Andrew Buller-Russ
Despite being 32 years old, former Cy Young-winning starting pitcher Trevor Bauer hasn’t been on an MLB mound since June 28, 2021. Then disturbing details emerged of Bauer’s alleged sexual assault, and the Los Angeles Dodgers haven’t wanted anything to do with him since.
Even though they were forced to eat $22.5 million in wasted cash, the Dodgers still found it best to release the former MLB All-Star back in January. He hasn’t received a lick of interest in the free agency market since. Or, at least not among Major League Baseball teams.
Instead, Bauer has reportedly signed a contract with the Yokohama DeNA BayStars, in Japan, according to ESPN’s Jeff Passan.
Bauer served a 324-game suspension from the MLB, and even though he may be technically allowed back in the pros, it didn’t seem like the interest was mutual after lingering on the open market for over two months.
- Trevor Bauer’s stats in 2021: 2.59 ERA, 137 K, 33 B7, 1.003 WHIP
The last time Bauer pitched, he didn’t exactly struggle, so there’s an expectation for him to return to his form with his new team, albeit facing much different competition where he now has to learn the tendencies of a whole new league.
Bauer pitched for four different teams across 11 MLB seasons. After pitching 1,297 innings from 2012-21, those looking to see how he performs in 2023 may have to tune into Japanese baseball games instead.
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