Los Angeles Dodgers President Andrew Friedman has no regrets about the decision to release Trevor Bauer and has declined to comment on discussions with the pitcher.
• Also read: Trevor Bauer is as free as air
• Also read: Dodgers decide Trevor Bauer case
The California team released the star player in January, just weeks after an independent referee reduced his ban from 324 games to 194 games. However, Bauer then expressed his surprise, pointing out that the Dodgers had initially signaled him that he was welcome at the next training camp.
Bauer was scheduled to complete the third and final year of his $103 million contract.
“I will not disagree or agree to anything that is intended to be a private conversation,” Friedman told the Los Angeles Times. I just want to say that in a very short time we came back and made our decision.
“We had time to do all the checks, to get all the information we could to make a decision, which we did. And that included hearing from Trevor because we hadn’t spoken to him to begin with. I stand by our decision. I feel very comfortable with that.”
What future?
Bauer violated the Major League Baseball and Players Association joint policy on domestic violence, sexual assault and child abuse after he was charged with rape and assault by a woman in 2021. He was never officially charged.
Those off-field gestures could cost him dearly since he’s still a free agent. However, he had won the 2020 Cy-Young National League trophy with the Cincinnati Reds.
In his 10-year career, Gunner, 32, went 83-69 with a 3.79 ERA.