Trevor Bauer Makes Desperate Pitch to MLB Teams For Another Chance

Former Cy Young winner Trevor Bauer has gone from Japan to Mexico in an attempt to revitalize his career after being barred from the MLB for two years due to violating the league’s domestic violence policy.

And while he is now eligible to pitch for any team in the majors, no one is calling.

Following a disastrous end to his run in the NPB with the Yokohama DeNA BayStars, where he had one of the highest ERAs in the league, Bauer went to Mexico and is now back in the United States, pitching for the Long Island Ducks of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball.

Although the competition is severely lower than what he faced in Japan or even Mexico, Bauer has found early success with the Ducks, throwing a no-hitter two weeks ago in a seven-inning game against Lancaster Stormers.

Bauer, who is drawing crowds for the Ducks, isn’t content to stay in the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball for long, as he’s continued to pitch himself to potential teams on social media since returning to the United States.

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On Friday, Bauer threw out a masked hypothetical for any MLB team to give him a chance.

“Hypothetical: You're the owner of an MLB team,” Bauer started his message. “I offer to take $0 salary and sign a minor league contract and go to Low A. If the ‘he sucks now’ crowd is right and I get lit up, you cut me, lose $0 and there's no risk to the big league club. If the ‘clubhouse cancer’ crowd is right, you see it immediately at Low A and cut me. You lose $0 and there's no risk to the big league club.”

Bauer even brought up that his signing could create negative PR for the franchise that signed him, and said that if it happened, he would understand getting cut.

Already, over 2 million people have viewed his veiled plea to MLB owners, and fans are wondering whether any club will answer his challenge.

“You could take away my ‘antics,'” Bauer went on. “You could take away my social media. You could ask anything of me. If I don't comply, you cut me, lose $0, and there's no risk to the big league club. What logical reason is there to not do this? At worst, you cut me and there's no risk to the big league club. At best, you get a Cy Young winner for $0 who you know can still pitch and could help the big league team if and when you see fit.”

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This story was originally published May 8, 2026 at 6:50 PM.