Trevor Bauer won't face criminal charges stemming from allegations of sexual assault

[adorduan]

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/33246056/source-los-angeles-dodgers-trevor-bauer-face-criminal-charges-stemming-allegations-sexual-assault

What say you?

[bean5302]

More than even the disagreements on the CBA, this topic has the likelihood of devolving into something nasty.

I have no idea what MLB will actually do. Even if the civil court case against him failed and the criminal case against him resulted in no arrests or charges. It seems pretty obvious the district attorney's office did MLB a solid by taking a very, very, very long time to review a case where no charges were filed. The expectation was probably to wait until the new CBA was official.

I expect the Dodgers will be pushing MLB to make a retroactive suspension to July 2nd so the Dodgers can try to recoup money they've spent and have a case to terminate Bauer's contract under the Morals Clause; however, Bauer will certainly challenge this in court, and I also expect the court would rule in Bauer's favor with the potential for special damages. If MLB declines to discipline Bauer, the Dodgers really don't have any grounds to do anything. Since the Dodgers threw Bauer under the bus, and then backed over him a few times. I see absolutely zero chance Bauer plays for the Dodgers again at this point no matter what happens.

Assuming MLB can't find a legitimate basis to levy any further punishment on Bauer, this will leave Los Angeles with two options. Eat Bauer's contract and release him or trade him.

The Dodgers might find a willing trade partner in Texas as the fan base is the most conservative in the MLB and probably the most likely to accept Bauer, and Texas would know they'd have LA by the balls so LA would still wind up eating a massive amount of Bauer's remaining contract (it's obvious Bauer would exercise his player options at this point).

Would I welcome Bauer playing for the Twins? Yes. I have no issues with him apart from his hot-headedness, which isn't much different than Josh Donaldson IMHO. In regard to the allegations by Ms. Hill? I wasn't there. I have no idea what happened, but a civil court judge ruled it was a consentual relationship and there weren't any arrests or criminal charges filed. That said, I don't think Minnesota would wade into the political backlash considering Minneapolis' public woes as of late.

[In My La Z boy]

"Would I welcome Bauer playing for the Twins"  - whew, there is a topic. Given our circumstances...mmm. What say you Falvey? Falvey knows him better than we do. Hot take bean5302. Certainly a buy low - super high upside candidate. Wonder where Rocco would land on this idea?

[TwinsDr2021]

6 hours ago, bean5302 said:

Would I welcome Bauer playing for the Twins? Yes. I have no issues with him apart from his hot-headedness, which isn't much different than Josh Donaldson IMHO. In regard to the allegations by Ms. Hill? I wasn't there. I have no idea what happened, but a civil court judge ruled it was a consentual relationship and there weren't any arrests or criminal charges filed. That said, I don't think Minnesota would wade into the political backlash considering Minneapolis' public woes as of late.

Agree with you on all of this, except I think Minnesota fans are much more forgiving on what their athletes do then what they get paid. AP, Cruz, Pineda all of done something recently or in the past that most would think is wrong at best, horrible at worst and the fans forgave them. But Mauer, Cousins, and Donaldson for example get raked though the coals for seemingly being good people but getting paid way too much. (IMO)

So if Bauer came here on the cheap he would be loved, but if the Twins have to pay him a  big contract he would be hated. (again IMO)

[Unwinder]

OK but how good is Bauer now without sticky stuff? As I recall, his suspension happened shortly after they started enforcing.

[chpettit19]

I don't think the question about Bauer on any team is simply about fans. What do the players, managers, staffers believe happened and what kind of person do they think Bauer is? Fan/PR backlash absolutely plays a role, but if the actual players on the team express anti-Bauer feelings the fans thoughts don't even matter. The NFL has proven you can employ awful humans without any kind of extended PR or financial hit and I'd think MLB teams would be willing to take the short-term hit as well if they think Bauer can help them win. Winning erases just about every misdeed in sports.

Bauer wasn't exactly known for his great locker room presence before he was accused of these things. If half your clubhouse disliked him to start and now you add this on top of it I'm not sure there's a ton of clubhouses who would open their arms to him. But there certainly may be some and then baseball and the Dodgers have some decisions to make.

