After a remarkable season in the Liga Mexicana de Beisbol, Trevor Bauer has options should he want to play baseball over the winter.
At least two winter ball teams, the Naranjeros de Hermosillo of the Liga ARCO Mexicana del Pacifico and the Aguilas Cibaenas of LIDOM, have shown interest in the 2020 Cy Young Award winner. He has been playing with the Diablos Rojos del Mexico in Mexico City this summer.
The Naranjeros de Hermosillo selected Bauer with the first selection in the LAMP import draft last week, which gives them the rights to sign the pitcher for the 2024-25 season. Based in Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico, the Naranjeros won the 2023-24 LAMP title and appeared at the 2024 Caribbean Series in Miami, where they finished sixth in group play with a 2-4 record.
“Regarding the winter league, I’m not sure yet,” Bauer said on a June 24 Zoom call with reporters. “I have to finish the season. I want to focus on winning the championship here, and then I’ll see what I do after that. I’m not making any decisions right now.”
Irving Furlong of Séptima Entrada, a website covering baseball in Mexico, noted that the Naranjeros, chasing their 18th LAMP title this coming season, are extremely interested in Bauer.
“We are going to wait, and it is something that is very clear. …He has the championship with the Diablos in mind. After that, we are going to continue talking about the possibility of bringing him,” Naranjeros general manager Francisco Gámez told Séptima Entrada during the Naranjeros’ visit to Mexico City to celebrate their most recent championship. “If everything goes well, it would be for the second half, possibly, after he rests and the playoffs. It is something that we see as a possibility.”
The LAMP plays a 68-game regular season that begins in October, divided into two halves. The second half of the 2024-25 season will start in mid-November. Hermosillo opens the 2024-25 season with an October 11 home game against the Yaquis de Obregon.
And while the Naranjeros’ interest in Bauer was making news in Mexico, SeptimaEntrada also reported that officials from the Aguilas Cibaenas, one of six teams in the Dominican Republic’s LIDOM, met with Bauer and his agent in Mexico City.
“Yes, we have talked with the teams from the Dominican Republic, but we have not seriously discussed playing. Many of the teams from the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, and Mexico have contacted us,” Bauer told Séptima Entrada. “Again, (…) I will not decide anything until the season is over. I don’t want to be distracted from what is happening here.”
“Sí, hemos hablado con los equipos de República Dominicana” 🇩🇴 Trevor Bauer ha sido contactado por los equipos de LIDOM y este sábado recibió la visita de las Águilas Cibaeñas 🦅 https://t.co/7z7r4hBeuj pic.twitter.com/ZOfuYsdmSb
— Séptima Entrada (@septimaentrada_) July 2, 2024
So far this season, Bauer has turned in one of the most dominant pitching performances in baseball history, going 10-0 in 13 starts with a 1.78 ERA in 81 innings of work, with 117 strikeouts against just 20 walks. He leads the LMB in wins and ERA and has publicly stated that his goals with the Diablos are to win the pitching triple crown and the Serie del Rey this season.
For the Aguilas Cibaenas, acquiring elite pitching is priority No. 1 this offseason. After a 5-11 start to the 2023-24 season, the Aguilas parted ways with manager Jose Leger and put MLB veteran Tony Pena at the helm for the rest of the season. The Aguilas finished 22-28 and missed the round-robin playoffs for the first time since 2015-16.
Irving Furlong of Septima Entrada also noted that Bauer has received interest from the Tiburones de La Guaira of the Liga Venezolana Beisbol Profesional, the team managed by former Chicago White Sox and Miami Marlins manager Ozzie Guillen. The club captured the 2024 Caribbean Series title in Miami with a 3-0 win over LIDOM’s Tigres del Licey in the championship game.
Bauer is expected to make four more starts for the Diablos Rojos del Mexico before the regular season ends. He’s slated to start next on Wednesday, July 10, against the Bravos de León.
While Bauer has repeatedly expressed his desire to return to Major League Baseball, no team has yet to fulfill that desire.
He received a 324-game suspension, later reduced to 192 games, under Major League Baseball’s Joint Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault, and Child Abuse Policy after he was accused by four different women of violently assaulting them during sexual encounters.
Shortly after Bauer’s debut in the LMB, one of Bauer’s accusers, Darcy Adanna Esemonu, was indicted in Maricopa County, Ariz., on charges of fraud and extortion related to a demand for $3.6 million and a lawsuit she subsequently filed against the pitcher after Bauer allegedly impregnated her.
Bauer has repeatedly denied the allegations and has never been indicted, arrested, or convicted of a crime related to the accusations that have dogged him. MLB’s investigation that led to Bauer’s record suspension has never been released, as the results of investigations under the policy are confidential.
The allegations have turned Bauer into a pitcher in exile, plying his trade abroad, first in Japan in 2023 and again this year in Mexico, while hoping an MLB team will come calling again.
Photo Credit: Trevor Bauer #27 of the Los Angeles Dodgers reacts to striking out Trent Grisham #2 of the San Diego Padres to end the sixth inning of a game at PETCO Park on June 23, 2021 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
