Sometimes, silence speaks volumes – and if the Los Angeles Dodgers don't make a statement on Trevor Bauer soon, their silence raises a lot of new questions.
On Thursday, Dec. 22, Major League Baseball announced that an independent arbitrator reduced Bauer's 324-game suspension to 194 games, thereby making him eligible to return to baseball immediately. With one year left on his three-year contract with Los Angeles, this puts the team in a precarious position.'
Should the Dodgers reinstate the 31-year-old pitcher to their roster, or should they officially cut ties and release him to free agency?
Dodgers' statement on today's ruling: “We have just been informed of the arbitrator's ruling and will comment as soon as practical.”
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) December 23, 2022
Allegations Against Trevor Bauer
The Pasadena Police Department confirmed on June 30, 2021, that a woman in San Diego had accused Bauer of two separate instances of physical and sexual assault. She alleged Bauer sodomized her without her consent, punched her in the face, and choked her to the point of unconsciousness.'
She had been granted a temporary domestic violence restraining order against him on June 28.
In the woman's claim, her attorneys said Bauer spoke about the incident in a call taped by police and “did not dispute that he had punched [the woman] and that doing so resulted in black eyes.”'
The woman also went to the emergency room at Alvarado Hospital after the alleged assault, where she was reportedly diagnosed with an “acute head injury” and “assault by manual strangulation.”
While Bauer has acknowledged having sexual contact with his accuser, he has maintained their encounters were consensual. MLB placed Bauer on administrative leave on July 2, 2021, while an internal investigation was conducted into the allegations against him, and the leave was eventually extended through the remainder of the 2021 season.
On Aug. 20, 2021, the temporary restraining order against Bauer was removed after a judge determined Bauer didn't pose a threat to the woman's immediate safety. On Feb. 8, 2022, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office announced they wouldn't file criminal charges against Bauer due to a lack of evidence.
But Bauer's reckonings didn't end there, and the skeletons in his closet just kept coming out.
On Aug. 14, 2021, The Washington Post reported that a different woman in Ohio had sought a temporary order of protection against Bauer in June 2020. Police reports were uncovered indicating the woman accused Bauer of physical assault in 2017 and sought the order of protection after the pitcher sent her death threats.'
Bauer denied these additional allegations and claimed he was the real victim, stating the Ohio woman was actually the one who harassed and physically assaulted him.