The Truth About Trevor Bauer
The truth about Trevor Bauer is more of a reflection of the person who forms an opinion about Bauer than the truth about the accusations against Bauer himself. We may never know “ the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth!” However, this is still America where a…
The truth about Trevor Bauer is more of a reflection of the person who forms an opinion about Bauer than the truth about the accusations against Bauer himself. We may never know “the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth!” However, this is still America where a Presumption of Innocence and Due Process is still (barely) alive. Trevor Bauer is working out and throwing over 91 MPH from flat ground while promoting his “Spider Tack.” He is acting like he is ready to move back into the rotation. In case you have missed it, here is a video he did at the end of last year:
It does not look like the DA is inclined to charge him and he has been suspended by MLB pending the outcome of the investigation. Let’s assume that he is not charged… as it does not look like he will be. What then? Well, most people assume that Bauer will be suspended for at least part of the 2022 season by Rob Manfred. I do not! Maybe (maybe) Manfred will give Bauer a 30 to 60 days suspension, but if he is not charged, I believe it would be retroactive to when he was suspended. I believe that it is possible that Bauer could receive a suspension that was retroactive to the time he was suspended last year, but I do not think he would accept it.
In fact, I have a feeling that Bauer might not accept any suspension. He would have to file a grievance and then take MLB to court in the event he lost… and he might not lose! I do not believe that Trevor Bauer should ever pitch in MLB again IF he did what he is accused of… but we don’t know if any, part, or all of it is true. Some will argue that he has admitted to rough sex with the accuser. What he has admitted is that she wanted rough sex. This has yet to play out, but I have absolutely no opinion about this. I am waiting on Due Process. Just don’t jump to conclusions.
Christian Red, an award-winning sports investigative reporter who spent 16 years at the New York Daily News, and who has written for ESPN, USA Today, NBC, the Athletic, New York Post, New York Times, and Washington Post, wrote an article today about this very issue. In Forbes.com, Red wrote a piece entitled: “In Background Of Baseball Labor Dispute, Trevor Bauer Still Has Two Matters That Are Unresolved” Here are a few takeaways from the article:
[Judge]Gould-Saltman, however, said in her ruling that the San Diego woman’s “initial declaration… was materially misleading.” And Fetterolf, Bauer’s attorney and agent, had previously said in a June 29, 2021 statement that Bauer had a “brief and wholly consensual sexual relationship initiated by” the San Diego woman.
Many righteous and/or woke people in MLB have “matter-of-factly” stated that Bauer is likely to get a long suspension. I think they are jumping to conclusions on the basis of facts, not in evidence. Red noted the following:
Judge Gould-Saltman’s ruling, however, could potentially impact the criminal case and the prosecutors’ decision-making process, according to legal experts.
“A prosecutor’s confidence in their ability to win a case is certainly going to impact their analysis of whether they’re going to ultimately move forward with criminal charges,” said Dan Lust, a sports attorney and New York Law School professor. “No prosecutor wants to lose a case. A certain part of that analysis is going to be how strong the witnesses are – in terms of their ability to stand up on cross-examination, and if people find them to be truthful.
The Judge (Gould-Saltman) in the (Bauer) civil matter went out of her way to characterize (the accuser’s) testimony as untruthful,” added Lust. “I certainly think that is going to be a factor, that the D.A.’s office might say, ‘Maybe we shouldn’t take this case.’ It’s not the be all/end all, but I think that has to factor in (to the D.A.’s decision).”
The Forbes writer is not the only person who feels this way.
Los Angeles criminal defense attorney Mark Geragos agreed that Gould-Saltman’s ruling was a favorable development for Bauer beyond the restraining order matter.“It’s awfully difficult to bring a criminal case when a Superior Court judge has already ruled on the lower civil standard that there isn’t enough to issue a permanent protective order,” said Geragos.
Absent some type of recording or surveillance, there are only two people who know what really happened – Bauer and his accuser. Red goes on to write:
After that, every witness is one level removed. If you speak to the attendant that treated her at the hospital, for example, that person is only getting details second-hand. Any friends that she spoke with are only getting it second-hand. The fact that the judge went out of her way to criticize (the accuser’s) veracity and credibility, that’s big.”
I am going to end this discussion with the same thing Christian Red ended his article with:
“What (Bauer) did was wrong and uncalled for,” wrote a Twitter user with the account @MattAdamBenigno. “I agree with that, but he’s still a person and a pitcher for the Dodgers.” Bauer responded to the tweet: “Only two people in the world know what actually happened. One of them hasn’t spoken about it yet. The other is a proven habitual liar that was deemed by a judge to have misled the court. Maybe think twice before deciding what was “wrong” and “uncalled for”.”
