While Trevor Bauer’s Arbitration Case Continues, Pitcher Files Motion To Dismiss Accuser’s Counterclaim

The day before he filed a motion in California federal court against his sexual assault accuser, pitcher Trevor Bauer posted a video to his official Twitter account entitled, “One Simple Trick To Become An Elite Pitcher,” where Bauer offers viewers advice on how to craft a pitching repertoire.

“Develop two strike pitches and a chase pitch,” Bauer says in the 37-second video.

The 31-year-old right-hander hasn’t climbed atop a pitching mound in over 15 months, and will watch from the sidelines while his current club, the Los Angeles Dodgers, makes another postseason run next month.

Bauer is currently serving a record 324-game suspension without pay, the result of baseball commissioner Rob Manfred’s discipline of the pitcher after the league determined Bauer violated the Joint Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault and Child Abuse Policy.

The lengthy punishment came even after the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office declined to press criminal charges against Bauer following its review of a Pasadena Police investigation, but Manfred has the authority to suspend players in violation of the collectively-bargained policy, even if they have never been charged with any crimes or been convicted in a court of law.

Bauer immediately appealed the suspension, and his arbitration hearing is still ongoing five months in, with a ruling not likely until after the World Series concludes.

In addition to fighting his ban, Bauer has been busy on the legal front, filing defamation suits against two media outlets — Deadspin and The Athletic — as well as against his accuser, a San Diego woman, and one of her attorneys. The woman filed a counterclaim in August in which she alleges that Bauer “sexually battered” her on two separate occasions in 2021 at Bauer’s Pasadena home.

But in Bauer’s latest legal move — filing a motion to dismiss the woman’s counterclaim complaint — he attached an exhibit with a video that could prove damaging to the accuser’s case, and could possibly bolster Bauer’s defense in his arbitration.

The 10-second video appears to show the woman in bed with Bauer, who is wearing a sleeping mask over his eyes. The woman smiles into the camera and there appear to be no visible bruises on her face. The video has no timestamp or date, but according to Bauer’s motion, the woman took the video herself the morning of May 16, 2o21, after the second of two sexual encounters between the woman and Bauer.

“The Pasadena Police Department recently produced a videotape that (the woman) took of herself shortly after the May 16, 2021 encounter where she appears to be willingly in bed with a sleeping Mr. Bauer, and is smirking and uninjured,” reads part of Bauer’s motion.

The contents of the video are in stark contrast to some of the allegations the woman made in her original declaration attached to a ex parte (temporary) domestic violence restraining order request, filed in June 2021, and in her counterclaim. The woman alleged that during the second encounter, she was choked to the point of unconsciousness during sex, that Bauer punched her in the face and that she was “absolutely frozen and terrified.”

“If it can be proved in the video that it is indeed Bauer and the alleged victim, I think that goes more toward the propensity of the accuser to do something like that. It might weaken the alleged victim’s case, but I don’t know if it would result in a complete dismissal of her case,” said Jeremy Evans, the chief entrepreneur officer, founder and managing attorney at California Sports Lawyer, and who is not involved in the case.

After a four-day hearing in Los Angeles County Superior Court in August 2021, a judge ruled that the woman’s original declaration was “materially misleading,” and denied the request for a permanent restraining order. The judge also dissolved the temporary restraining order. Bauer did not testify during the hearing.

But he did post a YouTube video following the district attorney’s decision not to file charges, and in the clip Bauer tells viewers that he had consensual “rough sex” with the woman on two occasions.

Bryan Freedman, who is representing the woman in her counterclaim, told the Washington Post earlier this year: “It’s not about, nor has it ever been about, the money. (The woman) is making a claim because (Bauer) has accused her of trying to extort him, and that is provably false. She has never even requested money from Bauer and his accusation of such is not only patently false but yet another form of harassment and bullying.”

It’s possible the video attached to Bauer’s motion could be or was introduced as evidence in his arbitration, a proceeding where the league presents its case and Bauer and his representatives, including Players Association counsel, present his side. Independent arbitrator Martin Scheinman will ultimately make a ruling and could uphold the suspension, reduce it or overturn the MLB ban.

If the 324-game suspension is upheld, Bauer stands to lose approximately $60 million in salary. Before the 2021 season, he signed a three-year, $102 million contract with the Dodgers. A full 324-game ban would extend past the end of his Dodgers’ deal and into 2024.