Trevor Bauer, shunned by MLB, introduced by BayStars

Not a single Japanese reporter asked him about his suspension in the United States or the circumstances surrounding it.

Of course they wont ask, they were more than likely told ahead of time not to ask him.

Not a single Japanese reporter asked him about his suspension in the United States or the circumstances surrounding it.

Pathetic and clearly shows there is little Japanese free press. replace all the Japanese reporters with ChatGPT avatars asking questions from tablets on tripods and it would have been a more authentic new conference.

Did they at least ask him if he had tried natto?

That said, everybody deserves a chance at redemption and Bauer can make his own real life Mr. Baseball story in Japan.

But, I am sure some predictable comments will be: He was cancelled by a woke mob in the US. Japan is where woke goes to die. Japanese baseball has not been infected by a "woke " virus. Etc etc.

Sport ball is a business like everything else.

Other teams in Japan have made similar contentious signings before.

Former major league reliever Roberto Osuna — who received a 75-game suspension for violating MLB’s domestic violence policy — signed last season with the Chiba Lotte Marines. He has signed for this season with the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks.

In 1987, Dodgers relief pitcher Steve Howe, who had a career plagued with drug problems, tried to sign with the Seibu Lions. But he did not play in the country after the Japanese baseball commissioner disqualified Howe because of his history of drug abuse.

In the business of Japanese baseball, domestic violence can be overlooked but any substance abuse beyond Super Dry is a bridge too far.

Rules seem clear.

There is a portion of the media that does salacious stories about athletes and other celebs. The gossip site Friday Digital has it own sports category. But their style is not to send reporters to press conferences. Instead, it seems that their budget goes to paying for guerilla paparazzi photos that someone back at the office can spin a speculative story about, similar to TMZ in the US. The daliances of a younger Yu Darvish with pro golfers etc. or the chance to see who and where Rui Hachimura is dating are not hard news, but we readers are drawn to the highs and lows of human behavior, with Bauer being at both extremes. Will he choose to live moderately or keep sabotaging his career is the subtext to stories about him, even if reporters do not spell it out that bluntly.

Trevor was found innocent in court and did nothing wrong ethically. He’s only guilty of poor vetting of sexual partners if anything. He gave her exactly what she requested and she even came back for more. It’s disappointing that a claim found to be false in court can hurt someone’s career just because of unwanted attention and bad optics. I love his youtube and I hope he flourishes in Japan. Good luck Trevor!!

 He was cancelled by a woke mob in the US.

Hardly, if he was actually worth anything the powers that be would have overlooked it and signed him.

He is a PR nightmare that no one wants to deal with!

YubaruToday 09:03 am JST

 He was cancelled by a woke mob in the US.

Hardly, if he was actually worth anything the powers that be would have overlooked it and signed him.

He is a PR nightmare that no one wants to deal with!

The problem is the issue was domestic violence, and the courts said he did not commit what he was accused of. MLB is similar to the NFL, in that even if the courts find you not guilty you must have done somethingso they take an action not favorable to the player so their "image" is not tarnished.

It came down to him saying she asked for it, and her saying not like that. Seeing the photos of the woman afterwards, you have to wonder how someone could do that to another person even if they had been asked to. If not illegal, then certainly depraved

Trevor was found innocent in court

He was never charged with a crime.

The restraining order requested by the woman in question was never granted. There was no corroboration of wrong doing by Bauer. He admits to rough sex, but said it was consensual, and the high court agreed, shown by the result of two things: the denial of a restraining order, which essentially says they found no reason to say Bauer stalked or in any way required legal denial of access to this person and found charges lacked evidence meaning Bauer being charged as innocent till proven guilty was no reason to charge him with a crime.

What actually happened, obviously, I have no idea, and I'm not particularly a supporter of Bauer, but legally there was no basis for the woman's request for a restraining order. There were no legal criminal charges. Bauer's record on this matter is clean.

Hush money? Lawyer manipulation? Don't know.

MLB immediately shelved him as a PR nightmare before any court hearing occurred. He was never arrested, but how MLB handled it...a 324 day suspension that was reduced to 194 days by an arbitrator is an indicator MLB believed he was a bad egg, and essentially all teams said no to wanting him. Bauer always maintained he was innocent of this woman's charges, and the restraining order was unnecessary.

Could the woman have lied and been gold digger type or someone who wanted to put a public figure into a bad place. Was it petty and vindictive? We don't really know, but it surely could have been. Another woman said he choked her, as well. Was it a sexual act consensual, as he said, and women angry with Bauer for whatever reason? Could have been, again, we really don't know.

At any rate, Bauer has a chance to play again. That Japan skips any talk of wrong doing is bothersome. They should be questioning him, and at least bringing up some caution to the public so they understand Bauer has been suspended by MLB previously, and why.

It isn't something to sweep under the rug and ignore.

At the same time, the court found Bauer not worth charging with a crime and no restraining order says legally, he was wronged by the incident, even though many in the court of public opinion immediately assumed his guilt.

He was never charged with a crime.

Enough said. I hope he does well here.

He was never charged with a crime.

There is a long list of professional athletes that have never been charged with crimes that have received penalties from their respective "leagues" for conduct issues.

Ever heard of DeShaun Watson ? Hell lets stick with baseball, Barry Bonds?

Given his track record, maybe posing with a clenched fist wasn't the best idea. Is it his trademark?

Yokohama has not won a title in 25 years

and they won't win for another 25 years by signing scrubs like this guy.

Ever heard of DeShaun Watson ? Hell lets stick with baseball, Barry Bonds?

I have heard of DeShaun Watson. Isn't he the guy who has a 230 million guaranteed contract from the Cleveland Browns...not the team he was playing with when allegations of his behavior broke out?

Bonds? Are you talking steroids vs. sexual abuse allegations? That's an even bigger red herring to fish.

The point really is, there is always a chance the famous guy is guilty and also the chance an accuser is a gold digger or may be vindictive for other reasons. We have no idea of the stability of the accuser, and I'm not saying Bauer isn't a bad egg, but we don't know.

Your accusatory tone and comparative statement is pure bias and narrative, without giving Bauer any fair shot of what happened. Do you actually know what he did? Perhaps the dismissal of the court cases were because he is telling the truth and is not guilty of anything.