Trevor Bauer’s administrative leave has been extended another week.
Just last month, Bauer was accused of sexual assault and placed on paid administrative leave by Major League Baseball. He is scheduled to have a hearing this coming Monday.
Following the accusations, photos were revealed of injuries the woman accusing him sustained during their encounter. Shortly thereafter, it was rumored that the vast majority of Bauer’s Dodger teammates did not want him back under any circumstances.
It’ll be interesting to see what happens at Bauer’s hearing, particularly how the woman accusing him handles being on the witness stand. What happens next is up in the air. Los Angeles attorney Josh Ritter has said that the district attorney should not need to assess the hearing before making a decision on whether to charge Bauer.
“If you have a complaining witness who says they were assaulted, and they have the evidence to back that up, and their story is trustworthy to the extent they can corroborate it by other evidence, I don’t see why they would hesitate to file, even given the seriousness of the person who is involved,” Ritter said. “So it is very curious to me that they would be waiting this long, unless they don’t feel it’s that solid of a case.”
In the meantime, Bauer should be disciplined by both the Dodgers and Major League Baseball. He should not be allowed to pitch at all in the foreseeable future. There’s pretty solid evidence against him, and if baseball wants to stick to its memo about harsh punishments for domestic violence and/or sexual assault, something needs to be done. He should at the very least be suspended without pay.
If the Dodgers want to act, they should release Bauer. It’s not like they really need him now that they have Max Scherzer to go along with Kershaw and Buehler. They haven’t handled this case well, so this is their chance to make up for it a little bit.
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