those lawsuits have not been settled.
The most recent was filed in Arizona, which claims Bauer raped the victim while holding a knife at her throat and choking her until unconscious. Bauer countersued and denied the accusations.
Bauer also drew more negative attention in Japan following his season with the BayStars after he expressed support on social media for a U.S. Navy Officer who was jailed following a car crash that killed two Japanese citizens.
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