The Sports Report: Trevor Bauer is back, but will the Dodgers keep him?

Howdy, I’m your host, Houston Mitchell. The Dodgers have a new offseason decision to make: Play Trevor Bauer or release him? An arbitrator reduced Bauer’s suspension on Thursday, making him eligible to play this season.

From Bill Shaikin: Trevor Bauer’s two-year suspension from Major League Baseball was reduced Thursday, and now the Dodgers have two weeks to restore him to their roster or release him.

An arbitrator reduced Bauer’s suspension from 324 to 194 games and reinstated him immediately. He lost $37.5 million in salary from his $102-million Dodgers contract.

Had the suspension been upheld in full, Bauer would have lost $60 million. Even with the reduction, the suspension is the longest under baseball’s policy on sexual assault and domestic violence.

“While we believe a longer suspension was warranted, MLB will abide by the neutral arbitrator’s decision,” Major League Baseball said in a statement.

Bauer forfeited his salary for the final 144 games of the 2022 season and the first 50 games of the 2023 season. However, the arbitrator is allowing him to play for those first 50 games, in part because of his cooperation in repeatedly agreeing to an investigative leave during which he missed the last half of the 2021 season.

Under MLB rules, when a player is reinstated from the restricted list out of season, his team has 14 days to activate him. That gives the Dodgers until Jan. 6 to decide, although the remaining $22.5 million of his salary is guaranteed whether they activate him or release him.

The Dodgers have cited the uncertainty over their financial liability to Bauer as one reason for their relative lack of activity in adding players this winter. The team was unaware of any decision on the appeal until shortly before the ruling was announced.

“We have just been informed of the arbitrator’s ruling and will comment as soon as practical,” the Dodgers said in a statement.

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Plaschke: Should the Dodgers bring back Trevor Bauer? No. Not in a million years

CLIPPERS

From Andrew Greif: Clippers teammates were gathering in the key and coaches were talking in a circle at midcourt, but Nicolas Batum was in no hurry to leave his courtside chair and begin shootaround on a late November morning.

Only weeks from his 34th birthday, the wing turned his eyes toward the empty upper deck of Portland’s Moda Center and his memories of the younger version of himself that spent his first seven seasons with the Trail Blazers.

“It’s a special place,” Batum said. “I grew up here.”

Growing up in the NBA requires absorbing often painful lessons. Growing old in the league, however, is reserved for the few who can put what they’ve learned into action. Batum, with 1,006 games on his resume including the regular season and playoffs, counts as a survivor, a longevity he traces to the first, and perhaps the most enduring, career lesson he took in weeks before his first official game.

CHARGERS

From Jeff Miller: The Chargers on Monday night will make NFL history.

No team has played an opponent that is coming off a defeat in which it blew a 33-point lead.

That’s what Indianapolis did Saturday, going up 33-0 at halftime only to lose at Minnesota 39-36 in overtime.

“You know that in the NFL, sometimes things happen,” Chargers coach Brandon Staley said Thursday. “Every week in the NFL, something like that happens.”

The Chargers will enter this weekend at 8-6 and sitting as the AFC’s sixth seed. But in the Colts, they will face a genuine wild-card team.

Two weeks before crumbling against the Vikings, Indianapolis trailed Dallas 21-19 in the fourth quarter before surrendering five touchdowns in barely 11 minutes.

To understand how ridiculous of a turnaround that is, consider that the Colts trailed by a safety and then, less than a quarter later, lost by the third-widest margin — 54-19 — in the NFL this season.

“Things happen in this league,” Chargers defensive lineman Morgan Fox said, speaking of Indianapolis’ most recent disaster. “Don’t forget, they were playing a good football team.”

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RAMS

From Gary Klein: They spent 10 years on the same team, reading each other from across the line of scrimmage during hundreds of practices.

Six-time All-Pro linebacker Bobby Wagner and nine-time Pro Bowl quarterback Russell Wilson helped the Seattle Seahawks win a Super Bowl and four NFC West titles.

But on the same day last March, Wilson was traded to the Denver Broncos and Wagner was released, eventually signing with the Rams.

On Sunday at SoFi Stadium, they will face each other in a game for the first time.