[Squirrel]

4 hours ago, chpettit19 said:

Winning erases just about every misdeed in sports.

I'm not sure if that's a sad thing or what. People make mistakes in life. Those who show humility and contrition I think deserve a chance at redemption.

In this case, though, I'm not sure Bauer shows any contrition. I would be glad not to have anything to do with him and hope the Twins stay far, far away. And that feeling doesn't stem just from this episode. But if they should sign him? I'm not sure what I'd think, I just hope they don't.

 

[Unwinder]

4 hours ago, chpettit19 said:

Winning erases just about every misdeed in sports.

Tell that to Barry Bonds

[bean5302]

1 hour ago, Squirrel said:

...In this case, though, I'm not sure Bauer shows any contrition...

 

Herein lies the problem. Bauer paints the picture this was a total hit-job on him. If his statements are truthful, I think it's a huge ask to expect him to come to terms with his own culpability in the PR disaster as I think any innocent person would be terribly angry at how things have turned out. It would be hard to get through those feelings and recognize the responsibility he has for the situation existing.

Bauer is pretty unapologetic about his positions, but I do hold the unabashedly outspoken in high regard in todays society so long as they speak truth and from a knowledgeable position. It's a rare bird who challenges the status quo. 

[chpettit19]

14 hours ago, Unwinder said:

Tell that to Barry Bonds

Fans love Barry Bonds. That's what my statement was about. Teams can survive a short-term PR hit because if players win fans forgive them very quickly. Self-righteous writers may be a different story...

[Squirrel]

13 hours ago, bean5302 said:

Bauer is pretty unapologetic about his positions, but I do hold the unabashedly outspoken in high regard in todays society so long as they speak truth and from a knowledgeable position. It's a rare bird who challenges the status quo. 

This is your take on Bauer? I guess we disagree pretty strongly. I don't think he's a good person or a good teammate. And I'm not sure that everything he says is spoken from a pov of truth or knowledge; the baseball things, sure, but not other things. But his behavior is very questionable, and that is being kind, imo. As I said, I don't want him on the Twins and hope the Twins don't sign him. However, as I also said, if he showed a little humility and contrition, that would be different, because I do believe in giving people a chance to redeem themselves.

[chpettit19]

12 hours ago, bean5302 said:

Herein lies the problem. Bauer paints the picture this was a total hit-job on him. If his statements are truthful, I think it's a huge ask to expect him to come to terms with his own culpability in the PR disaster as I think any innocent person would be terribly angry at how things have turned out. It would be hard to get through those feelings and recognize the responsibility he has for the situation existing.

Bauer is pretty unapologetic about his positions, but I do hold the unabashedly outspoken in high regard in todays society so long as they speak truth and from a knowledgeable position. It's a rare bird who challenges the status quo. 

I think the whole situation is very complex when you're talking about the court of public opinion. I don't like men who need/want to beat a woman to enjoy their "private time." And I've read the texts. He asked to slap her in the face and admits to choking her unconscious before he knew she would be ok with that. But I get that people are "into different things." And I totally get why he wasn't charged with anything. I certainly read those texts as giving consent. But the court of public opinion is full of people who think he's guilty of a crime, some who think he didn't commit a crime but is a creep/bad person, some who think he did nothing wrong, and on and on. That's where things get very blurry. 

I've followed Bauer for a while. I enjoyed a lot of his takes on baseball things, especially his "war" on sticky stuff, until he used sticky stuff to get a crazy deal and became a huge hypocrite. But Bauer is about as arrogant as it gets, and has proven, with his own words, to be a pretty big jerk. He's alienated teammates in every clubhouse he's ever been in since high school. I don't expect everyone to get along with everyone, but Bauer takes it to another level. There's a way to challenge the status quo without being a jerk about it. I mean if you go look at the things he's said and the way he's treated people it's not pretty. He complains about people online bullying those they don't know when they go after him, but he sent/tagged over 80 tweets in 3 days harassing a college girl who commented on one of his tweets about Alex Bregman (her favorite player). Like he scrolled through years of her tweets to publicize old things and turned his twitter mob on her. It was ugly. And that's just 1 example. I don't want him anywhere near the Twins.

[tony&rodney]

If baseball could walk away from Barry Bonds, it can certainly do so with Bauer. He may have pitched his last pitch in an MLB uniform.

