Apparently, dominant pitching, a Cy Young award, and a sub-3 ERA overseas still aren’t enough to escape baseball’s unofficial blacklist. In a league where second chances are handed out like sunflower seeds, one player remains the exception—not for lack of talent, but perhaps for an excess of controversy. And when critics tried to bury him in Japan’s minor leagues, in response, his manager didn’t just raise an eyebrow—she fired back.

Trevor Bauer has been getting a lot of backlash from MLB fans for the time he has spent in Japan. Some are even ready to push him into a place that Bauer would absolutely destroy. And when his manager, Rachel Luba saw this information, she flipped out.

There was a post on X suggesting that Bauer is being sent to the minor leagues in Japan. It also claimed that he would never be able to make it back to MLB. His agent replied to this saying “He was never sent down to the minor leagues. Watch his video. He made a start in their minor leagues during spring training bc his major league start got rained out. He is one of the best pitchers in the game.”

Trevor Bauer maybe 34 years old, but he has been killing it in Japan. Now, this fan wants to convince everyone that Bauer is going to the minor league in Japan. During Bauer’s time in Japan in 2023, he pitched in a total of 19 games and had a 10-4 record. His ERA was just 2.76 and ended the season with 130 strikeouts.

So, a rainout led to a spring training start in the minors—a far cry from a career-ending move. But in today’s fast-paced economy, nuance gets benched faster than a struggling reliever. Bauer isn’t fighting for relevance; he’s fighting misinformation dressed up as outrage. If dominating overseas while dodging internet fiction is a crime, then Bauer might just be the most guilty elite pitcher in baseball.

Four years later: Why isn’t Trevor Bauer in MLB?

Major League Baseball has welcomed back cheaters, brawlers, and even a few felons with open arms, provided they could still throw heat or hit bombs. Yet somehow, one of the league’s most dominant pitchers has vanished like a spitball on a humid day. His stat line was elite, but his controversies were louder, and it seems only the latter has mattered. Among the missing is the 2020 NL Cy Young winner, Bauer.

Bauer has made so much noise in the world of baseball that even politicians are turning to look at him. The problem is that Bauer isn’t visible because he’s not playing in MLB, which raises the question: Why? Congressman Eric Burlison may have answered the question for us, and this is what he thinks.

In a letter to MLB, Eric Burlison noted, “Specifically, in 2016, Mr. Bauer publicly expressed positive views about then-candidate Donald J. Trump, including comments on social media praising Trump’s campaign rhetoric and outsider status.” The congressman believes there’s more at play in Bauer’s snubbing than just allegations and emotions. He suggests that political involvement may be a key factor behind it.

Burlison also questioned Rob Manfred directly, raising concerns about MLB’s overall view on justice and how the entire situation has been handled.

And that’s where things start to smell less like justice and more like politics in pinstripes. When performance stats can’t outweigh social media sins, you have to wonder if MLB is protecting the game—or just the narrative. If being outspoken is now a bigger offense than any actual crime, then Trevor Bauer’s real mistake wasn’t what he did—it was what he dared to say.