2021 hindsight: Inside the Trevor Bauer disaster and how the Dodgers got here
LA TimesWhat could be Trevor Bauer’s last public comment in a Dodgers uniform was uttered in frustration as the pitcher stood up to leave a videoconference following a 3-2 victory over the San Francisco Giants on June 28. “I can’t believe they didn’t ask me about f — ing Angel Hernandez,” Bauer said, making no attempt to hide his disdain for the much-maligned umpire. :: The first indication that the Dodgers were interested in Bauer came in a Dec. 16 story by The Los Angeles Times’ Jorge Castillo, who wrote that the team “would likely entertain adding Bauer only if he is open to a short-term deal.” That possibility gained steam on Jan. 20, when ESPN’s Jeff Passan tweeted that the Dodgers were “monitoring the market” for Bauer and “could be a player depending on the price.” Dodgers pitcher Trevor Bauer sits with manager Dave Roberts in Washington on July 1. In a May 9 text-message exchange that Bauer’s representatives provided to The Times, the woman told Bauer that she had “never been more turned on in my life” by him choking her. However, the standard player contract allows a team to terminate a deal should the player “fail, refuse or neglect to conform his personal conduct to the standards of good citizenship and good sportsmanship.” Questions remain about the Dodgers’ vetting process, and why an organization that President Biden described as “a pillar of American culture and American progress” in a White House ceremony on July 2 — the same day Bauer was placed on his first paid administrative leave — would sign Bauer in the first place.