Maybe, just maybe, Stan Kasten and Andrew Friedman know Bauer’s side of the story… Think about that one, if you will! You don’t have to like Trevor Bauer… I’m not a fan. But you do have to give him Due Process and so does MLB.
P.S. It was a little over a month ago that I discussed the Dodgers GM vacancy: https://ladodgertalk.com/2021/12/12/why-the-dodgers-dont-have-a-gm/
Question?
What MLB pitcher has won the most MLB games without ever winning the Cy Young Award? This is a hard one!
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Discussion (79)
Disagree, not disagreeable
That would be Bert Blyleven I believe.
Was it Nolan Ryan?
How about Mike Mussina? He pitched for almost 20 years so he must have piled up a lot of wins. And I don’t remember him winning the Cy Young although I could be wrong about that.
If no one gets it, I will give you a hint tomorrow.
Nolan Ryan. 324 wins and zero Cy Young awards. Mussina had 270 wins and no Cy Young awards.
How about Cy Young himself?
Ryan and Sutton tied at 324 wins apiece and neither has won a Cy Young. Phil Niekro is right behind with 318. The award was not created until 1956, so any of the greats who came before that did not win one. This includes guys like Walter Johnson, Grover Cleveland and Christy Mathewson. All o f whom are well over 300 career wins, Johnson is over 400.
Cy Young won 511 games and never won the award named after him. I guess you could call it a trick question.
Sweet dreams everyone.
Was it Jim Kaat?
One of our own posted this on Facebook. I think it is in good taste:
This is what I love about your site Mark. We Dodger fans get to understand so much more from writers who are fans and not media people. Looking very forward to seeing the next group of young guys come up. Thanks for the Bauer update – seems he has been lost in the cobwebs for awhile. Personally I think he will pitch for the Dodgers at some time this year, although $40 million to this ownership group is like you and I paying a $200 speeding ticket so maybe not. Did you ever try the Roesti Recipe?
Will the real Cody Bellinger please step up! I’d like to get everyone’s opinion on Bellinger and his bat in 2022. Is he 850-900 OPS all star Bellinger? Is he league average Belli or Mendoza Belli? I believe the low nineties middle middle fastball will be the defining factor. Does he rip it like pre 2020 Bellinger or foul it off like 20 and 21 Bellinger. I really liked his post season 2 strike approach last year and hope that he carries that through this year. I’m rooting for the best from him! Thoughts?
There is a special place in hell for this guy:
Open on www.msn.comhttps://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/mlb/former-cubs-pitcher-sergio-mitre-found-guilty-of-killing-ex-s-toddler/ar-AAT1JTo?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=U531As soon as Gomes was named GM, I remembered your article. You hit the nail on the head on that one and I think you also hit the nail on the head on this one. The thing I find strange is that the DA hasn’t moved on this. I guess he’s too busy releasing criminals back onto our streets so they can loot Union Pacific. I don’t fully trust our Commissioner to do the right thing and act based on facts and evidence. He just got a broadcaster fired, he suspended Julio without any evidence he did anything wrong and he suspended Joe Kelly for more days than anyone on the Astros and he didn’t even hit one of them. Manfred is a corrupt piece of excrement of a politician, so I can make any reasonable prediction about Bauer since Manfred doesn’t act reasonably. But, AF sure doesn’t look like he’s pressured to go after pitching.
I generally agree with your assessment, Mark.
I think the big question, at this point, is if TB will be welcomed back by the club. Players and management. Regardless if his actions were criminal they certainly were reckless. Gone are the days where players can enjoy a friendly media with regards to their personal life. All athletes today know this. Players in the 70s and 80s lived in a media environment where it simply wasn’t not acceptable for reporters to delve into their personal life off the field. TB is one of the highest paid players in baseball who has always gone out of his way to get media attention. His judgment is terrible. And cost the team lots of money and certainly a few games.
The simple magnitude of the amount of money he is owed will likely play the deciding role. But I am not certain the team wants TB, and his personality, back in the clubhouse.
I have always been in the Bauer camp, and would welcome him back with open arms.
I have zero interest in his or any other player’s love or personal lives.
It appears to me that the young lady managed to achieve what she set out to do, which was derail both TB’s and the LAD’s season, notwithstanding that at that point it was assumed that ourselves and the Padres would be going toe to toe all season.
It has been said that “certain players” were not keen to have him back.
