MLB suspends Trevor Bauer for 2 years with no pay
- Thread starter ThePrideofShiner
- Start date
There would be backlash wherever he signs, but look at the Cleveland Browns and Deshaun Watson (obviously different sports and different allegations). The Watson situation was talked about so much while he was coming back - it was the lead topic on all the ESPN talk shows for a while - but it feels like many in the national media have already moved on (not sure if it is still a topic for local Cleveland media). Some team will look at that and think they can weather the public relations storm that signing Bauer brings - I really hope it's not the Red Sox.
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I’d be beyond shocked if the Dodgers didn’t release him……or whatever it is that’s beyond beyond. What do I know though.
Of what sort? Bauer is a bit higher profile than Osuna but beyond some griping from a handful of English speaking NPB fans who knew his story, I didn't see any pushback domestically when Osuna went to the Chiba Lotte Marines, and I wouldn't expect much if Bauer came this way either. Many fans here would never know Bauer's story but to the extent any of them bothered to find out why a guy who won a Cy Young a couple years ago was now pitching for the Yomiuri Giants, I think most would just see "no criminal conviction" and talk themselves into it pretty easily.
I didn't know this when I made my original comment, and I don't know how long it's been like this, but I see Bauer's twitter account now has his name in Japanese too.
Agreed. He gone, probably in the coming days if not hours. The Dodgers only tweet about it so far is ambiguous but doesn't exactly sound like they're falling over themselves to welcome him back into the fold:
View: https://twitter.com/Dodgers/status/1606093011493847041?s=20&t=12VlYGkkOog_wVMHkTsOOw
text:
Does this seem excessive to anyone? He wasn’t even charged, let alone convicted. I’m not sure how the players union allowed the commissioner have this kind of power. Shouldn’t there be some guideline for suspensions and these guidelines should in general adhere to what happens with the investigation and trial. Like, if he’s charged, it’s a one season ban. If he’s convicted, it’s a two season ban. If he wasn’t charged or convicted I’m not sure it’s correct for MLB to pass judgment on what happens in a player’s private life.
Edit: this is not to say that Bauer is innocent, just that the length of the ban is very arbritary. I’m just surprised the union doesn’t have anything in writing.
Edit: this is not to say that Bauer is innocent, just that the length of the ban is very arbritary. I’m just surprised the union doesn’t have anything in writing.
From a strictly baseball POV, adding Bauer to our rotation instantly makes us much better (assuming he's been staying in shape and training). Signing both him and Eovaldi allows us to move Pivetta and, possibly, another arm in a deal for a solid RF or SS.
I'd wager to think there are several teams out there who would love to have him in their rotation, but likely won't due to the PR hit. As vilified as Chaim has been on this board and by several national writers, I'd almost expect this to happen.
I'd wager to think there are several teams out there who would love to have him in their rotation, but likely won't due to the PR hit. As vilified as Chaim has been on this board and by several national writers, I'd almost expect this to happen.
JFC, come on. You’d root for this piece of shit? Even if this move made baseball sense, and I don’t think it does the guy hasn’t pitched in almost two seasons, there are issues that far outweigh the onfield contributions.
If the Sox signed Bauer the outcry both locally and nationally would make the Bruins’ signing of Mitchell Miller look like a walk in the park. They’d get absolutely destroyed for that, and rightly so.
Why would the Red Sox even contemplate a stupid, worthless transaction on a compete and total asshole of a person?
Agree completely. The Miller situation was a tipping point I think in terms of fans, media, and players deciding there is a line where talent isn’t worth the cost in moral capital. Bauer absolutely falls into that category, and if the Red Sox FO has an ounce of sense, they won’t go anywhere near this POS.
Bauer’s peers feel differently about him than Watson’s peers do. I’m not sure if that‘s because of differences between the allegations, because Bauer isn’t liked apart from this, or if baseball is just a little less win-at-all-costs than football is. It’s probably a mix of factors.
