The Los Angeles Dodgers, Major Sports Media Outlets, and MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred owe Trevor Bauer a huge apology for all the funny business they pulled over the last three years.
The Former Cy Young Award winner has been battling false accusations of sexual assault since the middle of 2021 was finally allowed to tell the public his side of the story after his final lawsuit in the highly publicised case was settled out of court.
“Over the last two years, I’ve been forced to defend my integrity and my reputation in a very public setting, but hopefully this is the last time I have to do so, as I’d prefer to just remain focused on doing my job, winning baseball games and entertaining fans around the world,” Bauer said in a video on his YouTube Channel released after the settlement. “So today, I’m happy to be moving on with my life.”
The plot to take down Bauer began back in 2021 when Lindsey Hill began her goal of trying to ruin Bauer’s life by “stealing all of his money” and making false accusations against him to tarnish his reputation according to leaked text messages between Hill and a friend.
“‘Next victim. Star pitcher for the Dodgers,’” Bauer said in the YouTube video on his official page, allegedly quoting his accuser. “A text Lindsey Hill sent to a friend before she ever even met me. ‘What should I steal?’ she asked another, in reference to visiting my house for the first time. The answer? ‘Take his money.’”
The now 30 year old Hill began seeing Bauer, engaging in a consensual sexual relationship in the spring of 2021 after the Cy Young Award winning pitcher signed with his hometown team, the Los Angeles Dodgers, on a then record setting 3 year $102 million deal which was good for $34 Million annually.
In the middle of his first year as a Dodger, the false accusation by Hill was reported by every major media outlet.
In her claims, Hill stated that Bauer had “assaulted her on two different occasions at his home in Pasadena, California, during what she said began as consensual sexual encounters.” Hill then uploaded images of her that were clearly doctored where she looked like she was brutally beaten by the pitcher
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| Trevor Bauer Facebook Page |
The suspension was reduced to 194 games following a grievance being filed by MLB’s Players Association on Bauer's behalf. A three-person panel headed by independent arbitrator Martin Scheinmanstarted hearing the case last May. In a ruling that came in December of last year, Scheinman upheld a 194-game suspension rather than Manfred's intended 324-game penalty and reinstated Bauer immediately.
After the courts found that Bauer did not break any laws and that Hill had apparently made the whole thing up due to evidence produced by the pitcher and his legal team that included videos of Hill laying in bed next to him after one of the alleged “beatings” where she looked normal and healthy, Bauer would turn around and sue Hill in April of 2022 for defamation. This led to her counter suing for “sexual battery” several months later. Hill’s request for a restraining order against Bauer was ultimately denied by a judge, with prosecutors also declining to charge Bauer for the alleged crimes.
While this week’s settlement was completed outside of court “with no money exchanged between the two parties,” according to reports. Hill is set to receive $300,000 from her insurance company and she will not receive a single dime from Bauer himself. Bauer will also be dropping his initial lawsuit against Hill for defamation following these settlements.
In maintaining his innocence, Bauer on Monday released a series of text messages and video purportedly obtained in the discovery process that appear to exonerate him from wrongdoing via his official YouTube account where he normally posts videos on how he prepares for starts and what the life of a professional baseball player entails. In Bauer’s reaction video, the alleged text messages indicate Hill had planned to accuse Bauer of sexual misconduct prior to meeting him.
“So how might that work? ‘I’m going to his house Wednesday.’ she said, ‘I already have my hooks in. you know how I roll.’” Bauer said, reading text messages between Hill and a friend prior to the first time she went over to the pitcher’s house in California following the ‘What should I steal?’ texts, “Then, after the first time we met, “Net worth is 51 mil” she said. ‘b-tch, you better secure the bag,’ was the response. But how was she going to do that? ‘Need daddy to choke me out,’ she said. ‘being an absolute wh-re to try to get in on his 51 million,’ read another text. Then, after the second time we met, former [San Diego] Padres pitcher Jacob Nix told her ‘you gotta get this bag.’ ‘I’ll give you $50,000,’ Lindsey replied. Her AA sponsor asked her at one point, ‘do you feel a tiny bit guilty?’ ‘Not really,’ she replied.
Bauer further claimed in his video that his suit allowed his legal team to uncover “critical information” that was “deliberately and unlawfully concealed” from him and his lawyers, including a video Hill filmed of herself lying in bed, smirking, alongside a sleeping Bauer. Hill took the video “the morning after she claims she was brutally attacked, emotionally traumatized, and desperate to get away from me,” Bauer said. “I think it paints a pretty clear picture of what actually happened the evening of May 15 and why the video was originally concealed from us.”
Now that Bauer’s name is cleared of any wrongdoing, it’s about time everyone apologizes to him for dragging his name through the mud, especially the Media and the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The Dodgers would release Bauer on January 6th of this year and released a statement on why he had to be cut due to “Committing acts of domestic violence” despite never being found guilty.
“The Dodgers organization believes that allegations of sexual assault or domestic violence should be thoroughly investigated, with due process given to the accused.” Read the statement by the Dodgers Front Office on January 6th, “From the beginning, we have fully cooperated with Major League Baseball's investigation and strictly followed the process stipulated under MLB’s Joint Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault and Child Abuse Policy. Two extensive reviews of all the available evidence in this case - one by Commissioner Manfred and another by a neutral arbitrator - concluded that Mr. Bauer's actions warranted the longest ever active player suspension in our sport for violations of this policy. Now that this process has been completed, and after careful consideration, we have decided that he will no longer be part of our organization.”
What many now find amusing about this is All-Star Pitcher Julio Urias, who was arrested and charged with domestic violence in both 2019 and 2023, has been a mainstay with the team despite the organization believing all cases should be taken seriously and players should be cut for making poor decisions, he is still on the roster and was a member of their 2020 World Series winning team.
The Dodgers and Rob Manfred have been vocal about their dislike of Bauer’s Persona on the internet and his YouTube “vlogs” and they used these allegations to blackball him from the MLB.
Major Media Outlets like The Athletic and ESPN ran stories painting Bauer as an evil man who was hated by every teammate he ever had while also treating the man like he was already guilty or this was an “open and shut case” because of the #MeToo movement that led to some women making false accusations of sexual assault against powerful men in order to get money from them while ruining their careers.
This wasn’t the case in both scenarios as Lindsey Hill’s accusations were already proven fake and it ultimately cost Bauer tens of millions of dollars due to his suspensions and legal fees.
It was also proven false that he was hated by his teammates as many of them grew to like Bauer and he seems to maintain positive relationships with former teammates like Jose Ramirez and Mike Clevanger, who played with him during his stint in Cleveland.
Bauer, 32, is currently pitching overseas for the Nippon Professional Baseball’s Yokohama DeNA BayStars and he has proven that he can still go with the best as he was named an All-Star in his first professional season since 2021. He holds a 10-4 record as of August 27th – his last start before injuring his hip – while owning a stellar 2.75 earned run average.
MLB Scouts should come knocking on Bauer’s door following his triumphant return to baseball and, when the inevitable happens, his return to the states will be one that will steal every headline in the sports world.