I don’t buy this at all. He seemed to get on just fine during his short tenure last year, and seemed well liked by his colleagues, who probably viewed him in the same way as me, in that him Pitching for us, gives us a far better chance of success than without! And I’m pretty sure that’s gonna be the same opinion the minute he walks back through the clubhouse door.
Putting any emotion aside, our Rotation has a gaping hole in it without him, and suddenly becomes a top three staff with him in it.
If he’s innocent, he has to be given the same treatment as anybody else, and return to work ASAP.
We’ve all made bad judgment calls, and yes he was certainly naive, but one incident shouldn’t define him, just as it shouldn’t define anybody else in the rest of their lives.
Let’s hope he’s back soon and winning games.
Buehler
Urias
Bauer
Gonsolin
Heaney
I could live with that!
John Kennedy, Bill Clinton and others have had their sexual exploits (While they were married!) and been forgiven. Why not Bauer?
Bauer Schmauer.
Yesterday was the great day as we got to watch the Packers lose! Now go Rams today so we can have this NFC Title game in LA next Sunday!
The MLBPA is presenting their counter proposal to the MLB tomorrow. Tuesday we will get the results of the Hall of Fame vote. At least there is some real baseball news coming. I care less about Bauer. And will feel the same until he is either back on the team, or suspended. He was a strikeout machine, but he also was giving up HR’s at a staggering rate. I saw him give up 4 in one stint at Coors. He might have made the difference. But it was the offense that sucked the most in the playoffs. Guys they counted on did not produce. JT, Trea, Seager, even Smith, did not have great post season numbers. Most of the production came from three guys, Pollock, Taylor and Bellinger. Muncy was out, the bench was pitiful. They truly missed Kike and Joc. Souza Raley, McKinney, Reks, none of them contributed anything. Maybe a healthy McKinstry would have helped some, but the composition of the bench was not very good. Oh, Pujols did have a couple of nice games, especially when Taylor slugged his three homers, but getting in a 1-3 hole with your offense sputtering and your pitching falling apart, well, you are not going to win much.
The entire TB saga is such a sham! Due process be damned and guilty until proven innocent according to MLB. Didn’t seem MLB had a problem with Puig’s female issues. What goes on between consenting adults in the privacy of their intimate lives is not for public scrutiny. Is it the wisest choice in TB’s position as a celebrity to engage with what seemed to be at best an obvious MLB groupie or at worst a conniving female looking for a payday? Clearly, with the hindsight of 20/20 …NO ! It also seemed the female judge who REJECTED the “victim’s”,request for a permanent restraining order agreed that this woman was requesting rough sex and was not an innocent party resulting in her injuries. Does this make TB a chronic woman a abuser due to this and that other unsubstantiated incident from Ohio a few years ago ? Hell NO ! This is no way intended to pour any water on legitimate domestic abuse which should be always taken seriously as this case has and it’s becoming painfully obvious that no crime as committed. How it takes the incompetent LA DA’s office this long to make a decision is ludicrous! Like TB or not he was and still is desperately needed in the Dodgers’ 2022 rotation! 2021 may have had a different outcome if the Dodgers had another capable starter in October. TB definitely rubs some people including teammates the wrong way with his confidence and bravado but let’s not judge this young man on some personal indiscretion that let’s be honest, most people have done even worse. You don’t have to hang out with TB or be his buddy but he sure looks good taking the ball every 5th day. There have been much worse people as athletes allowed to play professional sports with much less punishment that TB has ALREADY received!
Bear,
I wonder how many of us have attended a Dodger old timers game or better yet a Hollywood all stars vs the media (radio and newspapers) all stars. I once got to see Vinnie pitch an inning or two in one of those games. I would describe him as a stylish lefthander.
Those were fun attractions. I wonder if you could find enough information for a story about them.
Thanks in advance Bear
I love your posts.
Interesting!
Aside from the moral complications (which I will never forgive TB), the real problem is that someone could have been killed! And TB would have been responsible, whether or not he meant to hurt her. How can TB know how long she can go between breaths? Is he a doctor?
It seems to me he risked losing his freedom by following the judgment of his “little brain.” He risked losing his career. And what I find most unforgivable, he jeopardized the entire team’s season. He caused embarrassment to his teammates.
While it would be convenient to have another starting pitcher (who gives up a lot of home runs and is prone to sudden meltdowns), I would prefer Kershaw or Miller or Pepiot. Better yet, one of Oakland’s finest, if they’re selling.
Just an old Dodger girl’s opinion.