Regardless, whoever signs Bauer (and I think someone will once he clears waivers) won’t only be dealing with fan backlash.
Right. I dont remember the details, but wasn't he an incorrigible asshole *before* this shit?
He’s also continued to be an incorrigible asshole on twitter throughout this shit.
Never said I'd root for him. Just stated the obvious, he can be a reprehensible person but still a good pitcher. Not advocating we sign him, but wouldn't be surprised. Someone will. The Browns were willing to take Watson, other bad guys have found homes.
The Sox know they are treading on thin ice with their recent failures and something like this would bring them waaaay too much negative publicity to move ahead on.
I would prefer the sox Sign Josh beckett over this asshole, and if they did sign him I would honestly stop Rooting for the them...
Dude is a cancer and I would not want him anywhere near this team
Let’s not forget this, two weeks before CLE shipped him out of town:
https://calltothepen.com/2019/07/29/cleveland-indians-terry-francona-cussed-trevor-bauer/
https://calltothepen.com/2019/07/29/cleveland-indians-terry-francona-cussed-trevor-bauer/
As a thought experiment, what if Bauer spent his off-seasons vivisecting puppies in Costa Rica and publicly glorying in it. . .where that is not (for the sake of this hypothetical) a crime?
Should the commissioner have or not have the power to sanction that sort of thing?
He’d be the worst person we have. Signing Bauer would be a fandom ending move for a lot of people I imagine.
What? You totally did.
In the last four months, the head coach of the Boston Celtics--who brought them to within two games of the NBA Championship--was suspended for a year for behaving inappropriately with a subordinate and the Boston Bruins caught so much shit for signing Mitch Miller that they backed out of the deal within 48 hours. Why would the Red Sox come within 1000 miles of this shithead?
I wouldn't sign him, but the answer to that question is because a Cy Young pitcher adds a lot more value to the Red Sox than a coach does to the Celtics or a prospect does to the Bruins.
Not to defend Bauer, because I certainly don't want him back in Cleveland and I'd be fine with him never getting another shot in the majors, but to clarify...
He was a considered an oddball without filters in the clubhouse, but he got along with his teammates in Cleveland right up until his last appearance when he knew he was getting traded. I don't think his problem going forward would really be in the clubhouse but everywhere else. Until the possible criminal activity came to light, he was "an asshole, but our asshole".
A lot was made of him being a problem in his very brief time with the Diamondbacks before they traded him, but (1) that was the Dave Stewart/Kirk Gibson era when their main goal was building a team full of company soldiers who played and acted like it was 1980, so Bauer approaching the game his own way definitely made him a misfit, and (2) nearly all the public comments were from Miguel Montero, who was an asshole himself and later publicly threw Cubs teammates under the bus. That was piled on top of a story or two from his UCLA days, which seemed to be a beef specifically with Gerrit Cole.
No question he's always been an asshole to critical fans and opponents though.
He was a considered an oddball without filters in the clubhouse, but he got along with his teammates in Cleveland right up until his last appearance when he knew he was getting traded. I don't think his problem going forward would really be in the clubhouse but everywhere else. Until the possible criminal activity came to light, he was "an asshole, but our asshole".
A lot was made of him being a problem in his very brief time with the Diamondbacks before they traded him, but (1) that was the Dave Stewart/Kirk Gibson era when their main goal was building a team full of company soldiers who played and acted like it was 1980, so Bauer approaching the game his own way definitely made him a misfit, and (2) nearly all the public comments were from Miguel Montero, who was an asshole himself and later publicly threw Cubs teammates under the bus. That was piled on top of a story or two from his UCLA days, which seemed to be a beef specifically with Gerrit Cole.
No question he's always been an asshole to critical fans and opponents though.
That's his last game for Cleveland that I'm referring to, but I'm not sure where you got 2 weeks from. He was traded 3 days later and the fact he already knew he was getting traded was a major factor.
