It's going to be a long time before Trevor Bauer plays baseball again.
Major League Baseball suspended the Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher for 324 games -- or two seasons -- on Friday afternoon for violating the league's joint domestic violence, sexual assault and child abuse policy.
Bauer immediately announced he's appealing the decision and continued to claim innocence.
"In the strongest possible terms, I deny committing any violation of the league’s domestic violence & sexual assault policy," Bauer said in a statement tweeted Friday. "I am appealing this action and expect to prevail. As we have throughout this process, my representatives (and) I respect the confidentiality of the proceedings."
The MLB policy is relatively new, dating back to 2015. Fifteen players have been suspended under the policy since, and Bauer's ban is by far the biggest. All of those previous suspensions stemmed from negotiations between the league and player, allowing the player to waive the right to an appeal. That is obviously not the case for Bauer.
Bauer hasn't played in a big league game since June 28, 2021. He was placed on administrative leave after allegations of sexual assault surfaced. The two-year suspension does not include the time missed since last season.
Bauer has insisted all along any of his relationships were consensual and claimed to have done nothing wrong. The allegations were investigated, but the Los Angeles County district attorney's office in February announced Bauer wouldn't face criminal charges.
