Trevor Bauer Settles 'The Athletic' Lawsuit After Fractured Skull Details Are Clarified

Embattled pitcher Trevor Bauer has settled his defamation lawsuit against sports website, The Athletic. This comes after the New York Times-owned site agreed to clarify its June 2021 covering a restraining order filed against Bauer, per Front Office Sports.

The article — titled “Graphic details, photos emerge in restraining order filed against Dodgers pitcher Trevor Bauer” — described court documents in which a woman seeking a restraining order against the pitcher described “significant head and facial trauma.” This included a claim that there were signs of a basilar skull fracture.

This article led Bauer to sue the site and one of its reporters, Molly Knight. However, Knight wasn't one of the article's co-writers, but was part of the suit due to a tweet posted to her personal Twitter account in which she wrote it was "not possible to consent to a fractured skull.”

She has since deleted that tweet.

Bauer And His Team Are Reportedly Pleased With The Outcome

Front Office Sports reported that the defamation suit had been settled, but no money was changing hands. Instead, Bauer was pleased with an editor's note attached to the top of the story.

The note dispels the implication of a skull fracture. This was because further CT scans found no evidence of such a fracture.

“This story was an account of legal papers filed by a California woman who claimed she had been injured by Trevor Bauer during rough sex," the new editor's note reads "The story has been revised to clarify that a CT scan found no evidence the woman suffered a skull fracture, and emergency room medical records attached to the woman’s request concluded she suffered no such fracture. The Athletic did not intend to state or imply that the woman suffered a fractured skull.”

With the clarification made and Knight's tweet deleted, the former Cy Young Winner was reportedly pleased with how the situation shook out.

“This was never about money; it was about media reporting and verification standards,” an unnamed source told Front Office Sports. “He and his team are pleased with the outcome and happy that this matter has been amicably resolved.”

Bauer has faced numerous accusations of sexual assault but has not been charged. However, the MLB still dealt him a 324-game suspension.

The league reinstated Bauer following his suspension, but the Los Angeles Dodgers soon released him. After not signing as a free agent, Bauer signed with Japan's Yokohama DeNA BayStars.

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