Disclaimer: If Trevor Bauer is guilty of what his accuser (who will not be named here) says he did, then he should be charged, tried, and sentenced to prison for a long, long time. To date that has not happened.
In case you have been drugged or worse, here is the timeline of the Trevor Bauer Debacle:
- April 6, 2021 – Bauer and the accuser allegedly have a sexual encounter at his home in Pasadena;
- May 16, 2021 – Bauer and the accuser allegedly have a second sexual encounter at his home in Pasadena;
- June 29, 2021 – Bauers’ accuser files a restraining order against Bauer.
- June 30, 2021 – The Pasadena Police commenced an investigation into this accusation.
- July 2, 2021 – MLB placed Trevor Bauer on administrative leave, with pay;
- August 19, 2021 – The accuser spent more than nine hours over three days in the restraining order hearing testifying about what happened during the encounters and the events that surrounded them:
- August 19, 2021 – The judge ruled in favor of Trevor Bauer on Thursday, denying a restraining order to a woman who said the star Dodgers pitcher choked her into unconsciousness and punched her repeatedly during two sexual encounters and said he did not pose a threat to her;
- August 27, 2021 – The Pasadena Police Department concluded their investigation and sent their findings to the DA without an arrest being made;
I think where the average person loses their perspective, in this case, is when the judge ruled that her injuries were not the result of anything she verbally objected to. They believe that this is somehow an admission that Bauer admitted to that. Such is not the case. This case is in contrast to the recent case of Marcell Ozuna, the Atlanta Braves outfielder, who was charged with battery and also aggravated assault by strangulation after a 911 call summoned police to his home, where officers say they witnessed Ozuna grab his wife, by the neck and throw her against a wall. He is not charged with a felony and this is the second time the couple has had something similar happen. Previously, Ozuna’s wife was charged. The couple is now in the process of getting divorced.
The DA has had the Bauer case for over two months and no charges have been filed. It is a fact that egregious and obvious criminal cases are generally filed in a much shorter order so as to protect the general public from obvious criminal activity. The DA is obviously not worried about Bauer and it appears to me that he will not be charged. I guess he could be charged tomorrow and I would be wrong. If he IS charged obviously that changes everything and he can easily be suspended for the 2022 season.
Bauer has been suspended since July 2nd and it could be reasonably argued that his suspension cost the Dodgers the NL West title, and caused them to trade their Top Prospect for Scherzer and Turner. Trevor Bauer is charged with misconduct in what amounts to a civil case. He has denied it. If no charges are filed against him, what grounds does MLB have to suspend him another season? Absolutely none!
Trevor Bauer is owed $45 million dollars in 2022. $45,000,000! That is real money. To believe that Bauer will be suspended another season without being criminally charged is lacking any logical basis in reason. If you believe that you probably believe in the following two REAL characters (yes, the one on the left is Bear… maybe not, but that is Badger on the right – he’s really a bunny).
The Dodgers are going to be hamstrung until this situation is resolved and if you are thinking Rob Manfred can do the right thing, you are probably delusional. If no charges are filed in the next few weeks, Rob Manfred is going to have to re-instate Trevor Bauer… and then what do the Dodgers do with this $45 million dollar roadblock? The solution is not clear to me, and I am not using to judgment without all the facts… and I feel certain that we have very little of the “facts” in this case. Many fans and the general public have formed opinions based upon what reporters, bloggers, and general news services have written. Let me remind you that trust in the news media is near its all-time low and the reason is simple: most people really want unbiased reporting, and they are not getting it in most cases. A 2020 study by Gallup and the Knight Foundation found that 86% of Americans think the media are slanting coverage. That’s the perception and reality might not be far behind. Be careful of what you believe… including this! However, I believe this has to be resolved soon.
P.S. I am no Bauer fan and I did this yesterday when I posted. I saved this part for today.
Discussion (23)
Disagree, not disagreeable
Max Scherzer wins the Players Choice pitcher of the year award. Nelson Cruz won the Clemente award. Betts, Muncy and Pollock candidates for Gold Gloves. I do not believe this site is circling the drain. I know of some other sites that do not garner a 8th of the feedback this one does.
