Major League Baseball announced Thursday night that an arbitrator had reduced pitcher Trevor Bauer’s 324-game ban for violating the league’s domestic violence policy to 194 games. The ban for domestic abuse is remains the longest in league history. The reinstatement of Bauer is effective right away.
Here is what MLB had to say:
“The impartial arbitrator chosen by MLB and the MLBPA today confirmed that Trevor Bauer had broken the league’s joint policy against domestic violence, sexual assault, and child abuse.
“The neutral adjudicator upheld a 194-game unpaid suspension following a thorough analysis of the evidence. The arbitrator’s ruling included Mr. Bauer’s immediate reinstatement with a pay loss for the 144 games he missed during the 2022 season.
Bauer’s compensation was also reduced by the arbitrator for the first 50 games of the 2023 season (i.e., the period covering March 30, 2023 to May 23, 2023). MLB will follow the neutral arbitrator’s ruling, which upholds baseball’s longest-ever active player ban for sexual assault or domestic abuse, even though we think a longer sentence was justified.
“We acknowledge that the witnesses participated in this process found it challenging, and we appreciate their cooperation. We are unable to offer more information at this time due to the joint program’s jointly stipulated confidentiality obligations.”
