When the Los Angeles Dodgers held an introductory press conference at Dodger Stadium after signing Trevor Bauer to a record-setting contract, president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman assured he and team president Stan Kasten spoke with the volatile pitcher about his past transgressions.
“Hopefully, over the last six-plus years, some trust and credibility has been built up in terms of the research that we do on players and the vetting process that we go through in terms of talking to teammates, talking to clubhouse guys, talking to trainers,” Friedman said at the time.
“We get as much information as we can on players.
The Dodgers’ vetting process has since come into question with Bauer facing allegations of sexual assault. The Pasadena Police Department and Major League Baseball are conducting separate investigations into Bauer, who remains on paid administrative leave.
With his court hearing now underway, Kasten reportedly sent an email to Dodgers employees to address the topic of Bauer, per ESPN’s Tisha Thompson and Alden Gonzalez:
But in an internal e-mail sent to hundreds of team employees on Monday afternoon, a copy of which was obtained by ESPN, Dodgers president Stan Kasten began by writing: “During the past couple of months, we have all been deeply troubled by the allegations that have been made against Trevor Bauer.”
Kasten added that the organization has chosen not to comment “in order to allow the legal process and MLB’s investigation to proceed without interference,” later adding that the organization “takes all allegations of this nature very seriously and does not condone or excuse any acts of domestic violence or sexual assault.”
Kasten also said in the e-mail that the team “had no knowledge of the temporary restraining order that was issued against Bauer and placed under seal in Ohio, or of the allegations made in connection with that order, until recent reports.”
From the time it was reported that a temporary restraining order was in place, the Dodgers have deferred to MLB in the handling of Bauer. Manager Dave Roberts initially said the team was planning on having the right-hander still start against the Washington Nationals at the beginning of July, because it was what the league had instructed.
The Dodgers have largely remained mum on the situation since Bauer has been on administrative leave. That was extended for a fifth time last week and now runs through Friday, when it presumably will be pushed back once again.
Manfred admonishes Kasten
Bauer’s administrative leave began while the Dodgers were in Washington D.C. for not only the start of a road trip but visit to the White House as well. Because of that, Kasten was among the team’s executives who were on hand.
Some of his first remarks made light of the situation and that led to MLB commissioner Rob Manfred expressing his frustration and disappointment with Kasten during the All-Star Game festivities.
Have you subscribed to the Dodger Blue YouTube channel? Be sure to ring the notification bell to watch player interviews, participate in shows and giveaways, and more!
