The Los Angeles Dodgers released Trevor Bauer on Thursday, less than a week after he was designated for assignment.
Bauer, who was accused of sexual assault and previously received a two-season ban from Major League Baseball, now becomes a free agent.
The former NL Cy Young Award winner originally signed a three-year contract with the Dodgers in February 2021.
Bauer, 31, was originally hit with a 324-game suspension and was reinstated to the league in December by an arbitrator. His suspension was reduced to 194 games.
As expected, the Dodgers had failed to find a trade partner in the past week after he was DFAed. The team elaborated on its decision to designate the right-hander last week.
“The Dodgers organization believes that allegations of sexual assault or domestic violence should be thoroughly investigated, with due process given to the accused,” the organization said in a statement.
“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 available evidence in this case — one by Commissioner [Rob] 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.”
Bauer was designated for assignment on the last day of a 14-day time frame, in which the Dodgers had to decide whether or not he would be reinstated to the roster.