3 Trevor Bauer destinations if Dodgers get out of contract

2. New York Yankees

We really should not be able to do a list of “MLB teams that are historically hospitable to domestic abusers,” but based on what they’ve been willing to ignore in the past, the New York Yankees certainly qualify.

Embarrassingly, it’s Bauer’s price tag and not his behavior that could leave him undesirable for Brian Cashman’s modern Bronx Bombers.

After all, the Yankees traded for Aroldis Chapman at a tremendous discount after news of his domestic violence suspension leaked, then signed him again after the 2016 season, reaping his benefit multiple times. They also restructured Chapman’s contract after it might’ve expired following the 2019 season; for better or worse, they’ve long been all-in on the star closer with a sordid past.

The team has also stood by right-hander Domingo German, a fringe member of their rotation whose public domestic violence display at a fundraiser was spotted by Joe Torre’s disciplinary team in 2019, resulting in a suspension that knocked him out of the 2019 postseason and all of 2020.

Somehow, he, too, has returned to the Yankees.

If the Yankees took a chance on Bauer’s behavior, it would not be the first time, and they continue to seek a No. 2 starter as Luis Severino’s rehab takes him in and out of action. Anything close to Bauer’s current cost, though, would be untenable for the modern Yanks, and his historic feud with Cole — which dates back far beyond his Astros days to the UCLA rotation — could stop this union short regardless.

Still, never count the splash-worthy Yankees out if they see a chance to grab a troubled arm at a significant bargain.