After the overwhelming American/South Vietnamese victory in the 1968 Tet Offensive, Walter Cronkite announced that Tet was clear evidence that we could not win in Vietnam. Hardly an objective or unbiased journalist. ……. “The bloody experience of Vietnam is to end in a stalemate. To say that we are closer to victory today is to believe in the face of the evidence, the optimists who have been wrong in the past. To say that we are mired in stalemate seems the only realistic if unsatisfactory conclusion.”
People looking to be offended will usually be successful. Many team names would probably offend someone if that’s what they are looking for. In the NL West, we have Giants and medicine tells us that being a Giant is usually the result of an adenoma of the pituitary gland, causing emission of too much growth hormone during childhood. Certainly, you wouldn’t call someone a giant now.
We also have Padres. That’s Spanish for father of course, but it was meant to represent the development of California by Father Serra and other missionaries. We know that statues of Father Serra are being ripped down all over the state because he was allegedly unkind to native peoples. Knowing what we know now, would we name a team after Father Serra?
During the Cold War, the Reds were called the Red Legs. In 1953, the team owner let the press know that he preferred Red Legs because he didn’t want the team associated with the threat of communism. From 1956- 60, they removed the name “Reds” from the team logo. Anti-communists probably hate the name “Reds” and leftists probably hated the “Red Legs”.
Pittsburgh has Pirates. Great – a team named after sea-going thieves. Nothing to be offended about there.
It’s the same with every sport. How about Scandinavian people being offended about being Vikings. Vikings were marauders, murderers, rapists and thieves. Nothing there to be offended by.
The Braves have been the Braves for 150 years (see their uniform patch). When did some people discover that they were supposed to be outraged about this? And what’s insulting about calling a team Braves?
Fly balls are next.
( do they have them? )
Waiting for PETA to protest calling a baseball hit into the outfield a ‘flyball’ , it’s so insensitive.
It’s going to be a long off-season if the type of comments on this site for the last couple of days persist.
My hope with Bauer is that he is mostly off the Dodger payroll and if playing that it is not on the Dodgers. Who cares why or why or why or why not it is fair. We won’t agree and I am fine with that. It just is my preference.
I like Hawaiin pizza. Who would have guessed saying that would be controversial?
I like baseball and therefore I like the World Series.
I think team names like Redskins is clearly wrong but Braves is a good name and I enjoy the chant. Singing and chanting in a group is healthy. Singing in groups calms heart rates and boosts endorphin levels and the long list of other benefits might make group singing more valuable than exercise.
Maybe wean the chop out of the chant and eliminate mascots that demean our original native Americans and get rid of the tomahawk on the front of the Braves uniforms.
BAUER will end up somewhere like Detroit after his suspension. Still playing, but in purgatory like Hinch. I admire that he refused to submit to this ugly shakedown for a nondisclosure settlement. I was totally WRONG in believing he would pay her off. MLB wants this to go away with as little stink as possible, because if he’s charged and it goes to court, Tatis, Clevenger , and God knows how many former and active Padres are gonna get pulled in.
Sadly the guy so many hold up as the last honest, straight talking news man, W.C. was biased and used his platform to push his agenda. It’s part of human nature. I like what Ronald Reagan advocated, “ trust but verify”. Without the verification beware.
Just found this little tidbit on the Dodgers history page. The Dodgers were known as the Dodgers in Brooklyn from 1911-1957. The team with that name had a .544 winning pct. The Dodgers while playing in Los Angeles have a .544 winning pct. As the Superbas, it was .460. The Bridegrooms and Grooms were over .500. I love these fun old facts. History is a hoot.
When I hear “Trevor Bauer is toast” I immediately want to give that person $10,000 to buy lottery tickets because they know something no one else does or have them declared insane.
You pick ’em!
