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Main League Baseball introduced a 324-game suspension for Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Trevor Bauer on Friday, the equal of two full seasons and by far essentially the most extreme punishment handed out below the game’s home violence coverage.
Bauer promptly launched a press release asserting he was interesting the suspension, thus turning into the primary participant to contest punishment by way of MLB’s home violence coverage.
“Within the strongest potential phrases, I deny committing any violation of the league’s home violence and sexual assault coverage,” Bauer’s statement read. “I’m interesting this motion and count on to prevail. As we’ve all through this course of, my representatives and I respect the confidentiality of the proceedings.”
Bauer, 31, was accused of sexual assault by a San Diego girl who requested a restraining order and basically alleged that he took consensual tough intercourse too far over the course of two encounters final April and Might. An L.A. decide denied the lady a everlasting restraining order in August, and the L.A. County District Legal professional’s Workplace declined to file legal costs in February. However MLB has the autonomy to droop gamers with out a legal conviction, and spoke to different ladies who additionally mentioned that they had been assaulted by Bauer.
Hours after the suspension was introduced, The Washington Post published an interview with a girl from Columbus, Ohio, who accused the pitcher of choking her unconscious with out her consent dozens of instances throughout their years-long sexual relationship. She is the third known woman to accuse Bauer of sexual assault. The Submit reported that she spoke with MLB as a part of its investigation into Bauer’s conduct earlier than the league issued its self-discipline. Bauer strongly denied those allegations by way of his social media accounts.
Bauer joined the Dodgers on a three-year, $102 million contract in February 2021, on the heels of successful the Nationwide League Cy Younger Award through the COVID-19-shortened 2020 season. He spent the final 81 regular-season video games on administrative go away, plus an extra 18 to start the 2022 season. However his 324-game suspension does not start till Friday, which means he does not get credit score for earlier time served.
Bauer’s suspension, if it holds by way of the attraction course of, would final till the 19th sport of the 2024 season, by which level his three-year contract with the Dodgers can have expired. The Dodgers would save the $28-plus million that continues to be on his contract in 2022 and the total $32 million on his contract in 2023. Bauer was instantly positioned on the restricted listing and cannot be across the staff, even with a grievance listening to pending. The Dodgers usually are not allowed to launch Bauer till after his suspension ends.
MLB introduced the suspension with a brief assertion that didn’t present particulars of its findings, including: “In accordance with the phrases of the Coverage, the Commissioner’s Workplace won’t challenge any additional statements at this cut-off date.”
The Dodgers, who’re residence in opposition to the Detroit Tigers this weekend, launched the next assertion:
“Right now we have been knowledgeable that MLB has concluded its investigation into allegations which were made in opposition to Trevor Bauer, and the Commissioner has issued his choice concerning self-discipline. The Dodgers group takes all allegations of this nature very severely and doesn’t condone or excuse any acts of home violence or sexual assault. We have cooperated absolutely with MLB’s investigation because it started, and we absolutely assist MLB’s Joint Home Violence, Sexual Assault, and Baby Abuse Coverage, and the Commissioner’s enforcement of the Coverage. We perceive that Trevor has the proper to attraction the Commissioner’s choice. Due to this fact, we won’t remark additional till the method is full.”
Bauer is the 16th participant suspended since August 2015, when MLB and the MLB Gamers Affiliation unveiled their joint home violence, sexual assault and baby abuse coverage, which grants MLB commissioner Rob Manfred the autonomy to droop gamers below “simply trigger.” The prior suspensions — not counting that of former reliever Felipe Vazquez, who’s serving a jail sentence for sexual assault of a 13-year-old lady — have ranged from 15 to 162 video games and have been the results of negotiated settlements wherein gamers waived their proper to attraction.
Bauer final pitched on June 28 of final 12 months. The following day, a then-27-year-old girl filed a request for a home violence restraining order wherein she detailed allegations that Bauer assaulted her over the course of two sexual encounters at his Pasadena, California, residence in April and Might. In her declaration, the lady — whom ESPN has chosen to not identify — alleged that Bauer choked her unconscious on a number of events, repeatedly scratched and punched her all through her physique, sodomized her with out consent and left her with accidents that warranted a visit to the emergency room.
Bauer and his attorneys, Jon Fetterolf and Rachel Luba, firmly denied the accusations all through, calling them “fraudulent” and “baseless” in an preliminary assertion.
