Trevor Bauer signs with pro baseball team in United States amid MLB return hopes

Trevor Bauer is once again a professional baseball player in the United States.

The Long Island Ducks of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball announced that the 2020 National League Cy Young Award winner will pitch for them this season.

"I'm looking forward to competing in front of U.S. fans again this season," said Bauer. "The Ducks have had some incredible players come through their organization, and I'm excited to be part of that tradition."

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Some of those players include Dontrelle Willis, Daniel Murphy, Rich Hill, and Eric Gagne. New York Mets legends Gary Carter and Bud Harrelson both managed the team, with the latter also being a part-owner.

The team announced that Bauer will start the team's first game on April 21 and be mic'd up for all games and practices "for the purposes of content creation to be featured on his and the team's social media and streaming outlets."

"We are excited to welcome Trevor to Long Island," said Ducks President/CBO Michael Pfaff. "His talent and knowledge will be important additions to our ballclub, and we are happy to offer him this opportunity to showcase his talents to MLB clubs while giving fans unprecedented access to Ducks baseball."

This June will mark five years since Bauer, as the reigning Cy Young Award winner, last appeared in an MLB game. On June 28 of that year, he tossed six innings of two-run ball while striking out eight batters, recording the win. Two days later, he was hit with sexual assault allegations, which eventually led to a 324-game suspension (the equivalent of two seasons), which was reduced to 184, for violating the league's Joint Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault and Child Abuse Policy.

Bauer pitched in Japan in both 2023 and 2025, while a stint in Mexico came in 2024. He pitched to a 2.59 ERA and 9.2 K/9 in Japan in 2023, and in Mexico, those numbers improved to 2.48 and 13.0. Last year in Japan, though, his ERA shot up to 4.41, and he struck out just 8.2 batters per nine innings.

Nearly two years ago, Bauer said he "may have no other choice" but to sue Major League Baseball "if I continue being kept out" of the league. Bauer has said he'd "play for the league minimum," but he has yet to sign with an MLB team.

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"Anyone that's willing to sit down with me and listen: I'd like to play the second half of my career in a better way than I played the first half," Bauer told Fox News Digital in January 2024. "I'd like to be an example that you can make mistakes, recognize them, adjust and then be better in the future. I think that's something us as humans have to do and should be doing constantly."

Bauer has maintained his innocence, settling with one accuser while another is facing 16 years in prison after being charged with fraud following faking a pregnancy and asking Bauer for money for an abortion.

Bauer and Lindsey Hill, who accused the pitcher of beating and sexually abusing her in 2021, settled their case in late 2023. Bauer revealed texts from Hill, who said that Bauer would be her "next victim," among other damning messages. Hill has since said that MLB has more evidence of Bauer's alleged misconduct. 

Last June, Hill was ordered to pay Bauer more than $300,000 for violating settlement terms. Hill breached their settlement agreement with each other by discussing Bauer on podcasts and in public appearances, the Los Angeles Times reported.

He most recently called out MLB after Pete Rose and other deceased former ballplayers were taken off the league's permanently ineligible list.

"So, since Pete is welcome back now, does that go for everyone who has been blackballed?" Bauer asked on X. "Or do you actually have to be guilty of something to qualify for that?"

At the time of the allegations, Bauer was pitching to a 2.59 ERA with the Dodgers.

Fox News' Scott Thompson contributed to this report.

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