LOS ANGELES — A former Cy Young Award winner in his prime can probably be had for the bargain-basement price of $720,000, a steal of a deal for a team looking to fortify its rotation on the cheap and willing to ignore the fine print.
Trevor Bauer comes with baggage, a violation of baseball’s sexual assault and domestic violence policy that netted him a 194-game suspension, pending legal cases in which he has sued six parties for defamation and a 19-month absence from professional baseball.
But with the Dodgers deciding on Friday to cut ties with Bauer rather than face the potential backlash of retaining him, they will likely have to pay most of his $22.5 million salary for 2023, allowing another team to sign the 32-year-old right-hander for the major league minimum of $720,000.