Bauer was initially positioned on administrative go away — a way by which gamers are paid their full salaries however usually are not allowed round main league amenities whereas investigations are ongoing — on July 2. 5 days later, the Dodgers canceled Bauer’s scheduled bobblehead evening and eliminated his merchandise from its shops, stating that the staff “didn’t really feel it was acceptable whereas investigations proceed.”
On the conclusion of a four-day listening to on Aug. 19, L.A. Superior Courtroom Choose Dianna Gould-Saltman dissolved the short-term restraining order, ruling that Bauer didn’t pose a continuing risk to the lady and that her accidents weren’t the results of something she verbally objected to earlier than or through the encounter, pointing to texts from the lady wherein she requested to be choked out.
The decide mentioned the “accidents as proven within the images are horrible,” however added: “If she set limits and he exceeded them, this case would’ve been clear. However she set limits with out contemplating all the results, and respondent didn’t exceed limits that the petitioner set.”
Days earlier than the beginning of that listening to, The Submit revealed a narrative a couple of second girl, from Ohio, who sought a brief restraining order in opposition to Bauer in June 2020 and in addition accused him of assault. The girl dismissed the order six weeks later, after Bauer’s attorneys threatened authorized motion, in line with the report. The Submit story included images exhibiting accidents that have been allegedly attributable to Bauer, in addition to threatening messages, together with one wherein Bauer allegedly wrote: “I do not really feel like spending time in jail for killing somebody. And that is what would occur if I noticed you once more.”
Bauer’s attorneys known as the lady’s allegations of bodily abuse “categorically false” and questioned the validity of the photographs and messages.
The Pasadena Police Division concluded its investigation of the San Diego girl’s allegations in opposition to Bauer on Aug. 27, sending the case to the L.A. County District Legal professional’s Workplace, which spent the following 5 months reviewing the case earlier than declaring on Feb. eight that it could not pursue legal costs. The District Legal professional’s Workplace thought of and rejected costs of assault by means more likely to produce nice bodily damage and sodomy of an unconscious individual through the first sexual encounter between Bauer and the lady on April 22 and home violence through the second sexual encounter on Might 16.
As a part of its declination, the District Legal professional’s Workplace wrote: “After an intensive evaluate of all of the obtainable proof, together with the civil restraining order proceedings, witness statements and the bodily proof, the Individuals are unable to show the related costs past an affordable doubt.”
Bauer promptly launched a seven-minute video on YouTube wherein he outlined his model of occasions, at one level saying: “I by no means punched this girl within the face. I by no means punched her within the vagina. I by no means scratched her face. I by no means had anal intercourse together with her, or sodomized her in any method. I by no means assaulted her in any method, at any time, and whereas we did have consensual tough intercourse, the disturbing acts and conduct that she described merely didn’t happen.”
The girl, who offered images and medical data as a part of her home violence restraining order declaration, claimed she wakened the morning after the second sexual encounter with two black eyes, a swollen jaw and cheekbones, darkish crimson scratches on the proper aspect of her face, bruised gums, a lump on the aspect of her head, a break up higher lip, black bruising excessive of her vagina and a number of bruises on her proper butt cheek.
Over the previous two months, whereas MLB continued its investigation, Bauer’s legal professionals filed defamation lawsuits in opposition to two media corporations, claiming that Deadspin knowingly revealed false data in its protection of the sexual assault allegations and that The Athletic led “a marketing campaign to maliciously goal and harass” Bauer.
Bauer’s legal professionals additionally subpoenaed the Pasadena Police Division for lacking telephone data from the San Diego girl, claiming in a court docket submitting that “the requested supplies will additional reveal Petitioner’s plan to spoil Respondent’s status and profession and to earn a big paycheck by making false and deceptive allegations in her Petition.”
However Gould-Saltman dominated in an April four listening to that Bauer wouldn’t be aware of the telephone data, stating that his attorneys didn’t file the correct movement and that she nonetheless would’ve been skeptical of an argument that the data would assist them present the lady misled the authorized course of and should pay his attorneys’ charges.
On Monday, Bauer’s attorneys filed a defamation and tortious interference lawsuit in opposition to the lady within the U.S. District Courtroom for the Central District of California. The swimsuit claims she “fabricated allegations of sexual assault,” “pursued bogus legal and civil actions,” “made false and malicious statements” and “generated a media blitz based mostly on her lies” in an effort to “destroy” Bauer’s status, “garner consideration for herself” and “extract thousands and thousands of {dollars}.”
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