Everything you need to know about Trevor Bauer’s reduced suspension
On Thursday night, Major League Baseball announced that Trevor Bauer‘s 324-game suspension had been reduced to 194 games by an independent arbitrator. Bauer is eligible to return to baseball immediately, after the arbitrator applied credit for the time he was on the restricted list in the second half of 2021. But what went into the decision? And what is Bauer’s future in MLB? We break down the biggest questions surrounding the pitcher’s potential return.
Why was Bauer suspended last year?
Bauer was suspended on the grounds of sexual misconduct, but the league has never released the full findings of its nine-month investigation. We know a woman in San Diego accused him of taking rough sex too far in April and May 2021 and requested a temporary restraining order against him later that summer, triggering a prolonged investigation by MLB. And we know that two other women, both from Ohio, made similar allegations while speaking to The Washington Post. Whether there are any other alleged victims, or other women with whom the league spoke, isn’t public, due to the confidentiality provisions of the domestic violence policy.
Bauer has forcefully denied any wrongdoing, claiming that any sexual acts were consensual. The Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office declined to prosecute him in February, but under the domestic violence policy that was jointly agreed to by MLB and the union in August 2015, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred has the authority to punish players for “just cause”; he does not need to meet the guilt-beyond-a-reasonable-doubt threshold required by law enforcement. On that ground, MLB felt Bauer deserved to be suspended far longer than any player ever had for a domestic violence violation. With this ruling, a third party agreed, though to a lesser extent.
Who made the decision to reduce the suspension?
A man named Martin Scheinman, who serves as an independent arbitrator retained by both MLB and the MLB Players’ Association. In short spurts over the course of seven months, Scheinman served as the head of a three-person panel — also consisting of an MLB representative and a rep from the MLBPA — that reviewed MLB’s findings and spoke to witnesses. Most of the interviews took place over video conference. Details were not made public, but a Washington Post story released Thursday said that at least two accusers testified from MLB headquarters and more than 20 witnesses were called. The Post story added that the process revolved mostly around the three women whose allegations became public. The San Diego woman whose allegation ignited this process testified three separate times, a source with knowledge of the situation said.
What exactly did he decide?
The arbitrator reduced Bauer’s suspension by 130 games, but still ruled that Bauer deserved the longest suspension ever under the domestic violence policy (the previous high was 162 games). Bauer served 144 games of his suspension in 2022, which would have left 50 for 2023. But something of a compromise was made: Scheinman essentially gave Bauer partial credit for spending the second half of the 2021 season — beginning July 2, after the first accusations became public — on paid administrative leave. Bauer will be docked pay for the first 50 games of the 2023 season, but he will be reinstated immediately.
What does this mean for Bauer’s future in MLB?
Because of that compromise, Bauer will be eligible to pitch on Opening Day. As of now, he remains under contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers for the final season of a three-year, $102 million contract he signed before the 2021 season. Regardless of whether the Dodgers roster Bauer next year, they will owe him about $22.5 million of his original $32 million salary — unless he signs with another team, which would be on the hook for $720,000, the major league minimum salary.
Bauer last pitched in a major league game June 28, 2021. In his first 17 starts with the Dodgers, he posted a 2.59 ERA and struck out 137 in 107ā innings. In the COVID-19-shortened 2020 season, Bauer won the National League Cy Young Award. He has continued training at his Phoenix-area facility, where he regularly posts videos of him throwing.
What does this mean for the Dodgers?
The first question for the Dodgers is simple: Do they bring back Bauer or release him? They have given no indication publicly on what they intend to do — the team in a statement Thursday night said it would comment “as soon as practical” — but a number of players in the Dodgers’ clubhouse have privately advocated for the team to cut ties, regardless of the outcome of his appeal. The Dodgers must decide whether to roster or cut Bauer by Jan. 6.