[TwinsDr2021]

6 minutes ago, tony&rodney said:

If baseball could walk away from Barry Bonds, it can certainly do so with Bauer. He may have pitched his last pitch in an MLB uniform.

It will make MLB look really bad if being a Jerk is worse than steriods or Domestic Violence.

[tony&rodney]

12 minutes ago, TwinsDr2021 said:

It will make MLB look really bad if being a Jerk is worse than steriods or Domestic Violence.

Perhaps, but Bonds did not get a job and he was still much better than Bauer ever was and lost his lawsuit. An employer cannot be forced to hire someone against their will unless there is clear discrimination. My guess is that Bauer is done. Maybe, maybe not - just a hunch.

[TwinsDr2021]

1 hour ago, tony&rodney said:

Perhaps, but Bonds did not get a job and he was still much better than Bauer ever was and lost his lawsuit. An employer cannot be forced to hire someone against their will unless there is clear discrimination. My guess is that Bauer is done. Maybe, maybe not - just a hunch.

Difference might be Bonds was 43 and Bauer is 31 and is owed 64 million. It is my understanding that the dodgers paid him 40 million last year, so unless MLB suspends him for close to 2 years I see him playing again. I can't see a suspension of that long holding up on appeal, with the precedent that has been set.

[bean5302]

I see a lot of opinions... which don't seem to match reality here.

Bauer is in your face. That's going to get people to not like you in a world where feelings are more importantant than facts or actions. I spent all of 10 minutes just now and the overwhelming message I got about Bauer is he was extremely helpful and went out of his way for teammates who approached him. He doesn't sugar-coat and he's direct. Once people actually talk with him, they understand him better and respect his views.

In regard to what he does in the bedroom, I don't really care. I think it's kind of sick people do want to know or care.

[gunnarthor]

I don't like the guy, the Twins won't sign him, someone will. I'll boo him. 

[gunnarthor]

The only time I can remember where "something bad" really did matter was a few years ago where it came out that a college pitcher, expected to go in the first round, had some juvenile criminal conviction for sexually abusing a minor. He actually had complied with the law but MLB stayed so far away from him that I think he ended up playing in Korea, IIRC. Can't remember his name and don't feel like looking it up. But absent that, MLB has happily paid players with history of DV, drug abuse, cheating scandels, etc. Bauer will pitch in the majors again.

[tony&rodney]

3 hours ago, TwinsDr2021 said:

Difference might be Bonds was 43 and Bauer is 31 and is owed 64 million. It is my understanding that the dodgers paid him 40 million last year, so unless MLB suspends him for close to 2 years I see him playing again. I can't see a suspension of that long holding up on appeal, with the precedent that has been set.

Big differences but no matter. Like I said, just a hunch and I can easily be wrong. MLB won't suspend him, Dodgers will cut him and pay his salary. Bauer will be done

[LewFordLives]

On 2/9/2022 at 1:23 AM, bean5302 said:

Would I welcome Bauer playing for the Twins? Yes. I have no issues with him apart from his hot-headedness, which isn't much different than Josh Donaldson IMHO. In regard to the allegations by Ms. Hill? I wasn't there. I have no idea what happened, but a civil court judge ruled it was a consentual relationship and there weren't any arrests or criminal charges filed. That said, I don't think Minnesota would wade into the political backlash considering Minneapolis' public woes as of late.

Good post, but I respectfully disagree with your last point. No way should the Twins pursue Bauer. This wasn't an isolated incident. Between his social media presence and multiple assault allegations, he is a distraction the Twins can do without. The thing is, the Dodgers knew he was trouble when they signed him to that contract. I have zero sympathy for them.

[Brock Beauchamp]

I had a love-hate relationship with Bauer before the accusation. I didn't want the Twins to sign him before, I sure don't want them to sign him now.

But he's not going to be charged with a crime and it appears he'll walk away from these allegations without much, if any, penalty. And if that's the case, he should be eligible to return to MLB immediately and the Dodgers should be on the hook for that contract.

I still have no idea who is telling the truth here but without actual evidence and/or a conviction he has done something illegal and/or wrong, then it's punishment because I don't like the guy (which I don't), and that's not fair.