Max Scherzer Given 10-Game Suspension; Will Not Appeal

6:56pm: Major League Baseball announced Thursday evening that Mets star Max Scherzer has been suspended for ten games for “violating the prohibitions on foreign substances.” He was also fined an undisclosed amount, which Jon Heyman of the New York Post reports at $10K.
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Bellino opined that Scherzer had used “something likely more than rosin” based on its stickiness. MLB’s announcement reflected a similar sentiment. “Based on the umpires’ training to detect rosin on a pitcher’s hands, they concluded that the level of stickiness during the fourth inning check was so extreme that it was inconsistent with the use of rosin and/or sweat alone,” the league wrote. MLB’s press release says umpires “appropriately ejected Mr. Scherzer from the game” at that point.
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7:53pm: In a surprising twist, Scherzer informed reporters this evening he’s elected not to appeal after all. The right-hander said he’d initially believed an appeal would be heard by a neutral arbitrator but later was informed it would go in front of an MLB official. (Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic specifies that special assistant to the commissioner John McHale would have heard the appeal.) As a result, Scherzer conceded he wouldn’t win and has elected not to pursue it.

Dodgers’ Trevor Bauer has suspension reduced from 324 to 194 games - The Athletic $

I have read that the Dodgers would release him if the suspension were lifted. If that’s true, he’d then become a free agent. Fabian Ardaya says, “Dodgers have until Jan. 6 to either put Trevor Bauer back on the 40-man roster or release him, as others have said.” If that does happen, will he be blackballed by the other teams in the league or will some team take a chance on him?

Trevor Bauer’s 324-game suspension for violating the league’s joint domestic violence, sexual assault and child abuse policy was reduced to 194 games by an arbitration panel Thursday.

Bauer’s suspension remains the longest to be handed down under that policy since it went into effect in 2015.

MLB said in a statement it would “abide by the neutral arbitrator’s decision.” Bauer, who will miss the first 50 games of the season, will be eligible to return on May 24, 2023, the league said.