Trevor Bauer was released by the Los Angeles Dodgers on Thursday, six days after they designated the starting pitcher for assignment.
The Dodgers couldn’t find a trade partner by Thursday’s 2 p.m. ET deadline, prompting Bauer to be placed on the release waivers that ultimately make him a free agent. The Dodgers owe Bauer his remaining salary of $22.5 million in 2023 but will save $720,000, the major league minimum, if another team decides to sign him.
Bauer, who will turn 32 on Tuesday, hasn’t pitched since he first faced sexual assault allegations in the middle of the 2021 season. Ten months later, Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred handed Bauer a 324-game suspension, twice as long as the previous longest penalty under the league’s domestic violence policy. Bauer appealed, triggering a seven-month grievance process that ended with an independent arbitrator ruling Dec. 22 that Bauer’s suspension would be trimmed to 194 games and he would be reinstated immediately.
Bauer, who will be docked pay for 50 games at the start of the 2023 season, won the National League Cy Young Award as a member of the Cincinnati Reds during the COVID-19-shortened 2020 season. Bauer joined the Dodgers in February 2021 on a three-year, $102 million contract but didn’t pitch beyond June 28 of that year.