Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Trevor Bauer was suspended for 324 games without pay, with Major League Baseball (MLB) citing its domestic violence policy on Friday.

Under the MLB domestic violence policy, a player does not need to be charged or convicted in order for the league to enact a punishment and players may appeal to an arbitrary panel.

Bauer stated that he intends to appeal while continuing to deny any wrongdoing.

“In the strongest possible terms, I deny committing any violation of the league’s domestic violence & sexual assault policy,” Bauer said through Twitter on Friday. “I am appealing this action and expect to prevail. As we have throughout this process, my representatives and I respect the confidentiality of the proceedings.”

The 324 games amount to two MLB seasons, meaning Bauer would not be able to return to the field until 2024, for which he would be a free agent.

If the suspension holds, the Dodgers would be without Bauer’s services through the duration of the league-record three-year, $102 million contract.

Without the unpaid suspension, the Dodgers would have still owed Bauer $64 million over the next two seasons.

In a statement, the Dodgers said:

“Today we were informed that MLB has concluded its investigation into allegations that have been made against Trevor Bauer, and the Commissioner has issued his decision regarding discipline. The Dodgers organization takes all allegations of this nature very seriously and does not condone or excuse any acts of domestic violence or sexual assault. We’ve cooperated fully with MLB’s investigation since it began, and we fully support MLB’s Joint Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault, and Child Abuse Policy, and the Commissioner’s enforcement of the Policy. We understand that Trevor has the right to appeal the Commissioner’s decision. Therefore, we will not comment further until the process is complete.”

On April 25, Bauer filed a defamation lawsuit against both his accuser Lindsey Hill and her attorney, claiming they intended to “destroy” his reputation and career.

“Ms. Hill’s motives for making her false claims and statements are now clear,” The lawsuit reads. “She wanted to destroy Mr. Bauer’s reputation and baseball career, garner attention for herself, and extract millions of dollars from Mr. Bauer.”

Prior to this suspension, Bauer had been placed on administrative leave since July 2, 2021.

The Los Angeles District Attorney’s office concluded that it would not file criminal charges against Bauer in February after reviewing all available information from the Pasadena Police Department’s investigation.

Advertising disclosure: We may receive compensation for some of the links in our stories. Thank you for supporting LA Weekly and our advertisers.