The Los Angeles Dodgers took their announcement regarding Trevor Bauer down to the final hour, but they did exactly what was expected all along.
The Dodgers on Friday announced that they have designated Bauer for assignment. The team had until the end of the business day Friday to add Bauer to their active roster or cut him. They decided to designate him for assignment.
The move means Bauer will now go through waivers. Any team can claim him, but they would have to assume his contract. If Bauer clears waivers, he will become a free agent and be eligible to sign with any team. Either way, the Dodgers still will owe Bauer just over $22 million for the 2023 season.
The Dodgers issued the following statement about Bauer, whose 364-game suspension under MLB’s domestic violence policy was overturned by an arbitrator last month.
“The Dodgers organization believes that allegations of sexual assault or domestic violence should be thoroughly investigated, with due process given to the accused. From the beginning, we have fully cooperated with Major League Baseball’s investigation and strictly followed the process stipulated under MLB’s Joint Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault and Child Abuse Policy. Two extensive reviews of all the available evidence in this case – one by Commissioner Manfred and another by a neutral arbitrator – concluded that Mr. Bauer’s actions warranted the longest ever active player suspension in our sport for violations of this policy. Now that this process has been completed, and after careful consideration, we have decided that he will no longer be part of our organization,” the team said.
The Dodgers’ statement makes them seem like they are taking a moral stand, but keep in mind that they have kept pitcher Julio Urias on their roster despite his May 2019 arrest for domestic battery.
Bauer has not pitched since going on paid administrative leave in June 2021, when the allegations first arose. It will be interesting to see whether any team signs Bauer, who still has several civil legal cases ongoing.
