Warning: The following article contains strong language and allegations of domestic violence and sexual assault.
The Los Angeles Dodgers’ decision to designate Trevor Bauer for assignment, announced Friday, is neither cruel and unusual nor reparations, though it is likely to be presented as one or the other. It is the context-specific consequence of his actions, hopefully the last — and not merely latest — public chapter of unknowable private anguish. It’s the right thing, but it’s not a good thing.
The Dodgers signed Bauer — already controversial for his self-styled, iconoclastic approach to baseball and his odious online behavior — to a three-year deal ahead of the 2021 season.