Just days after Dodgers pitcher Trevor Bauer filed a defamation lawsuit against a woman who accused him of brutally sexually assaulting her twice at his home last year, Major League Baseball has suspended the Cy Young Award winner yet again—this time with the harshest punishment ever handed down under MLB’s Joint Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault and Child Abuse Policy.
Bauer was suspended for 324 games, or the equivalent of two seasons, the league announced on Friday.
The suspension begins as Bauer’s previous one expires, is unpaid, and doesn’t include the 99 regular-season games he’s already missed since his series of suspensions connected to the allegations began last July 2.
Bauer, who has maintained that he only engaged in consensual acts with his accuser, defended himself on Twitter Friday, writing, “In the strongest possible terms, I deny committing any violation of the league’s domestic violence & sexual assault policy. I am appealing this action and expect to prevail. As we have throughout this process, my representatives & I respect the confidentiality of the proceedings.”
In a statement of its own Friday, the team said, “Today we were informed that MLB has concluded its investigation into allegations that have been made against Trevor Bauer, and the Commissioner has issued his decision regarding discipline. The Dodgers organization takes all allegations of this nature very seriously and does not condone or excuse any acts of domestic violence or sexual assault.”
The Dodgers further stated that the organization has “cooperated fully with MLB’s investigation since it began, and we fully support MLB’s Joint Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault and Child Abuse Policy, and the Commissioner’s enforcement of the Policy.”
The team said it will not comment further, citing Bauer’s right to appeal the decision.
When the Dodgers signed the Los Angeles native in February 2021 to a $102 million contract, he was set to be the top earner in baseball for the foreseeable future, despite a reputation for being a tantrum-throwing hothead. Now, ESPN notes, unless Bauer wins his appeal he won’t be allowed to return to the field until “the 19th game of the 2024 season, by which point his three-year contract with the Dodgers will have expired.”
Although Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón declined to charge Bauer with any crime, MLB is not bound by that decision and it also looked into at least one other incident of alleged sexual assault with a woman from Ohio, ESPN reports.
During last summer’s restraining order hearing, Bauer’s alleged victim told the court, “I knew how this was going to go. I knew that I was going to get slut-shamed and that was worth it to me to get protection from Trevor Bauer.”
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