Los Angeles Dodgers CEO and President Stan Kasten said Wednesday that the organization was content about the manner in which pitcher Trevor Bauer was released in response to domestic violence accusations.
“You know, this wasn’t unanimous out in the real world – among fans, among the media or whatnot,” Kasten told reporters. “But the decision we reached was unanimous among the people that are charged with having to make this decision.”
Bauer was released in December 2022 after serving 194 days of what was originally supposed to be a 324-day suspension served by MLB in April. The Dodgers had two weeks following his reinstatement to decide whether or not to retain him. They chose to release him, eating $22.5 million of his $32 million salary in 2023 as a result. The Dodgers president did not directly address Bauer’s claim that officials within the organization wanted him to return.
“I’m not going to get into contradicting or agreeing with anything about what was supposed to be a private conversation,” Kasten said. “I’ll just say within a very short time we came back and made our decision. I think that speaks for itself.”
Debate about the manner in which Bauer was disciplined was rampant within the MLB community from the time the accusations were first made to his eventual release from the Dodgers organization more than a year later. In June 2021, the pitcher was accused of physically and sexually assaulting a woman in Los Angeles in a case that was eventually dropped in February 2022 due to a lack of evidence. Two other women later came forward accusing Bauer of similar behavior, though no additional cases have been brought against him. Bauer later sued multiple publications, reporters and his Los Angeles accuser for defamation.
Though an independent arbitrator ended Bauer’s suspension in December, he remains a free agent.
