After months on paid leave, Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Trevor Bauer has been levied with a two-year MLB suspension due to sexual assault allegations.
For months, the MLB has been trying to decide what to do with the serious sexual assault allegations levied against Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Trevor Bauer.
Bauer, who hasn’t pitched a game since June 28 of last year, has now been suspended from playing in the MLB for the next two years.
Since July 2 of last year, Bauer has been on paid administrative leave under the MLB’s policy during investigations of domestic violence, sexual assault and child abuse.
Trevor Bauer charges
Bauer’s ninth stint of paid leave was set to expire on April 29, hence the league’s decision to hand out a punishment on this day.
Bauer has been on leave for ninth months due to violent sexual assault allegations involving two woman, one in Ohio and one in California. Sports Illustrated detailed how Bauer reportedly had a consensual on-off relationship with the woman in Ohio for three years, but a police report was filed against Bauer in 2017 in which the woman had evidence of multiple bruises.
The young woman said that while she and Bauer were having consensual sex, Bauer engaged in non-consensual choking and punching. Bauer has denied these claims, and while the woman initially ordered a temporary restraining order in 2020, she later lifted the order to avoid the “months of additional fear, stress and continuous threats,” according to the woman’s lawyer.
However, Bauer faced nearly identical allegations in 2021. According to Sporting News, Bauer met up with a “Ms. Hill” on Instagram and the two reportedly had two encounters of “wholly consensual” sex, as Bauer described it. Ms. Hill said that Bauer performed “multiple sexual acts without consent” when Bauer “choked her to the point of unconsciousness and punched her in the face and genitals.” Ms. Hill also alleged that Bauer “initiated sex without her consent.”
Ms. Hill filed an ex parte restraining order that a judge declined to make permanent, as Bauer refuted the claims in court. An investigation by the Pasadena Police did not result in criminal charges. The Los Angeles County district attorney issued the following statement when they announced that Bauer would not face criminal charges:
“After a thorough review of all the available evidence, including the civil restraining order proceedings, witness statements and the physical evidence, the People are unable to prove the relevant charges beyond a reasonable doubt.”
After the LADA’s announcement, Bauer shared his thoughts on YouTube, describing the encounters as “consensual rough sex.”
In the years since the MLB implemented its current policy on domestic abuse, Bauer has received the longest suspension ever given.
What happens next for Trevor Bauer
Jon Heyman notes that although Bauer has already been suspended for 99 games, these will not count toward his 324-game suspension.
Bauer will be the first to appeal the punishment, which he announced on Twitter after the MLB released their statement on his suspension.
What’s definitively known at this time is that Bauer is out of baseball for at least two years, and he plans on appealing the decision at this time. In February, ESPN’s Jeff Passan provided a more general outlook as to what would happen with Bauer upon an MLB suspension.
“…The picture that emerged is one in which Bauer will remain a prominent figure in baseball even as he’s not in a uniform, with him protesting the discipline handed down and trying to salvage his career and money.”
Two months later, everything that Passan predicted appears to be the case.