A couple of baseball notes amid the Bauer news. Albert Pujols say’s he is definitely going to play in 22. He also is playing in the Dominican Winter League. As soon as he announced he was playing, he was traded. In their initial season, Albert was drafted by the Gigantes del Cibao. But he never played in the league. He was traded to Leones del Escogdio and will report to the team today. I find it amazing that a 41 year old first ballot hall of famer for sure is going to play winter ball for the first time in his entire career. And he is doing so to show teams he will be ready for next season. Personally, I think Pujols was one of the better stories this season. It was a feel good ride, and six inches higher, we walk off the Giants. Granted, he was a double play waiting to happen when he hit a ground ball. But he hit over .300 against LHP. And few of our RH bats did that. Trea Turner, with all of his speed hit into 5 in his time with LA. He hit into 2 in the playoffs. On another note, Bauer means little to me. But the whole mess needs to be addressed sooner than later. As for the media, I trust none of them. But I also never watch the news anymore.
Steven Stills wrote the song and didn’t have a title for it. As I understand he wrote it very quickly. He walked into his producers office and dropped it on his desk and said, “ for what it’s worth “. That wasn’t the name, but it stuck.
A regional classic !
“ Call out the instigators because there’s something in the air, we’ve got to get together sooner or later because the revolutions here, and you know it’s right”
( Thunderclap Newman’s ‘ Something in the Air’ )
Oh don’t we all know we’re right !
“ saying, hooray for our side “
( For What it’s Worth )
But, he’s also choked away more postseason games than I have ever seen by a pitcher in a Dodgers uniform.
Of course, he has pitched more innings in the postseason than any other pitcher in Dodgers history.
Koufax’ legend was built on 57 postseason innings.
Clayton has pitched 189 innings.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1nZQssxSeb4
Ron Darling on Dodger’s mismanagement of pitching staff.
Kinda funny that two conflicting accounts regarding Dodger’s decision making process and how it works.
AF said all in game decisions are Doc’s,
Doc says we discuss things before the game, but he only gets one vote.
I have mixed feelings about bringing Kershaw back. He’s the greatest pitcher I have ever seen in a Dodgers uniform. But, he’s also choked away more postseason games than I have ever seen by a pitcher in a Dodgers uniform.
I would love for him to come back and have some dominant stretches next year. I would be sad to see him retire at such a young age. On the flip side, I’m scared that he’ll come back next year and injuries or poor performance will cost them another title. I secretly want him to retire so we won’t be put into that situation next year.
“Your comment is awaiting moderation. This is a preview; your comment will be visible after it has been approved”
I’m in moderation jail again.
“If no charges are filed against him, what grounds does MLB have to suspend him another season?”
These grounds: http://content.mlb.com/documents/2/9/2/296982292/Major_League_Player_Joint_DV_SA_CA_Policy_English_2018.pdf
Sam Dyson was not charged by prosecutors. They didn’t think they had a legal case. MLB suspended him anyway for the entirety of 2021 … because the legal system and MLB’s own domestic violence policy are not inextricably linked.
Trevor Bauer is toast.
His legal team will sue somebody. Hopefully, it’s the MLB and the Dodgers can stay out of it, which they’ve done successfully so far.
At some point we will all be arguing about the subtle legal minutiae of consent and whether Bauer’s actions rise to the level of assault when partial consent is given, … etc. etc. It will be like any other public and controversial legal case. It will be an annoying distraction.
Before I give myself too much of a headache going down this rabbit hole, I think a couple of points need to be made:
Bauer’s problem is, even if the woman gives consent to rough sex or Bauer choking her until she’s unconscious, if he then punches her or engages in sex acts not consented to when she is unconscious, then that really isn’t consent. It’s messy and complicated … and I hope the Dodgers can find a way to get out of it.
What makes it more complicated is the modern reality that acting out rape fantasies is, like it or not, a not uncommon occurrence between consenting adults, and is gets more exposure in popular culture.
Take, for example, the recent controversy of Alec Baldwin’s shooting of that director of photography on his movie. There are people on movie sets – the armorer – whose job it is to manage the prop weapons and ensure they are safe. The armorer on this particular set was a 24 year-old woman who liked posting videos on TikTok.
Here’s one. Warning, though. If you’re easily offended, you might want to avoid it.
https://twitter.com/ElijahSchaffer/status/1452178812058226688?s=20
So, a couple of takeaways I got from this:
1. Not a chance in hell I’d want this person in a position of responsibility handling weapons that I would be using. Not that posting stupid videos makes her an unqualified person, or a bad person. It makes her an UNSERIOUS person. Her unseriousness most likely resulted in an oversight that resulted in someone’s death. How you approach life matters.
