Former MLB pitcher Trevor Bauer is back in the headlines, and he's dragged the Philadelphia Phillies in with him. Bauer, who is currently pitching for the Long Island Ducks of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, claimed on Twitter/X on May 7 that MLB blocked the Phillies from signing him back in 2024.
"I would love to play for Philly," Bauer wrote. "It was actually a done deal in 2024 before the league blocked it."
Bauer's statement on X prompted a popular Phillies fan account, @PhilsTailgate, to speculate on the veracity of Bauer's claim.
"I don’t know how true (Bauer's words are), but this is also the team that willingly signed Jeurys Familia & Odubel Herrera post domestic violence suspensions," the account wrote.
Trevor Bauer claims that the Phillies were going to sign him in 2024 until the league blocked the signing.
— Phillies Tailgate (@PhilsTailgate) May 9, 2026
I don’t know how true this is, but this is also the team that willingly signed Jeurys Familia & Odubel Herrera post domestic violence suspensions. pic.twitter.com/oQEDrQiC5b
Trevor Bauer links himself to Phillies in alleged 2024 blocked signing
The reason @PhilsTailgate brought up Familia and Herrera was that both guys, as well as Bauer, have previously been suspended by the league due to MLB's Joint Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault, and Child Abuse Policy.
Bauer last pitched in MLB in June 2021 as a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers. MLB placed Bauer on administrative leave on July 2, 2021, while opening an internal investigation into sexual assault allegations made against Bauer. He was released by the Dodgers in January 2023.
Bauer then moved his career to Japan, pitching for the NPB's Yokohama Bay Stars in 2023 and 2025, bookending a 2024 season spent in the Mexican League with Diablos Rojos del México.
Bauer's latest stint with the Ducks represents what some believe to be his final chance to audition for an MLB team, whereas others have speculated that Bauer has been effectively shadowbanned by MLB and won't ever pitch in the majors again.
Phillies fans aren't shying away from destroying Trevor Bauer on Twitter/X
Fans can't help but be fascinated by this Bauer saga that involves a former Cy Young winner falling off the MLB map within a year or two of winning the award at 29 years old.
It's obvious that Bauer has been presenting himself online as wholly deserving of another MLB chance, with this latest comment linking himself to the Phillies an outright attempt to brand himself as a guy who teams are absolutely interested in. Again, it's unclear how true Bauer's statement on the Phillies was, but what is clear is that Phillies fans aren't having it. "Literally never happened," Phillies fan @kesh25 wrote in response to the @PhilsTailgate post, "Bauer is washed and a creep. He's desperate for attention now."
Another Phils fan, @tinadoy88, even thanked the MLB office for blocking Bauer's alleged deal with the Phillies: "Well I never thought that I would say this but- i would like to wholeheartedly thank the league if that’s true." Some fans, like @jeffmontAA, ignored Bauer's off-the-field controversies entirely, opting instead to argue that Bauer isn't good at baseball anymore: "Trevor Bauer was literally by the numbers the worst pitcher in Japan in 2025," @jeffmontAA wrote. "I legit have no idea why this is a discussion".
Trevor Bauer's MLB career may indeed have ended in 2021
Selected third overall by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 2011 MLB draft, Bauer became the first member of that draft class to make his MLB debut on June 28, 2012. Bauer was traded to the Cleveland Guardians (then Indians) in December 2012, with whom he made an All-Star team in 2018. The following season (2019), Cleveland traded Bauer to the Cincinnati Reds at the trade deadline. In his 2021 free agency, Bauer signed a three-year, $102 million deal with the Dodgers.
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