I'm certainly no lawyer. I know there's a lot about this case I will never know. But what's the upside to offering him a contract? I wouldn't touch him because of the attitude that helped him become a great and rich pitcher. Hard to see him blending into an organization at this point. Just doesn't seem worth the trouble.
it is because, by all accounts, he's a caustic personality who was barely worth the headache (to teams that hadn't dealt with it yet.) there are plenty of documented issues between him and coaches and teammates and I respect that Bauer felt he was justified and correct in all of it (and often right in terms of his trackman data vs coaches who just had a feel for the game, or whatever) BUT if you had a friend who acted like that you would be valid is saying "hey man, if you act like this nobody is going to have your back when you need it."
it certainly appears there was a lot less to the allegations than it first appeared, maybe even nothing to them, but there are abundant, justifiable reasons completely unrelated to the allegations or his response to them that keep teams from calling him.
If a team thought Bauer was worth the headache he’d be back in the majors. If the Dodgers resigned him, there’d be a week of bad press. The team could say he served his suspension, no charges were filed, etc.. The usual sports cliches. There would be some Dodgers fans who would claim on Twitter they’ll never support the team again. But life would go on. Pro sports will almost always overlook your sins if you can help a team win.
A great post about a complicated issue. Two points- one legal, one baseball, but before I start, let me say that I strongly disapprove of Bauer's conduct with the woman and found it ugly and appalling. However,:
On the baseball side - If memory serves me, this was around the time the umpires started enforcing the rules about sticky substances on pitchers' gloves and started their inspections. Again, if memory serves me, Bauer was among the pitchers who complained loudly and publicly about the new rules and umpire practice. AND his ERA started to ramp up dramatically around this same time. So he may not have been as valuable a pitcher in any event. (This is my best recollection and I invite and someone more knowledgeable to definitely correct me if I am wrong about this.)
These TRO's are often granted fairly routinely. Per the ESPN piece, Superior Court Judge Dianna Gould-Saltman said the "injuries as shown in the photographs are terrible" but added, "If she set limits and he exceeded them, this case would've been clear. But she set limits without considering all the consequences, and respondent did not exceed limits that the petitioner set."
None of this means that the woman's case had no merit or that Bauer's conduct was anything other than reprehensible, but it does tell me that it is not a black and white issue.
Here is the article on the spin rate. Trevor Bauer has the second greatest drop in spin rate after the new umpire policing. The second link is to Bauer complaining about the rule change.
I'm certainly no lawyer. I know there's a lot about this case I will never know. But what's the upside to offering him a contract? I wouldn't touch him because of the attitude that helped him become a great and rich pitcher. Hard to see him blending into an organization at this point. Just doesn't seem worth the trouble.
it is because, by all accounts, he's a caustic personality who was barely worth the headache (to teams that hadn't dealt with it yet.) there are plenty of documented issues between him and coaches and teammates and I respect that Bauer felt he was justified and correct in all of it (and often right in terms of his trackman data vs coaches who just had a feel for the game, or whatever) BUT if you had a friend who acted like that you would be valid is saying "hey man, if you act like this nobody is going to have your back when you need it."
it certainly appears there was a lot less to the allegations than it first appeared, maybe even nothing to them, but there are abundant, justifiable reasons completely unrelated to the allegations or his response to them that keep teams from calling him.
If a team thought Bauer was worth the headache he’d be back in the majors. If the Dodgers resigned him, there’d be a week of bad press. The team could say he served his suspension, no charges were filed, etc.. The usual sports cliches. There would be some Dodgers fans who would claim on Twitter they’ll never support the team again. But life would go on. Pro sports will almost always overlook your sins if you can help a team win.
A great post about a complicated issue. Two points- one legal, one baseball, but before I start, let me say that I strongly disapprove of Bauer's conduct with the woman and found it ugly and appalling. However,:
On the baseball side - If memory serves me, this was around the time the umpires started enforcing the rules about sticky substances on pitchers' gloves and started their inspections. Again, if memory serves me, Bauer was among the pitchers who complained loudly and publicly about the new rules and umpire practice. AND his ERA started to ramp up dramatically around this same time. So he may not have been as valuable a pitcher in any event. (This is my best recollection and I invite and someone more knowledgeable to definitely correct me if I am wrong about this.)
On the legal side- The best indication that the case against Bauer was a complicated one is that the judge denied the woman's motion for a temporary restraining order against him. https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/32051068/woman-denied-restraining-order-trevor-bauer
These TRO's are often granted fairly routinely. Per the ESPN piece, Superior Court Judge Dianna Gould-Saltman said the "injuries as shown in the photographs are terrible" but added, "If she set limits and he exceeded them, this case would've been clear. But she set limits without considering all the consequences, and respondent did not exceed limits that the petitioner set."
None of this means that the woman's case had no merit or that Bauer's conduct was anything other than reprehensible, but it does tell me that it is not a black and white issue.
Thanks for this input!
Here is the article on the spin rate. Trevor Bauer has the second greatest drop in spin rate after the new umpire policing. The second link is to Bauer complaining about the rule change.
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/07/19/upshot/major-league-baseball-spin-rate-shift.html?unlocked_article_code=AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACEIPuonUyYiZ_tU1Gw5CRWySB4B991re2r-WkfshnmT-KzTSTD9AyP5QB4WJ9FrAIKBqfNY51jCfAcRZMblqXvVuw6pEP01jV0-ovp6A0twjEhkClLiSDCkwzo6fGvc59yPndGCyNOZhyfri50PabGnsWriP2SciOApupcd6Jgmh2GgNkf3PE-5x2YQp1awxF9stE2d7ESqPtvLvDhR6PMzXLU2Pr1lrBJwKHG3bjtWe6LofcQtNCVKgTH13428069s0K8pAde-kbEZmIJyi9O1XXm94L46pB4kzTpzWlNhpt73MqB-MyKmm1tt1IjWli7V3PGnJv0nnXgs&smid=em-share
https://bleacherreport.com/articles/10005828-trevor-bauer-slams-mlb-over-competitive-integrity-bulls--t-after-substance-memo
Probably too much information, right? But I just happened to find this today.