Trevor Bauer.Photo: Katelyn Mulcahy/Getty
Former MLB pitcherTrevor Bauerwill play in Japan following a lengthy suspension amid sexual assault allegations.
The 32-year-old will play for the Yokohama DeNA BayStars of Nippon Professional Baseball, a move that the team announced in avideoposted to social media.
“I can’t tell you how excited I am to be playing for the BayStars this year,” Bauer said at the end of the video.
“Playing in the NPB has always been a dream of mine, and I can’t think of a better organization to do it with,” he continued.
According toESPN, Bauer, who won the coveted Cy Young award in 2020, will receive a salary from the BayStars and the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The Dodgers released Bauer from their lineup in January, months into his suspension from the league over allegedly violatingits joint domestic violence, sexual assault and child abuse policy.
In 2021, a San Diego woman accused Bauer of sexually assaulting her, which he denied and prosecutors in Los Angeles laterdeclined to charge.At least two other women also accused Bauer of sexual abuse, ESPN reported, which he has also denied.
“The Dodgers organization believes that allegations of sexual assault or domestic violence should be thoroughly investigated, with due process given to the accused,” the team shared in astatementat the time.
“From the beginning, we have fully cooperated with Major League Baseball’s investigation and strictly followed the process stipulated under MLB’s Joint Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault and Child Abuse Policy,” they added.
Bauer sat out 194 games of his initial 324-game suspension. He hasn’t appeared in an MLB game since June 2021.
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Bauer previously expressed interest in playing in Japan and currently has his name written in Japanese in the bio of hissocial mediaaccounts.
As ESPN notes, every MLB team could have signed Bauer for the league’s minimum salary for the upcoming season, but he apparently did not receive any offers.
source: people.com
