Dodgers pitcher Trevor Bauer will not face criminal charges on allegations of sexual assault, but his baseball future remains decidedly cloudy.
The 2020 NL Cy Young Award winner remains on administrative leave amid a league investigation into claims made by a woman who said Bauer injured her during rough sex that began as consensual.
On Thursday, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said during a media appearance that he doesn't expect Bauer back in Los Angeles anytime soon -- if ever.
Roberts, appearing on the Rich Eisen Show, said he is proceeding as if Bauer is out for the foreseeable future, if he returns at all. Instead, veteran ace Clayton Kershaw will take Bauer's place in the rotation, Roberts added.
Bauer, 31, hasn't pitched since late June 2021, when the league moved to sideline him after a California judge granted his accuser a temporary ex parte restraining order.
The court later denied the woman's petition for a long-term restraining order, and prosecutors in Los Angeles County declined to bring charges against Bauer.
The former Diamondbacks, Guardians and Reds pitcher could still face punishment under the league's personal conduct policy, however, though the time frame for when that could be announced and for how long he could be ruled out was unclear.
Bauer, who signed a three-year, $102 million deal with the Dodgers prior to last season, was paid the entirety of his salary in 2021, and presumably will be again in '22.
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