'Playoff teams wanted me, the owners blocked it': Bauer claims he is being blackballed from MLB
Former Major League Baseball pitcher Trevor Bauer has claimed that playoff teams tried to sign him but were blocked by team owners, alleging he has been blackballed from the league. He made the remarks in an interview with the Dominican YouTube page Rompiendo Sports.
"We've talked to every team and all the baseball people, all the front office people, the GMs, the coaches, the players, they're all, 'Yeah, we want you. We want to sign you. We'd sign you in a heartbeat, but we're not allowed to,'" Bauer said. According to him, once the matter reaches the owner, the answer is no, along with an instruction not to bring it up again.
He further claimed that people on playoff teams this past year said they needed him, but were warned they would be fired on the spot if they raised his name again. Bauer said this pattern involves not one team but eight or ten teams at this point.
Bauer, who won the National League Cy Young Award in 2020, has not pitched in the major leagues since 2021. Months after signing what was then the largest deal by average annual value for a pitcher, he was hit with sexual abuse allegations.
On 28 June 2021 he threw six innings of two-run ball, striking out eight batters to record a win. Two days later he was hit with sexual assault allegations. He was eventually suspended for 324 games — the equivalent of two seasons — later reduced to 184 games, for violating the league's Joint Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault and Child Abuse Policy.
Bauer has maintained his innocence. He settled with one accuser, while another is facing 16 years in prison after being charged with fraud for allegedly faking a pregnancy and asking Bauer for money for an abortion.
In the interview Bauer also admitted he has brought negative press upon himself, citing "sticky stuff and cheating scandals," and said the bad media attention stemming from the accusations has hurt his case, even though, he claims, those involved know the accusations are false.
Bauer spent the 2026 season playing in independent ball and in Mexico, and he is now playing in the Dominican Republic. Nearly two years ago he said he might have no other choice but to sue Major League Baseball if he kept being kept out, and he has said he would play in the majors for free.
"They don't have to let me back, because they can hide behind if an organization signs me, it would just be too much negative media pressure. There's nothing I can do about it," Bauer said.
