Will Trevor Bauer sue MLB over being frozen out of the league?

Baseball fans are an emotional bunch. You ride with your team until the bitter end, no matter what. Even if, perhaps especially if, you are faced with evidence that another team is better or more deserving of your support. No matter. You have made your bed, and you lie in it.

Trevor Bauer has driven home these feelings more than any other player in recent years. He caused a guttural response, based more on emotion than any facts or reason, that has exposed deep divisions in the MLB fanbase.

Should Bauer come back into the MLB fold? If this were any other player, the response would be obvious. No charges filed, all investigations clear, talent out the wazoo. But this isn’t any other player. It is Trevor Bauer. And therein lies a problem that could come back to bite MLB on the proverbial tuchus.

The legal basis for a lawsuit

According to Bill James, the father of Sabrmetrics, and something of an analytical boffin to say the least, the league may be leaving themselves wide open to a billion-dollar lawsuit by not championing Bauer’s return.

In a series of tweets, James wrote, “MLB may now be in a position where, if they don’t actively encourage someone to sign Trevor Bauer, they could be setting themselves up to lose a billion-dollar lawsuit. Bauer, it seems to me, can truthfully argue that he lost many millions of $ as a direct consequence of his original suspension, and that his original suspension was a result of a flawed and hasty investigation, whereas MLB had a legal responsibility to do a thorough and unbiased investigation before taking action against him - thus, that THEY are responsible for whatever income he lost because of that. I’m not saying that he would win that lawsuit, but I wouldn’t be too confident that he wouldn’t, either. I believe MLB should act NOW to mitigate that risk.”

This has caused a huge backlash both for and against James and Bauer in the Twitterverse, with emotive responses coming thick and fast. But for a reasonable viewer, you must evaluate James’ statement on its own merits and admit that he has a point.

Whether you like Bauer or not, it would seem that he at the very least has a case against not only MLB but the LA Dodgers and most importantly the MLB Players Association, who is legally bound to defend players’ rights. Any lawsuit may result in decades of wrangling and a less-than-satisfactory outcome for either side, but the very fact that it is possible should see the league take steps to get out in front of the problem.

Trevor Bauer’s response

When asked about his thoughts on the matter, Bauer said that he didn’t want to go that way, but stopped short of ruling it out.

“I’d really prefer not to go this route, but if I continue being kept out of baseball as I currently am, I may have no other choice,” said Bauer. “Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that, and I’m allowed to return to my career that was taken from me over provably false allegations that never held any merit to begin with.”

One reason that has often been given by his opponents for the continued freeze-out of Bauer around the league is his apparent refusal to ask forgiveness or admit culpability. This may fly in the face of reason, considering that he was not found to be guilty of anything and he steadfastly proclaims his innocence, but MLB wants a “team player” and sometimes that means humility.

But is that really true? Bauer has admitted that, despite remaining adamant that he never committed any crime, he needed to “look in the mirror” and even offered to sign for any MLB club and “play for the league minimum.”

In January, Bauer said, “Anyone that’s willing to sit down with me and listen: I’d like to play the second half of my career in a better way than I played the first half. I’d like to be an example that you can make mistakes, recognize them, adjust and then be better in the future. I think that’s something us as humans have to do and should be doing constantly.”

David Wells in Bauer’s corner

Trevor Bauer has at least one advocate, and it is a pretty big one. Former New York Yankees ace David Wells, who threw the 15th perfect game in MLB history, thinks that the league is all out of excuses.

“He was a hell of a pitcher. He should go in. I mean look at all these guys in the past who crap all over themselves and get in trouble. And they got second, third, fourth chances. Why would you not take a chance on a guy? I mean, if I was an owner and I saw the ability in this guy, and he’s not gonna be a distraction to the team, and he’s going to go out and pitch, why wouldn’t you give him a second chance? I believe in second chances as long as they’re solidified and his was solidified.”

Addressing Bauer’s accusers, one of whom admitted targeting Bauer for his money and another who is currently facing 16 years in prison for trying to defraud Bauer by claiming that he had gotten her pregnant as a ruse to sue him, Wells said, “In sports, you get targeted so much by so many bad people out there. You just got to be able to cover your tracks and try to make the right decisions. And because we’re targets. Athletes are targets. I don’t care – men or women, you’re targets.”

While it is not certain that the league and team owners colluded to keep Bauer out of MLB, it may not be necessary to prove that they did for him to win a lawsuit. Under the purview of an employment tribunal, Bauer can readily demonstrate that he is clearly the most qualified candidate for a job and the fact that he was not hired speaks to a culture of bias. If this were any other industry, an executive at a bank or Ford or CocaCola, there would be no question and he would win a fortune. The onus, in such a case, would be on the league and teams to show why Bauer was not the most qualified candidate, and for a former Cy Young winner who is setting pitching records left and right in Mexico, that may be impossible to do.