Bauer settled lawsuit against The Athletic, former reporter

Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Trevor Bauer. Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Trevor Bauer settled defamation lawsuit against The Athletic, former reporter

By Jason Clinkscales | Last updated 6/28/23

Trevor Bauer, the one-time Cy Young winner, has settled his defamation lawsuit against The Athletic, former reporter Molly Knight, and the New York Times, according to A.J. Perez of Front Office Sports.

In June 2021, The Athletic published graphic details revealed in a restraining order by a woman Bauer had a sexual encounter with. (Bauer has always maintained his innocence.)

Bauer's legal team sued the news outlet because of tweets that Knight, one of The Athletic's former baseball writers, posted in response to its reporting of an alleged sexual assault claim against the pitcher.

As part of the settlement, The Athletic (and the Times, which owns the outlet) posted an editor's note, clarifying that there was no evidence of one of the particular details. In his reporting, Perez highlighted the note added as a result of the settlement.

This appears to be it. https://t.co/z50gwBvxX5 pic.twitter.com/B4VjaL21z7
— A.J. Perez (@byajperez) June 27, 2023

Not long after the restraining order was made public, Bauer, then with the Los Angeles Dodgers after winning the 2020 NL Cy Young with the Cincinnati Reds, was placed on administrative leave in July 2021, with seemingly weekly extensions of his leave through the end of that season.

In April 2022, Commissioner Rob Manfred announced that Bauer was to be suspended for 324 games (which amounted to two seasons) without pay for violation of the league's policy on sexual assault, domestic violence and child abuse.

Last December, that ban was reduced in arbitration to 194 games. The Dodgers designated him for assignment the following month, nearly three months before the 2023 season began. Bauer has been pitching in Japan since the Dodgers released him.

The Athletic was acquired by the New York Times in January 2022, however it has made the news due to cost-cutting layoffs and a reorganization by the parent company in early June.

The staff reduction is similar to what many other media companies have gone through in the last seven months. Knight left The Athletic in late July 2021, but has maintained a popular newsletter since her departure.

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