2. When I actually listened to the lyrics in that song I actually thought of the Bauer case. There are a LOT of people like this, and if they are willing to post their rape fantasies to the entire world on TikTok, and use a song out there in popular culture that portrays rape fantasies, you can probably conclude that it’s common.
This is what the losers like Dustin Nosler and Molly Knight won’t acknowledge. Their outrage is ENTIRELY political. They hated him from the beginning because he once Tweeted something in support of the Orange Man.
I don’t want Bauer on the team because, like this dumb girl, he’s not a serious person … and a creep if he enjoys punching women. I want players who are committed to helping the team win a world series, not be a distraction. Freidman took a gamble that Bauer’s weirdness wouldn’t be a distraction or a disruption. It was a calculated gamble. He lost that gamble, and he’s not going to throw good money after bad. That’s not how smart investors or smart gamblers operate. Good investing/gambling requires self discipline to control one’s impulses, which Bauer didn’t have.
No question the media is slanted, personal opinions working their way into regular news stories. Not all stories reflect that, but some do and that’s a problem. I talk with former media all the time and we all have the same opinion. Not like this back in the day.
There is a difference between “columns” and editorials which may reflect opinions and the straight news story. What Mark writes comes under the column or commentary piece.
There is little chance that Trevor Bauer avoids a lengthy suspension, no matter what the DA does. History supports that.
Whether you believe that is fair or not is based on opinion. Opinions will vary. But the reality is simple. Until MLB steps forward with a decision, it’s a fiscal road block for the Dodgers moving forward. Will it be the deciding factor in the Dodgers pursuit of Corey Seager or Chris Taylor? Probably not. Since the Dodgers base budgets over a multi year period those type of signings had to be already figured into the equation.
If signing a Bauer mean’t they would not be able to re-sign Seager then they should have never made the commitment. The fact the Dodgers again led baseball in attendance and the difference is something like a half a million fans indicates the organization has the financial wherewithal to ease past a $45 million miscalculation.
The Dodgers may not be printing money, but they have a lucrative operation. That said, the team will not be bringing back all their free agents. There are both short and long term issues to consider. Since pitching is the key to MLB success, I would think they focus their resources on that area. Maybe that means they ink Max Scherzer to a two or three year deal, although you have to weigh the risk of putting a sizable commitment to a 37-year old pitcher.
Clayton Kershaw is simply in a different place. What he means to the organization, the history, puts him in a different category.
All this being said, I’m guessing the Dodgers expect Bauer to be suspended. That means his contract dollars will be available. They are simply waiting for the verdict to come down from MLB, then they can comment. Using hindsight, I think they will admit Bauer was a mistake.
If you’re looking for logic or comment sense to prevail, good luck. We live in a crazy society and Bauer is a bad look for baseball. Has been for a while with his comments or interactions with some women.
What the DA does and what MLB will do are different and there is no real connection between the two. For the DA, it’s really based on whether they take on another high profile case, knowing that past cases haven’t gone well. Then there is the debate about making a statement in these kind of cases.
In any case, Mark, you covered the topic well.
People just don’t want to look at things in a reasonable or logical manner these days. They read some crap posted to some site written by some hack that want to slants everything towards a political agenda and the reader eats it up as truth, questioning nothing. It’s a sad state of affairs.
Facts are completely overlooked and opinions are treated like truth.
My wife has been a paralegal for around 20 years working in many fields including personal injury, insurance defence, family law and other areas of the legal profession. She always comes home with stories from work and I will assure you that people lie for money all the time. It’s constant. It’s routine.
When the Bauer story broke, her first thought was this was an extortion attempt. That’s also what the Pasadena Police Department alluded to when they spoke to Bauer’s “acquaintance”. But somehow, people have made up their minds that Bauer is guilty of everything this person said. No matter that she lied by omission on her restraining order, she should be believed because the “Me too” movement said you have to believe the accuser.