Wagner said this week that the matchup would be “an upgraded version” of a noncontact workout in Seattle, in which the pace was full speed but the hitting was not.

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KINGS

Adrian Kempe scored in overtime, Pheonix Copley made 27 saves to win his fourth straight start, and the Kings defeated the Calgary Flames 4-3. The Kings had to fight back after squandering a two-goal lead in the third period, but Kempe scored his 13th goal on the rush from Viktor Arvidsson with 1:37 left in overtime to sweep their three-game homestand and get their fourth victory in a row.

Tyler Toffoli had a power-play goal, Dillon Dube and Jonathan Huberdeau also scored, but the Flames couldn’t get their third straight road win. Dan Vladar allowed four goals on 32 shots.

Who is the best soccer player of all?

A debate arose on social media after Sunday’s World Cup final: Who is the best soccer player of all time, Messi, Diego Maradona or Pele? We asked you to vote this week, and after 2,253 votes, here are the results:

Pelé, 60.9%
Lionel Messi, 35.1%
Diego Maradona, 4%

THIS DATE IN SPORTS

1933 — Montreal’s Howie Morenz scores his 251st goal to become the NHL’s career goal-scoring leader. Morenz’s goal caps the Canadiens’ 3-0 victory over the Detroit Red Wings.

1951 — Norm Van Brocklin’s 73-yard touchdown pass to Tom Fears in the fourth quarter gives the Rams a 24-17 victory over the Cleveland Browns for the NFL title.

1962 — Tommy Brooker kicks a 25-yard field goal 17:54 into overtime, giving the Dallas Texans a 20-17 victory over Houston for the AFL title.

1972 — The Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Oakland Raiders 13-7 on Franco Harris’ “Immaculate Reception,” in an AFC Divisional playoff game. On 4th-and-10 on their own 40-yard line with 22 seconds remaining and no time outs. Terry Bradshaw, under pressure, throws a pass over the middle to Oakland’s 35-yard line which is deflected by Oakland’s Jack Tatum. Running back Franco Harris catches the deflection at the Raiders’ 43-yard line and runs down the left sideline for a touchdown.

1978 — Bryan Trottier has five goals and three assists to lead the New York Islanders to a 9-4 victory over the Rangers. Trottier sets an NHL record with three goals and three assists in the second period.

1982 — Chaminade, an NAIA school, beats top-ranked Virginia and 7-foot-4 center Ralph Sampson, 77-72, for one of the biggest upsets in college basketball history. The game is played at Honolulu’s International Center in front of 3,383 fans.

1996 — Barry Sanders of the Detroit Lions rushes for 175 yards in a 24-14 loss to San Francisco to finish with 1,553 yards for the season. It’s Sanders’ third straight season with at least 1,500 yards rushing, a first in the NFL.

2007 — The New England Patriots set an NFL record with their 15th win, the best start in league history, with a 28-7 victory over the Miami Dolphins.

2007 — Chris Johnson sets an NCAA bowl record with 408 all-purpose yards, and Ben Hartman kicks a 34-yard field goal as time expires to give East Carolina a 41-38 victory over No. 24 Boise State in the Hawaii Bowl.

2008 — The Boston Celtics set a franchise record with their 19th consecutive victory, beating the Philadelphia 76ers 110-91. The Celtics improve to 27-2 — the best start for a two-loss team in NBA history. The 19-game winning streak breaks the Celtics record set in 1981-82.

2012 — New Orleans quarterback Drew Brees passes for 446 yards and three touchdowns in the Saints’ 34-31 overtime win at Dallas. Brees, with 4,781 passing yards, becomes the first player in NFL history to record at least 4,500 yards in three consecutive seasons.

2013 — Andrew Luck throws for 205 yards to break a single-season rookie record, and his touchdown pass to Reggie Wayne late in the fourth quarter puts Indianapolis in the playoffs with a 20-13 win over Kansas City. Luck, with 4,183 yards, surpasses Cam Newton’s year-old record of 4,051 yards passing by a rookie in the second quarter.

Compiled by the Associated Press

And finally

The Immaculate Reception. Watch and listen here.