Trevor Bauer Speaks Out After Settling Lawsuits Tied to Sexual Assault Allegations
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Former Cy Young winner Trevor Bauer and his accuser, Lindsey Hill, have settled their respective defamation lawsuits, their lawyers announced Monday. Neither side paid the other any money during the years-long legal battle.
"Trevor Bauer and Lindsey Hill have settled all outstanding litigation. Both of their respective claims have been withdrawn with prejudice, effective today," Bauer's attorneys, Shawn Holley and Jon Fetterolf, said in a statement sent to TMZ. "Mr. Bauer did not make – and never has made – any payments to Ms. Hill, including to resolve their litigation. With this matter now at rest, Mr. Bauer can focus completely on baseball."
Bauer chimed in with his own thoughts on the resolution in a social media video on Monday, which also featured screenshots of messages and court documents from throughout the case.
Hill's attorney, Bryan Freedman, also spoke to TMZ about the settlements.
"In what turned out to be an outstanding resolution for Lindsey, neither Lindsey nor anyone on her behalf paid anything to Bauer. Not a single dollar," Freedman said. "Even better, Lindsey received $300,000 from her insurance company. Based on that payment, Lindsey agreed to settle the lawsuit. Now that the lawsuit is over, Lindsey looks forward to helping others."
Hill accused of Bauer of sexual assault and received a temporary restraining order against the pitcher back in June 2021. The restraining order was removed that August, and the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office announced it would not file criminal charges against Bauer in February, but MLB commissioner Rob Manfred still handed down a record-breaking 324-game suspension in April.
Bauer launched defamation lawsuits against not only Hill, but also Deadspin, The Athletic and journalists Chris Baud and Molly Knight. Hill wound up countersuing Bauer.
An arbitrator ultimately reduced Bauer's suspension to 194 games last December. Regardless, the Los Angeles Dodgers designated Bauer for assignment and released him in January.
While Bauer had been reinstated, he did not sign with an MLB team for the 2023 season. Instead, Bauer inked a one-year deal with Yokohama DeNA BayStars in Nippon Professional Baseball, where he went 11-4 with a 2.59 ERA this season.
Bauer was one of the best pitchers in baseball before his 2021 campaign got cut short by his suspension.
The No. 3 overall pick in the 2011 MLB Draft made his big league debut with the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2012, only to get traded to the Cleveland Indians the following offseason. Bauer was a mainstay in Cleveland's rotation for six years, including during the club's trip to the World Series in 2016.
Bauer was named an All-Star in 2018, then got dealt to the Cincinnati Reds ahead of the 2019 trade deadline. After winning NL Cy Young during the COVID-shortened 2020 season, Bauer signed a three-year, $102 million contract with the Dodgers.
From 2018 to 2021, Bauer boasted a 3.07 ERA, 1.095 WHIP and 11.2 strikeouts per nine innings, which ranked ninth, ninth and eighth among qualified starting pitchers in that span.
Bauer, 32, will be a free agent this winter.
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