In terms of Bauer’s salary impact, the arbitrator’s decision did alleviate some of the pressure on the Dodgers’ competitive balance tax. Currently, according to Baseball Prospectus, Los Angeles’ estimated CBT payroll for the 2023 season is $199 million. Bauer’s salary for a full season was supposed to count for $34 million — the average annual value of his deal — toward the Dodgers’ CBT number. But by docking Bauer for 50 games of pay, a source said, the arbitrator reduced the Dodgers’ luxury tax burden by nearly $9.5 million. That would keep them under the $233 million threshold, which they would have exceeded at Bauer’s full salary.
If the Dodgers do exceed the threshold for the third consecutive season, the base tax rate for every dollar spent from $233 million to $253 million would be taxed 50%. Any money between $253 million and $273 million would be subject to a 62% penalty. From $273 million to $293 million, it would be 95%, and anything above $293 million would be 110%, though the Dodgers are extremely unlikely to come close to the upper thresholds and could potentially stay beneath the lowest.
While fans in Edmonton and Dallas are always singing about how they have friends in low places, only one of them has the high ground in the Western Conference finals. And that’s the Oilers after their 6-1 win Sunday in Game 3 to take a 2-1 series lead.
With the series tied heading into Sunday, the objective for Game 3 was to gain a firm grasp of the conference finals, and the Oilers did just that by having five players with multipoint performances. As for the Stars, losing Game 3 left them trailing a series for the second time this postseason, with the only other such occurrence coming after Game 1 against the Colorado Avalanche in the first round.
Now that the Oilers are in control of the series, what does it mean for them going forward? What must the Stars do differently ahead of Game 4 for them to return home tied rather than a game away from elimination? Ryan S. Clark and Greg Wyshynski examine those questions while delving into what lies ahead for two teams that not only faced each other in the conference finals last season but between them have been involved in every conference final since 2020.
Edmonton Oilers
Grade: A
Much could change between now and whenever the playoffs end. But for now, the argument could be made that this was the most important playoff game the Oilers have had this postseason.
The Oilers have had numerous strong performances, such as Game 3 against the Los Angeles Kings in the first round or their final two games against the Vegas Golden Knights in the conference semifinals. But what made the Oilers’ performance in Game 3 against Dallas arguably their most important was that they found a balance between being difficult in the defensive zone while not relying on a shutout to accomplish that objective.
The Stars finished with 37 shots, 13 high-danger chances in 5-on-5 play and scored only once. Connor McDavid has repeatedly stressed that the Oilers can play defense, and that has been made clear over their past five games. But Sunday proved they didn’t need Stuart Skinner or their defensive structure to blank an opponent to win. — Ryan S. Clark
Dallas Stars
Grade: C+
The final score doesn’t reflect the majority of this game, which Dallas coach Pete DeBoer can mine for positives among the many (many) negatives and some mitigating circumstances. Having Roope Hintz warm up but not be able to go because of the foot injury he suffered from a Darnell Nurse slash in Game 2? That’s deflating. Having the on-ice officials miss a delay of game call on Brett Kulak in the first period only to have Evan Bouchard open the scoring 10 seconds later? Also deflating.
So it’s to the Stars’ credit that they got to their game at 5-on-5 in Game 3 better than they have in any game of the series, at least before Edmonton ran up the score in the third. The results weren’t there and a loss is a loss — and a loss by this margin is difficult to stomach — but their second period and the performances from some of their slumbering depth players give the Stars at least a glimmer.
However, there’s no question Edmonton has this thing in well in-hand and the Stars have to find a way to solve Skinner, which is not something I thought I’d be writing at this stage of the postseason. — Greg Wyshynski
Three Stars of Game 3
Two goals and an assist for his seventh career multigoal playoff game. Hyman’s second goal was the Oilers’ fourth off the rush, the most in one game by any team this postseason. Hyman also was plus-5 Sunday.
Bouchard scored his sixth goal of the postseason and these two were on the ice for the first two Edmonton goals. At 5-on-5 this postseason, the Oilers are outscoring their opponents 7-1, and 5-0 in this series, when Bouchard and Kulak are on the ice.
