Steve Webb
LOS ANGELES — Trevor Bauer is suing somebody. Again. With pending lawsuits against the websites Deadspin and The Athletic already making their way through the courts, the troubled Dodger star has turned his guns on his accuser.
According to a report in today’s LA Times, the lawsuit alleges that between the two encounters at Bauer’s home last year, the woman texted a friend that “they would be able to travel to Europe together in style once she was successful in her plot to destroy Mr. Bauer by tricking him into having rough and rougher sex with her.”
The allegation that the woman set up Bauer, lied about it repeatedly, provided “altered and filtered” photographs to the court and the media, and then destroyed relevant evidence is at the heart of the lawsuit, in which he claims the woman and one of her lawyers defamed him.
This lawsuit is only the latest twist in a saga that began nearly a year ago. If Bauer’s allegations are true, he is the victim of a woman’s plot to extort money out of him. If the woman’s accusations are true, he is beyond reprehensible. The Pasadena Police Department, after investigating the matter, declined to press charges in the case. In addition, a judge lifted an earlier restraining order that had been granted to the woman.
MLB has yet to rule on the matter. Instead, the league has put Bauer on an extended administrative leave, during which time he still draws his full salary from the team without throwing a pitch on its behalf. The league’s constant heel-dragging has put the Dodgers in a no-win situation, as they cannot cut Bauer or trade him without knowing when and if he will be reinstated. So everyone has been stuck in limbo for the last year. This latest lawsuit is just the most recent twist in a saga that most Dodger fans are already weary of.
