Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Trevor Bauer’s administrative leave was extended Friday for a week by Major League Baseball and the players’ association.
The extension begins Sunday, the mandatory reporting date for spring training, and runs through March 19. Bauer will not report to spring training during the extension or before the mandatory reporting date.
He was placed on seven days’ paid leave July 2 under the union and MLB’s joint domestic violence and sexual assault policy after a Southern California woman said he choked her into unconsciousness, punched her repeatedly and had anal sex with her without her consent during two sexual encounters earlier last year.
MLB and the union have since agreed to several extensions.
Bauer did not pitch after June 29. He had a record of 8-2 and a 2.59 ERA in 17 appearances in his first season with the Dodgers. He was paid his $28 million salary last year.
Los Angeles prosecutors last month decided not to charge Bauer for allegedly beating and sexually abusing the San Diego woman he met through social media.
Prosecutors were unable to prove the woman’s accusations beyond a reasonable doubt, the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office said in a document concluding their investigation.
After the prosecutors’ decision, Bauer vehemently denied in a seven-minute video posted on YouTube that he abused the woman. He said the two engaged in rough sex at her suggestion and followed guidelines they agreed to in advance. Each encounter ended with them joking and her spending the night.
The Associated Press does not typically identify people who say they have been victims of sexual assault.
After winning his first Cy Young with the Cincinnati Reds in 2020, Bauer agreed to a $102 million, three-year contract to join his hometown Dodgers.