Former Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Trevor Bauer agreed to terms on a one-year, $4 million contract with the Yokohama DeNA BayStars of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball League.
Bauer will now take his 83-69 career record to Japan, where he’ll have the opportunity to earn incentives on top of his $4 million salary, USA Today reported.
Trevor Bauer is signing with the Yokohama DeNA BayStars of the Nippon Professional Baseball Organization in Japan, per @YamadaSANSPO
The contract is for one year and $4 million plus incentives pic.twitter.com/snHhFgUINX
— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) March 13, 2023
Bauer was previously suspended from Major League Baseball in connection to sexual assault allegations from 2021, CBS Sports reported. Prior to the suspension, Bauer, the American League’s 2020 Cy Young Award winner, signed a three year $102 million contract with the Dodgers, CNBC reported.
His initial 324 game suspension, instituted by MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred under the league’s domestic violence policy, was reduced to 194 games in January after the MLB Player’s Association filed a grievance on Bauer’s behalf, NPR reported. Independent arbitrator Martin Scheinman’s decision effectively reinstated Bauer making him eligible to pitch in the major leagues for the first time since June 2021. The Dodgers ultimately decided to release Bauer, leaving them on the hook for the remaining $22.5 million on his contract.
Bauer was accused of beating and sexually abusing a San Diego woman in 2021, a claim he adamantly denies, NPR reported. In a 2022 video Bauer posted to his YouTube channel after Los Angeles prosecutors chose not to charge him, he insisted that he and his accuser engaged in rough sex at her suggestion and that it was consensual.