KEY POINTS

  • Sticking with the Dodgers seems to be the best option for Trevor Bauer
  • Bauer's future is murky as he faces several assault charges filed by two women
  • Bauer has not played since June, a month before he was placed on administrative leave

Trevor Bauer has a lot on his mind right now, and the last thing the 30-year-old pitcher wants is more stress.

This is seen as the potential reason why he declined opting out with the Los Angeles Dodgers for 2022.

According to Jon Heyman of the MLB Network, Bauer has decided to remain in his contract with the Dodgers. This means he will still get a $32 million salary next season.

The 2020 NL Cy Young Awardee had the option of exercising an opt-out clause to test free agency. Had he done so, he would have gotten a $15 million buyout rather than a $32 million for 2023.

Considering he is under a lot of heat right now, the move made sense although questions are in the air on whether he will play MLB ball again.

So far, he has already been paid $38 million through the first year of his three-year, $102 million free-agent deal signed with the Dodgers in February.

In addition, $20 million of that 2021 salary would’ve been paid out in deferrals had Bauer elected to opt-out.

But the more pressing matter right now is his MLB future.

Aside from the restraining order filed against him by a woman from California in July, there was another protection order that a court granted to a woman from Ohio in 2020 for an incident that allegedly happened in 2017.

The case of Bauer with the California woman is still under review by the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office.

According to the female accuser in a report from Brittany Ghiroli and Katie Strang of The Atheltic, she was sexually and physically assaulted on April 21 and May 15.

Furthermore, she alleged that in one of those encounters, the pitcher choked her unconscious and punched her multiple times.

Trevor Bauer Los Angeles Dodgers
Trevor Bauer #27 of the Los Angeles Dodgers reacts in the second inning against the Seattle Mariners during the MLB spring training game at Peoria Sports Complex on March 22, 2021 in Peoria, Arizona. Abbie Parr/Getty Images

As for the case of the woman from Ohio, a temporary restraining order was sought in June 2020 after she got repeated threats from Bauer.

Like the woman from California, Bauer allegedly punched and choked the woman during the act, The Washington Post reported.

The last time that he pitched a game was last June. Now, it remains to be seen if his outside-baseball woes will be settled to see him back on the mound once more.

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