Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Trevor Bauer is eligible to play Major League Baseball again, though the league doesn’t believe he should be and made it so he won’t be getting paid for a while.
MLB announced Thursday that Bauer’s 324-game suspension for violating their domestic violence policy has been reduced to 194 games following a ruling from an independent arbiter.
The press release announcing the decision reads:
“After an exhaustive review of the available evidence the neutral arbitrator upheld an unpaid suspension of 194 games. As part of the decision, the arbitrator reinstated Mr. Bauer effective immediately, with a lot of pay covering the 144 games he was suspended during the 2022 season. In addition, the arbitrator docked Bauer’s salary for the first 50 games of the 2023 season (i.e., the period covering March 30, 2023 to May 2023). While we believe the longer suspension was warranted, MLB will abide by the neutral arbitrator’s decision, which upholds baseball’s longest-ever active player suspension for sexual assault or domestic violence.
“We understand this process was difficult for the witnesses involved and we thank them for their participation. Due to the collectively bargain confidentiality provisions of the joint program, we are unable to provide further details at this time.”
Essentially, Bauer is now eligible to return to playing baseball, though he will not be paid for the first 50 games he is on an active roster. Will those games come with the Dodgers? Likely not. Los Angeles owes Bauer more than $32 million in 2023, but according to USA Today’s Bob Nightengale, the organization plans to release him. A decision has not been formally announced.
The initial decision to suspend Bauer came on April 29, 2022 and stems from a sexual assault allegation earlier in the year. Bauer hasn’t played in a big league game since June 28, 2021. He was placed on administrative leave after the allegations surfaced.
