Dodgers right-hander Trevor Bauer will not face criminal charges in the Los Angeles court system following a five-month police investigation into sexual assault allegations made against him, according to Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times.
Major League Baseball's investigation into the accusations remains ongoing, with Shaikin noting that commissioner Rob Manfred is "widely expected" to suspend Bauer under the league's domestic violence and sexual assault policy. A player does not have to be charged with a crime in order for the commissioner to suspend them.
As Shaikin reported:
Under baseball's domestic violence and sexual assault policy, Manfred is empowered to suspend a player judged to have violated the policy even if the player has not been charged or convicted. In 2019, for instance, Dodgers pitcher Julio Urias was arrested on suspicion of misdemeanor domestic battery after witnesses claimed he shoved his girlfriend to the ground in a Beverly Center parking lot. The woman said she fell. Urias was not charged, but Manfred suspended him for 20 games.
MLB has since issued the following statement on the matter, according to Britt Ghiroli of The Athletic: "MLB's investigation is ongoing and we will comment further at the appropriate time."
Bauer has since released a statement in the form of a YouTube video. The Athletic's Fabian Ardaya transcribed it here.
Bauer, 31 years old, signed a three-year contract with the Dodgers last offseason worth $102 million. He made 17 starts with the club, the most recent coming on June 28, before being placed on administrative leave shortly thereafter when the Pasadena Police Department opened an investigation into the aforementioned accusations. (Content warning: the previous link features graphic and disturbing details about the alleged sexual assault.)
At the time, the accuser had obtained a restraining order against Bauer; that order was lifted in August by Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Dianna Gould-Saltman.
Bauer missed the Dodgers' final 81 games.
