The Los Angeles Dodgers will be one pitcher short for two seasons after one of the team’s aces was suspended by the MLB over allegations of sexual assault.
Trevor Bauer received the suspension, without pay, for violating the league’s domestic violence and sexual assault policy, MLB Commissioner Robert Manfred Jr. announced Friday. Bauer, 31, was accused of sexual assault by a San Diego woman in 2021 who claimed he took consensual rough sex too far during two different encounters, according to ESPN.
The Dodgers released a statement saying the team “cooperated fully” with the MLB’s investigation and “fully support[s]” the league’s decision.
“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,” a statement from the Dodgers reads. “We’ve 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.”
SAGE STEELE SUES ESPN AND SAYS SHE WAS SUSPENDED FOR COMMENTS ON VACCINES AND OBAMA
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) April 29, 2022
Bauer denied “committing any violation” of the league’s policy right after the team released its statement and said he would appeal the suspension.
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.
— Trevor Bauer (トレバー・バウアー) (@BauerOutage) April 29, 2022
The woman who accused Bauer of assault filed a restraining order against him in June 2021, claiming he assaulted her over the course of two sexual encounters at his California home in April and May. Bauer and his attorneys denied the accusations, calling them “fraudulent” and “baseless.”
The restraining order was dissolved in August 2021 after a judge ruled that Bauer did not pose a continual threat to the woman and that her injuries were not the result of anything she verbally objected to before or during the encounter. The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office said in February it would not criminally charge Bauer.
Another woman, this one from Ohio accusing Bauer of sexual assault, reportedly sought a temporary restraining order against the pitcher in June 2020, but she dropped it after Bauer’s attorneys threatened legal action, calling the woman’s allegations of physical abuse “categorically false.”
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Bauer was placed on a seven-day administrative leave in July 2021 after the sexual assault claims were first brought against him. His paid leave was extended for the remainder of the season in September later that year, according to Axios.