So far, we have only heard one side of the story. A flimsy story at that, but she’s still to be believed and Trevor should be convicted and punished based on what she said. No matter that she drove 120+ miles and met with other people before she decided to go to an emergency room for her alleged injuries. It’s amazing to me that people don’t think it’s possible that she could have self inflicted some or all of these injuries for a big payday. Especially a person with such low moral values that she’s been passed around the Padres clubhouse like Albert’s bat was passed around in the Dodgers dugout.
She was fired from her job with the Padres because of her breaking rules prohibiting sexual relationships with players.
She had a relationship with Tatis Jr. and somehow he’s barely implicated in any wrong doing.
She had a relationship with Mike Clevinger, who is married and obviously in the dog house as a reslut (I mean result, excuse the typo but I thought it more fitting to leave it here than correct it).
She freely admitted to having a relationship with Bauer in order to distract him from pitching against her favorite team.
She lied by omission on the restraining order paperwork.
She is the AA club and has been a member for close to 10 years.
This is the person you want to believe taking her words at face value?
This is the person you want to believe is the victim in this case?
I maintain that she is the predator and Bauer is the victim in this case. The facts listed above support my viewpoint. The judge’s decision on the restraining order supports my viewpoint.
When I was a teenager, I kept company with some unsavory individuals. I knew a guy that had a pretty fugly “girlfriend”. She was a “slump buster” of sorts. He was completely out of her league as he was tall, well built and charismatic and she was let’s just say startling and not in a good way. Just about every weekend he would get her to go to the store and write a check for party supplies. Cases of beer, meat for the BBQ ect. over and over again. No one at that age had enough money to pay for those things. She would write rubber checks over and over again and eventually went to jail for it.
On the other end of the spectrum, I knew a kid that so distraught over a breakup with his girlfriend that he hung himself from a tree in her front yard to get back at her. I’ve know people that have done self harm in the form or cutting themselves, and rampant drug use, alcoholism and may other crazy things I’ve seen people do for a hell of a lot less that than a potential multi-million dollar payday.
My point is that people will do some crazy things, so I don’t find it out of the realm of possibility that that this woman target Bauer for a payday. She set him up, then made it look a lot worse in order to get him back for not showing enough interest in her or just purely for the potential payday.
If this is the case, I don’t see any reason his career should be ruined by some unsavory individual. Sure, he did something stupid by getting involved with her in the first place. But, it’s entirely likely that most of her claims are greatly exaggerated, if not complete lies.
Taking this into account, he’s still possibly the best pitcher they have going into next season. I really don’t see any reason not to bring him back next year and I don’t think AF is just going to dump an asset without getting anything of value back in return.
Now, I’m sure there will be many who disagree with my opinion. Those that want the Tomahawk Chop banned but have no problem putting Pineapple on their pizza. Those that are manipulated by politicians and the media to give up their liberties vs those who realize that liberties are more important than feelings.
I see the Padres hired Bob Melvin as manager, good hire for them as he has had a good tenure in Oakland. I was hoping it would have been Ozzie Guillen. That would have been fun/comical and total disarray with the ego’s of Machado and Tatis being managed by Ozzie.
I read that study you referenced. Your numbers are off. Over 80% think the media is critical (vital) to our democracy, less than 50% think news is bias, and most of those are people who are critical of Fox News. As I recall most people (including me) thought the internet was the problem, not the media. And Republicans are the several % points higher the problem with distributing misinformation. Probably because they watch and believe Fox News. I’ll see if I can find that article.
Quick google search found it
https://knightfoundation.org/press/releases/gallup-knight-poll-americans-concerns-about-media-bias-deepen-even-as-they-see-it-as-vital-for-democracy/
Bauer. So far the only people who have been punished for this is the Dodgers and Dodgers fans. Bauer got a paid vacation and the lawyers are, of course, getting paid. If no charges are filed he should pitch for the team that was damaged by the allegations. If they want him to. We should know soon. Right after the World Series. Can’t talk about now. Might hurt ratings.
I want Bauer back, LA will or might need him to win another championship again … What he did or did not do off the field has nothing to do with what he does on the mound!
I don’t want to see him in the SD or SF uniform …