Trevor Bauer is hoping Major League Baseball will give him a second chance, as the pitcher remains a free agent months after he settled a high-profile legal dispute with a woman who accused him of beating and sexually assaulting her in 2021.
Bauer appeared on Fox News Channel’s “America’s Newsroom” on Thursday and said his agents have spoken to a number of different teams but no contract or spring training invite has come to fruition just yet. He talked about making “mistakes” during his life and what he is doing to rectify them.
“I know I’ve made mistakes. That’s kinda what I’m trying to focus on,” he told anchor Bill Hemmer. “How do I get better from the experiences that I’ve had. I’ve made mistakes in my personal life. I’m really detail-oriented when it comes to baseball and my training, but I didn’t apply the same level of scrutiny to my personal life.
“I made mistakes. I agreed to do things I shouldn’t have done. I was reckless. It hurt a lot of people along the way. I made things very difficult for Major League Baseball, for the Dodgers, my teammates, my friends, family, people close to me. So, I’ve done a lot of reflecting on that and made a lot of changes in my life to address that. I’m not having casual sexual relationships anymore, for example.”
Bauer said the way he has gone about things has been wrong and pinpointed interactions he has had with reporters and on social media as being wrong.
“I also made a lot of people in the media mad,” he said. “I was very immature with how I handled things when people would write things about me I didn’t agree with. I should’ve just had a private, adult conversation with someone. I was bullied a lot as a kid. I don’t really want to get into that, but at the time I viewed a lot of my responses on social media as standing up for myself and having a voice. And I think I was just immature.
“I’ve grown up a lot, for sure. My viewpoints now are drastically different than they were five years ago, 10 years ago. Different things are important to me.”
Bauer said he has one outstanding lawsuit against him, and he and his team are confident they will win.
In the end, he is looking to get back in the majors.
“I’d love to play baseball. That’s my goal — to play baseball here in the United States. Still one of the best pitchers in the world. I’d like to compete at the highest level. I’m also really passionate about helping people, being good for the game. I think I’ve done a lot of damage, unfortunately, in the first half of my career, and I’d love a second opportunity to do things better,” he said.
Bauer pitched in Japan for the Yokohama DeNA Bay Stars in 2023. He was 11-4 in 24 appearances with 160 strikeouts and a 2.59 ERA.