Trevor Bauer's Dodgers Release Was 'Unanimous' Team Decision, Stan Kasten Says

There was apparently no disagreement within the Los Angeles Dodgers front office when it came to releasing Trevor Bauer.

"You know, this wasn't unanimous out in the real world—among fans, among the media or whatnot," Dodgers president and CEO Stan Kasten told reporters Wednesday, per Alden Gonzalez of ESPN. "But the decision we reached was unanimous among the people that are charged with having to make this decision."

Kasten also said he believes Los Angeles "made the right decision."

The 32-year-old pitcher was released less than a month after he was reinstated by MLB in December following a 194-game suspension for violating the league's domestic violence and sexual abuse policy.

Bauer previously said in a statement after he was designated for assignment that some Dodgers executives "wanted me to return and pitch for the team this year," per Gonzalez.

However, Los Angeles released him just six days after that when it was unable to trade him.

"I'm not going to get into contradicting or agreeing with anything about what was supposed to be a private conversation," Kasten said of Bauer's comments. "I'll just say within a very short time we came back and made our decision. I think that speaks for itself."

He also said the front office discussed the decision regarding the right-hander with a "representative sample" of players, coaches, staff members and fans before coming to a conclusion.

Los Angeles signed Bauer to a three-year, $102 million contract before the 2021 season and still remains responsible for $22.5 million of his $32 million salary for 2023 after releasing him.

MLB suspended him for two seasons in April following an investigation into a woman accusing him of choking her until she was unconscious during consensual sex before he punched and penetrated her without her consent.

Two additional women then came forward with similar accusations against the pitcher, who denied the allegations and filed an appeal.

He was reinstated when an arbitrator reduced the suspension to 194 games in December. MLB released a statement that said "While we believe a longer suspension was warranted, MLB will abide by the neutral arbitrator's decision, which upholds baseball's longest-ever active player suspension for sexual assault or domestic violence."

Bauer last pitched in a game in June 2021, and Jon Heyman of the New York Post reported in January that a baseball decision-maker said it may take a "team on another planet" for someone to sign him.