Trevor Bauer To Pitch Against Dodgers For Independent Team
Trevor Bauer has found a new team.
Not coincidentally, the team's next opponent is the Los Angeles Dodgers — sort of.
Bauer has joined Asian Breeze, a Phoenix-based independent team geared toward Asian expats looking to latch on with affiliated North American organizations.
Not coincidentally, Asian Breeze had previously scheduled a back-field exhibition game against a Dodgers minor league team for Sunday. Now, Bauer is scheduled to start in that game, according to a club announcement:
Players on Asian Breeze typically pay to participate, but many of their prospective players for 2024 have professional experience in NPB (Japan's highest league) or with an affiliated minor league team in the U.S.
Against this backdrop, Bauer's first pitching appearance since last fall rings as one part publicity stunt, one part showcase. Bauer has been a vocal self-promoter on social media of his desire to return to Major League Baseball.
Bauer was released by the Dodgers in Jan. 2023 after serving his 194-game suspension for violating MLB's Joint Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault and Child Abuse Policy.
Pitching for NPB's Yokohama Bay Stars in 2023, Bauer went 11-4 with a 2.59 ERA in 156.2 innings. Now 33, Bauer has been training in the U.S. since last season ended but has so far failed to land a contract.
Bauer signed a three-year, $102 million contract with the Dodgers prior to the 2021 season, but made only 17 starts in a Los Angeles uniform. He was initially placed on administrative leave after assault allegations against him became public in June 2021.
The 2020 Cy Young Award winner went 8-5 with a 2.59 ERA in his only season as a Dodger.
At the time of his release, the Dodgers were left on the hook for $22.5 million in salary to Bauer, or $24.5 million in dead competitive balance tax money.
The former UCLA standout is 83-69 with a 3.79 ERA in 10 major league seasons with the Dodgers, Cincinnati Reds, Cleveland and Arizona Diamondbacks.
