Former Cy Young winner Trevor Bauer’s comeback attempt has taken him to the backfields at the Los Angeles Dodgers’ spring training complex. On Sunday, Bauer threw three scoreless innings against Dodgers minor leaguers while pitching for the Asian Breeze, a pay-to-play barnstorming team consisting mostly of amateur players hoping to get noticed by scouts.
Bauer, who was released by the Dodgers in January 2023 after serving the longest suspension in the history of MLB’s domestic violence policy, lamented not getting another opportunity to pitch in the big leagues following Sunday’s outing.
“I mean, if you think about it, I should have the opportunity to sign with a big league team,” Bauer said (per ESPN). “I’m just asking for the league minimum, so it’s not a money thing. I’ve served my suspension twice over. I’ve been cleared of everything in the legal system. If you think about it logically, there’s really no reason I shouldn’t have a job. But I don’t. So it is what it is. We’ll see how it plays out. I don’t want to predict the future. We’ll see.”
According to The Athletic, it does not appear any major league scouts attended Sunday’s game.
Bauer has repeatedly said that he would accept the minimum salary, set at $740,000 for 2024, from an MLB team, but none have taken him up on his offer yet. The 2023 season was the final year on Bauer’s three-year, $102 million contract with the Dodgers. The suspension cost him approximately $40 million in salary.
Bauer, 33, was suspended 324 games after two women alleged consensual sexual encounters with Bauer turned violent. Two other women later came forward with similar allegations. The Los Angeles District Attorney’s office declined to bring criminal charges against Bauer, who settled civil lawsuits out of court with one of the women. His suspension was reduced to 194 games on appeal.
After being released by the Dodgers, Bauer spent 2023 with the Yokohama DeNA Bay Stars in Japan, where he went 11-4 with a 2.59 ERA in 156 2/3 innings. Bauer is 83-69 with a 3.79 ERA in parts of 10 MLB seasons. He won the NL Cy Young award with the Cincinnati Reds during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season.
The Dodgers share the Camelback Ranch spring training complex with the Chicago White Sox. It is unclear whether the Dodgers were aware Bauer would be pitching at their facility Sunday before the Breeze’s announcement.