NEW YORK — The Yankees’ search for pitching has become part of a former Cy Young Award winner’s allegation that baseball’s highest decision-makers have kept him out of the majors.
A new report links New York and Houston to past interest in Trevor Bauer. His account of stalled comeback talks raises a different question: who stopped those discussions, and when?
The distinction matters for the Yankees, whose rotation entered 2024 with an injured ace and uncertainty behind him before the club eventually reached the World Series.
Now, a November interview and a separate report about interest during Bauer’s time in Mexico have brought those roster decisions back into focus.
Report links Yankees and Astros to Bauer
Reporter Eliezer Gonzalez Caraballo said the Yankees and Astros showed the strongest interest in signing Trevor Bauer while he pitched for the Diablos Rojos del México. Both clubs eventually withdrew without explaining their decisions, González Caraballo reported Nov. 6.
Bauer, meanwhile, told Rompiendo Sports that personnel from playoff teams wanted him this past season, but ownership or higher-level officials blocked those efforts. He did not identify the Yankees or Astros in that interview excerpt.
The Yankees connection comes from Gonzalez Caraballo’s reporting. The allegation of league interference comes from Bauer.
Describing his conversations with baseball personnel, Bauer said interest repeatedly met resistance above the people evaluating his pitching.
“We’d sign you in a heartbeat, but we’re not allowed to,” Bauer said he was told.
Bauer said people at playoff clubs were threatened with dismissal if they raised his name again. He described hearing similar accounts involving eight or 10 teams, including organizations for which he previously played.
Bauer describes a contract that disappeared
The pitcher claimed one club had approved a contract internally and planned to submit it to the league. Two days later, he said, the agreement collapsed.
“We can’t tell you what happened,” Bauer said the club told him.
He alleged that owners were unwilling to oppose Commissioner Rob Manfred because they depended on MLB to protect their franchises’ financial interests. Bauer also linked his treatment to his criticism of foreign substances and cheating scandals.
He said teams continued sending players to him for offseason instruction despite declining to employ him. He also described apologizing to Manfred during a conversation about his desire to help grow baseball.
Bauer recounted asking then-union leader Tony Clark for public support. According to him, Clark refused because endorsing his return would disadvantage another player whose job he might take.
Bauer also accused Clark of misusing player funds. His criticism of the union concerns its public advocacy; the players’ association previously filed a grievance challenging his MLB suspension.
Why the Yankees’ 2024 rotation enters the discussion
The Yankees saw Bauer firsthand on March 24, 2024. He pitched three scoreless innings at Alfredo Harp Helu Stadium in Mexico City as the Diablos Rojos beat New York 4-3.
He allowed four hits and two walks while striking out three. The outing gave Aaron Boone and the Yankees a direct look at his stuff during an exhibition trip.
Gerrit Cole missed the opening months with a right elbow injury and returned June 19. Carlos Rodon was coming off a 6.85 ERA in 14 starts in 2023. Luis Gil entered 2024 without an established full-season major league record.
Those circumstances explain the interest in revisiting that season. Caraballo’s account, however, does not establish the exact date of the Yankees’ reported pursuit or name the executive who ended it.
The report does not identify Brian Cashman or Hal Steinbrenner as the person who ended discussions. It also does not describe a disagreement between the Yankees’ general manager and owner.
Bauer’s Mexico numbers add detail beyond his unbeaten record
Bauer finished the 2024 Mexican League regular season 10-0 with a 2.48 ERA and 120 strikeouts. He won the league’s Pitcher of the Year award.
His 120 strikeouts in 83 1/3 innings translate to approximately 13 per nine innings. He averaged just under six innings across 14 starts, adding workload context to the unbeaten record.
For the Yankees discussion, those figures describe what he produced in Mexico that season. His three innings against New York were a separate exhibition appearance.
The Yankees later lost the 2024 World Series to Bauer’s former club, the Dodgers. Their 7-6 elimination in Game 5 included five unearned Los Angeles runs in the fifth inning, underscoring that the defeat extended beyond rotation depth.
Suspension ended before the latest comeback claims
Bauer signed a three-year, $102 million Dodgers contract before 2021 and posted a 2.59 ERA in 17 starts before being placed on administrative leave following sexual assault allegations.
MLB imposed a 324-game suspension in 2022. An independent arbitrator upheld a policy violation while reducing the penalty to 194 games. The Dodgers released him Jan. 12, 2023.
The arbitrator’s December 2022 decision made Bauer eligible for reinstatement. His latest allegations concern why teams have declined to sign him since that disciplinary process ended.
Bauer denied wrongdoing. Los Angeles prosecutors declined criminal charges after determining they could not prove the allegations beyond a reasonable doubt.
As of Nov. 8, 2026, Bauer is pitching for Estrellas Orientales in the Dominican winter league. He has not returned to MLB since 2021. The Yankees’ reported past interest and his allegations have renewed scrutiny of those failed comeback efforts, with the timing and decision-makers still unidentified.
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