0:48
Connor McDavid restores Oilers’ 2-goal lead
Connor McDavid finds the back of the net to restore the Oilers’ two-goal lead vs. the Stars.
3. Connor McDavid
C, Oilers
For all the talk about the lack of goals from the best hockey player in the world (which was odd because he had 20 points in 13 games and was a plus-7 entering Game 3 despite having only three goals), McDavid punched out a pair of tucks for his sixth career multigoal playoff game. Also, seeing McDavid with the puck barreling toward the net on a 3-on-1 is nightmare fuel for opponents. — Arda Ćcal
Players to watch in Game 4
Zach Hyman
LW, Oilers
To go from 16 goals last postseason to just three goals entering Game 3 of the conference finals is one way to assess Hyman. Another is to realize that he’s been the most physical player on a team that is among the tallest and heaviest in the NHL.
Hyman came into Game 3 leading the NHL with 99 hits. He remained physical Sunday by leading the way with six hits in a game that saw the Oilers continue their punishing style with 47. But to then see Hyman score two goals and finish with three points in addition to that physicality? It once again adds to the narrative that the Oilers might not only have more dimensions than last year’s team, they could be better than the team that finished Stanley Cup runner-up in 2024. — Clark
0:53
Zach Hyman’s 2nd goal puts Oilers up 4
Zach Hyman taps home his second goal of the game to put the Oilers up 5-1 vs. the Stars.
This is the first two-game losing streak for the Dallas goaltender in the playoffs. A lot of what happened in Game 3 wasn’t necessarily on him — a Connor McDavid beauty and a Zach Hyman breakaway were among the Edmonton tallies — but outside of the third period of Game 1, he’s not been a difference-maker in this series. Oettinger came into the game leading the playoffs with 5.58 goals saved above expected, according to Stathletes. The Stars have been able to depend on him as a slump-breaker. But this is his third game with a save percentage south of .900 in the series. As the Stars try to build on some positives from this game, they need Otter to provide the foundation for it — and in the process, silence those “U.S. backup!” chants from the Oilers fans. — Wyshynski
Big questions for Game 4
Are the Oilers about to do to the Stars what they did to the Golden Knights?
Simply put, the Oilers are where hope goes to die. Teams in a championship window that have yet to win a title are always being judged on their evolution. What the Oilers did to the Stars a year ago in the conference finals by winning the last three games showed that they could close out a series after trailing. This postseason Edmonton has shown a calculated and methodical coldness when it comes to putting away opponents.
The Golden Knights won Game 3 on a last-second goal to create the belief they may have found an opening. They didn’t score again for the rest of the playoffs after being in the top five of goals per game throughout the regular season. Breaking out for six goals to open the series seemed to be a sign the Stars may have found an opening. Since then? They’ve scored only once in the last six periods while facing questions about what’s happened to another team that went from being in the top five in goals per game in the regular season. — Clark
Can Dallas make Edmonton uncomfortable at all?
Our colleague Mark Messier made this point between periods of Game 3: The Stars have yet to do anything to get McDavid or Leon Draisaitl off their games. That extends to the rest of the Oilers. Outside of an anomalous run of three power-play goals in the third period of Game 1, there have been precious few instances of the Stars carrying play for long stretches or putting a scare into Edmonton at 5-on-5.
They had that for a bit in Game 3 with a dominant second period: plus-14 in shot attempts, plus-11 in scoring chances and a 10-1 advantage in high-danger shot attempts. But they were digging out of a 2-0 hole, only managed to get one goal of their own on the board and then McDavid stuck a dagger in them with 19 seconds left in the second.
The Stars need a lead. They need zone time. They need to get their rush game going: Skinner had a .897 save percentage on shots off the rush entering the game. Edmonton is playing with a champion’s confidence. Dallas has to find a way to inject a little doubt into its opponent or this series is going to end quickly. — Wyshynski
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