Yes, he helps any baseball team if he's an ace. No, you don't want him on your team. If your team sucks, the only story all year will be Bauer. Everywhere he pitches, every interview, every time he has a bad game. If your team doesn't suck, nobody will feel good about Bauer and the stink will follow throughout the clubhouse. Players will tire of it, they'll resent Bauer even more.
On the other hand, I expect someone to do what the Yankees did with Chapman. Get him from the Dodgers for nothing and flip him after a couple of strong months. Red Sox or whichever team that does that won't have any stink on them.
On the other hand, I expect someone to do what the Yankees did with Chapman. Get him from the Dodgers for nothing and flip him after a couple of strong months. Red Sox or whichever team that does that won't have any stink on them.
I think I meant two days, but when he got traded wasn’t the point. It’s that a 28 year old petulantly and publicly acted like a 10 year old, with his manager later expressing “concerns” about his impact on the team.
The guy appears to be a selfish, immature asshole at best. Don’t want him anywhere near Boston’s roster.
I'd be one of them for sure.
I mean, Bonds still had like a 1.000 OPS and couldn't find a job. I will be truly surprised if he ever pitches another game in MLB again.
The stuff about him being childish or an asshole or whatever is totally beside the point. He likes to hurt women.
Maybe. There are many athletes on many teams who are not good people or who otherwise do dumb things that get them in trouble. I’m more interested in a winning team than looking for all wholesome players. Plus, I don’t believe he was ever convicted of anything unless I missed it which is possible.
The "point" of the Boston Red Sox, at least in my mind, is to bring glory and prestige to Boston and the Red Sox fans*, which is primarily accomplished through winning. The other side of that coin is not bringing shame to those constituents. It's not important that the players necessarily be good people -- I honestly don't care if a Red Sox player ever wins the Roberto Clemente Award -- but it is important that they not do things like break a woman's skull for fun.
*Or, obviously, supporting ROI for FSG.
*Or, obviously, supporting ROI for FSG.
I don’t care about other teams. I care about the team that represents my hometown and therefore a not insignificant part of my identity. Besides that Bruins shit, and I guess AB for a couple weeks, Boston teams have done a good job representing the city’s values, which are particularly important as we start to see real differences in how states and regions, for example, treat women.
Convicted or not, cOnSeNsUAl or not, signing Bauer tells people what our fucking city thinks about the value of people vs wins in a way that would reverse the morals all our teams have operated under.
Plus, people got tired of the whining about Brady or deflategate. How much fun do you think winning or losing with an ace that broke a woman’s skull would be?
I truly hope Chaim stays far, far away (and that all teams do), but the spectacle of the Mitch Miller ordeal is one of the only reasons I actually have faith in that. Between Familia and the Verdugo controversy, the recent track record on abuse is not great.
The guy's not coming to Boston. We probably have a better history of not tolerating this shit than most cities. Far from perfect, but when Chrstian Peter signed with the Giants, no one cared.
Eh, I forgot we signed Familia. Maybe we’re not better? I mean, that guy wasn’t even fucking good. Like these assholes at least have to be good.
Is it cognitive dissonance to both believe that Bauer is an awfully bad person for what he did but also only did the things he did because he thought he had permission to? That's where I am.
I'll admit I haven't followed the Bauer stuff closely but I don't think that's cognitive dissonance in the sense that some things are awful and bad regardless of whether the perpetrator believes they permission. A few examples off the top of my head: cannibalism, sex with a minor, branding people (a la NXIVM), breaking someone's skull...
I liked his YouTube channel, I didn’t love him on it but it was enlightening seeing days in the life of a major leaguer that he showed. Dodgers players seemed cool with him, but there was a camera in their face so who knows if they weren’t putting on act for their own sake.
Also would not want him on the Red Sox.
Caveat: I have not followed his case at all.
If he wants to quit baseball and go be a sadist with some consensual masochists, whatever (keyword: CONSENSUAL, shitbag). But hiring him in any public facing role is a massive fuck you to any members of that public who happen to be women, survivors of sexual violence and/or people with a functional moral compass.