Los Angeles Dodgers Have Until Friday to Make Decision on Trevor Bauer

The Los Angeles Dodgers have until the end of the business day Friday to either reinstate or release Trevor Bauer. According to USA Today's Bob Nightengale, if the Dodgers are unable to find a team that is willing to trade for him, they are expected to release him and pay the remaining $22.5 million left on his contract.

The Los Angeles Dodgers have until the end of the business day Friday to either reinstate or release Trevor Bauer.

According to USA Today's Bob Nightengale, if the Dodgers are unable to find a team that is willing to trade for him, they are expected to release him.

The Los Angeles #Dodgers have until the end of the business day on Friday to reinstate or release Trevor Bauer.
If they are unable to find a team willing to acquire him in a trade, they remain expected to release him. He is owed $22.5 million in 2023.

— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) January 5, 2023

If the Dodgers release Bauer, they will owe him $22.5 million in 2023, the final year of his three-year contract that he signed with the club prior to the 2020 Major League Baseball season.

With the Dodgers eating his salary, he could become an attractive addition to a number of clubs that would have the chance to acquire a former National League Cy Young Award winner, at a discount.

Bauer made 17 starts for the Dodgers in 2021, logging an 8-5 record, 2.59 ERA and 1.00 WHIP over 107.2 innings, before he was placed on administrative leave after he received allegations of sexual assault. Bauer was later suspended, but recently had his suspension reduced by an arbiter, making him eligible to play immediately in 2023.

The Dodgers are coming off a franchise-record, 111-win season. The San Diego Padres are hoping to close the gap, after defeating the Dodgers in the National League Division Series, despite finishing with 22 fewer wins than their rival a season ago.

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