Long Island greets Trevor Bauer at Ducks' fan fest day/media day in Central Islip

A 14-year-old boy from Hauppauge was next up on the very long line. He approached the table in the picnic area on the stadium’s main concourse where the 2020 National League Cy Young Award winner was signing “Trevor Bauer” and posing for photos with Long Island Ducks fans.

“Hey, Trevor, welcome to Long Island,” Gavin McKee said.

“Happy to be here,” Bauer said before signing his 2020 Reds baseball card.

After walking away from the table, McKee said: “It’s really good that he’s here. It’s good for the community.”

Gavin’s dad, Rich McKee, agreed, saying, “I think it’s great for New York and Long Island specifically to bring attention to the Ducks, but also for him to get a second opportunity to come back and play in the States.”

Bauer patiently signed and posed Saturday for an hour and a half on this fan fest day/media day/final spring training game day that came with a 13-2 win over California Dogecoin.

The 35-year-old righthander is the new marquee attraction at Fairfield Properties Ballpark in Central Islip. He’ll be starting Tuesday against the Hagerstown Flying Boxcars on opening night.

Trevor Bauer met the media Saturday morning here at Fairfield Properties Ballpark in Central Islip. He will be the Long Island Ducks’ opening night starter here on Tuesday. #LIDucks @NewsdaySports #mlb pic.twitter.com/E7vMTQIvQC

— Brian Heyman (@bheyman99) April 18, 2026

Bauer basically had been pitching in exile in Japan and Mexico the past three seasons after 83 major-league wins and 10 seasons with Arizona, Cleveland, Cincinnati and the Dodgers, ending in June 2021.

He has gone unsigned by the majors since serving a 194-game suspension for violating MLB’s domestic violence and sexual assault policy. He denied the allegations, didn’t face charges and settled civil claims.

Bauer wanted to pitch in the United States again, so he’s in the Atlantic League.

“I feel a lot of happiness,” he said. “Grateful to be back here and be around the fans. Happy for the opportunity for sure.

“Be nice to feel welcome in the baseball community in America again in some part. It’s felt somewhat isolating and I felt like I was kind of an outcast for a while now.”

An image rehab assignment?

“I don’t really think about image rehabilitation because I think I have a fine image with the fans, baseball players, coaches, front offices, all that stuff,” Bauer said. “All the conversations I have privately are good. My image is what it is. I don’t control my image, unfortunately.”

After being approached about Bauer, Ducks president and chief business officer Michael Pfaff initially spoke with him and agent Rachel Luba over Zoom about six weeks ago. The Ducks, under new owner REV Entertainment, didn’t hesitate. There’s a content element, too.

“Spoke to ownership, coaching staff, front office, and ultimately everybody was interested in bringing Trevor here,” Pfaff said. “He’s a 10-year major-league veteran, Cy Young Award winner and somebody that has a larger social media following than all 10 teams in the Atlantic League combined. So he’s got quite a great reach.

“One of the conversations I had with him was centered around his desire to be mic’d up for practices and games. We are starting a new broadcast agreement with HTN [HomeTeam Network]. We are going to have our own [online] channel on HTN called Dugout TV.”

Another new Duck is happy being Bauer’s teammate.

“What can’t you learn from a guy like that?” said Matt Hogan, an outfielder from Melville who played for Half Hollow Hills East and in the White Sox organization. “That’s a guy who’s been through it .  .  . He’s a tremendous guy. He’s really nice.”

Asked how he compares to his 2020 glory days, when he posted a 1.73 ERA in the pandemic-shortened season, Bauer said, “I think I’m a better pitcher now in a lot of ways than I was.”

Is it realistic that he will be signed by a big-league team at this point?

“I certainly think it’s realistic from a talent perspective and an effectiveness perspective,” Bauer said. “There are things that are completely out of my control that are blocking, so there’s not much I can do about it.”