The DeNA BayStars have acquired unsigned 2020 National League Cy Young winner Trevor Bauer on a one-year deal worth an estimated 400 million yen ($3 million) including incentives, the Central League club announced Tuesday.
The Los Angeles Dodgers released the 32-year-old in January, dumping the pitcher after his suspension for domestic violence, and remain on the hook for roughly $22 million remaining on his contract.
Other teams could have signed the pitcher with a career 83-69 record and a 3.79 ERA for the cost of just $720,000 this year, but no MLB team agreed to take on Bauer.
DeNA, however, said it decided to snap up the right-hander after running several checks and concluding that his signing would pose no problem.
Bauer's MLB suspension, a record 324 games, was handed down after his abusive relationship with a woman came to light when a judge ruled on the woman's request for a restraining order and Bauer declined to deny her allegations under oath. He maintains that everything that happened between the two of them was consensual.
By that time Bauer had already been suspended by the Dodgers pending further investigation. In January, an arbitrator reduced his suspension to 194 games, and the Dodgers decided to cut him loose and pay him off rather than allow him to continue playing for them.
"I can't tell you how excited I am to be playing for the BayStars this year," Bauer said. "Playing in the NPB has always been a dream of mine, and I can't think of a better organization to do it with."
Bauer made his MLB debut with the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2012 and logged 11 wins or more for five straight seasons, starting in 2015 when he was at the Cleveland Indians, now the Cleveland Guardians.
"It's a great shock. I can't help being excited imagining we get to see those pitches at Yokohama Stadium," BayStars skipper Daisuke Miura said.
