The Yokohama DeNA BayStars of Nippon Professonal Baseball have agreed to a deal with right-hander Trevor Bauer, according to multiple reports out of Japan (including from Nikkan Sports). The BayStars are expected to soon officially announce the signing.
It will mark Bauer’s second season in NPB and second with the BayStars, after posting a 2.76 ERA over 130 2/3 innings with Yokohama in 2023. In between his two stints in Japan, Bauer pitched with Diablos Rojos del Mexico in 2024, delivering a 2.48 ERA over 83 1/3 frames. He signed with the Mexican League club after first exploring the possibility of a return to the majors, as his representatives spoke with some unnamed MLB teams in November 2023.
Bauer pitched in parts of 10 Major League seasons from 2012-21 with the Diamondbacks, Guardians, Reds, and Dodgers, averaging 181 innings per season from 2014-19. In the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, Bauer won the NL Cy Young Award after posting a 1.73 ERA over 73 innings with Cincinnati. Bauer then signed a three-year, $102MM free agent contract with the Dodgers during the 2020-21 offseason, but this tenure in Los Angeles ended after three months and 107 2/3 innings when he was placed on administrative leave pending a league investigation.
That summer, a woman accused Bauer of sexual assault and filed a restraining order against him in California. Two other women in Ohio later came forward with similar accusations. In August 2021, a California judge denied the restraining order request, and the Los Angeles district attorney’s office later declined to pursue criminal charges. As per a statement from the DA’s office, “after a thorough review of the available evidence, including the civil restraining order proceedings, witness statements and the physical evidence, the People are unable to prove the relevant charges beyond a reasonable doubt.”
Because the MLB/MLBPA Joint Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault and Child Abuse Policy doesn’t require criminal charges for the league to take action, Bauer was issued a 324-game suspension (the equivalent of two full seasons) in April 2022. This record-long suspension was later reduced to 192 games in December 2022 after Bauer appealed the ruling, and the Dodgers released him the next month and ate the $22.5MM remaining on his contract. Also in 2023, Bauer and his first accuser settled their mutual lawsuits out of court, and another woman reportedly filed a civil action against Bauer accusing him of a sexual assault that took place in Arizona in 2020.
