Next Friday marks exactly three years since Trevor Bauer last appeared in an MLB game.
Then a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers, he tossed six innings of two-run ball while striking out eight batters, recording the win.
Two days later, he was hit with sexual assault allegations, which eventually led to a 324-game suspension (the equivalent of two seasons), which was reduced to 184, for violating the league’s Joint Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault and Child Abuse Policy.
Trevor Bauer, #96 of Diablos Rojos, pitches during Spring Training Game One between Diablos Rojos and New York Yankees at Estadio Alfredo Harp Helu on March 24, 2024 in Mexico City, Mexico. (Photo by Manuel Velasquez/Getty Images) (Manuel Velasquez/Getty Images)
After an All-Star season in Japan last year, Bauer is dominating the Mexican League, pitching to a 2.37 ERA with a 1.02 WHIP and 12.3 K/9.
However, he remains unsigned.
Bill James, often credited for being a founding father of analytics in baseball, said on X that the league “may now be in a position where, if they don’t actively encourage someone to sign Trevor Bauer, they could be setting themselves up to lose a billion-dollar lawsuit.”
The 2020 National League Cy Young Award winner was asked his thoughts on the possibility, and didn’t exactly rule it out.
Trevor Bauer, #27 of the Los Angeles Dodgers, warms up before the game against the Colorado Rockies at Dodger Stadium on April 13, 2021, in Los Angeles, California. (Harry How/Getty Images)
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“I’d really prefer not to go this route, but if I continue being kept out of baseball as I currently am, I may have no other choice,” Bauer said. “Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that, and I’m allowed to return to my career that was taken from me over provably false allegations that never held any merit to begin with.”
Perhaps Bauer is simply just frustrated at the lack of an MLB opportunity. He has even said he’d “play for the league minimum,” but he has yet to put pen to paper.
“Anyone that’s willing to sit down with me and listen: I’d like to play the second half of my career in a better way than I played the first half,” Bauer told Fox News Digital back in January. “I’d like to be an example that you can make mistakes, recognize them, adjust and then be better in the future. I think that’s something us as humans have to do and should be doing constantly.”
Bauer has maintained his innocence, settling with one accuser while another is facing 16 years in prison after being charged with fraud following the faking of a pregnancy and asking Bauer for money for an abortion.
Trevor Bauer, #96 of Diablos Rojos, enters the field during the matc between Olmecas de Tabasco and Diablos Rojos del México of the Mexican Baseball League (LMB) at Alfredo Harp Helú Stadium. (Carlos Santiago/Eyepix Group/LightRocket via Getty Images)
Bauer and Lindsey Hill, who accused the pitcher of beating and sexually abusing her in 2021, settled their case late last year. Bauer revealed texts from Hill, who said that Bauer would be her “next victim,” among other damning messages. Hill has since said that MLB has more evidence of Bauer’s alleged misconduct.
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