TODAY: Chapman’s suspension isn’t expected to include Spring Training games, Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times reports.
SATURDAY: Yesterday, we heard from Commissioner Rob Mandred on possible upcoming action against Jose Reyes, Aroldis Chapman, and Yasiel Puig for violating the league’s domestic violence policy. While suspensions are expected, penalties can come in other forms too. Although criminal charges were not brought against Chapman, he may soon be banned from this season’s Spring Training, writes Joel Sherman of the New York Post.
Manfred has broad powers with regard to suspensions related to the new domestic violence policy. However, a spring ban is only one rumored application of those powers, reports Mark Feinsand of the NY Daily News. In fact, it remains unclear if Chapman will be disciplined at all, although many outside observers expect the league to take a hard stance against alleged domestic violence. The NFL has suffered a series of public relations debacles from mishandling similar events. Major League Baseball is probably keen to distance themselves from the snafus of America’s other pastime.
Chapman has said he will immediately appeal any disciplinary measures. If those do include a spring ban, he’ll be allowed to continue participating in team events until the appeal is processed.
Some players might not even view that as a punishment lol
I don’t know about that, ask some of those guys like Stephen Drew, who missed spring training and then had to play catch up all year. As useless as ST is, if he doesn’t get his practice in and build his arm strength against real competition, it can have a far greater impact than a few weeks to start the season.
I think this is the first time in history Stephen Drew and “arm strength” have been used so closely together.
Good observation!
Stephen Drew could/might be a good pitcher if he tried!
He hits like one
SAVAGE
Best comment. Lmao
Bravo sir.
Your completely false DoolittleDoolate. Drew is a great defender with good arm strength, and offensively, he hits for power, so has good strength.
Actually DoolittleDoolate, that’s completely false. Drew is a great defender and has good arm strength, and offensively, he has good power, so again as good strength.
Ask the guys who are in limbo due to QO’s how important Spring Training is. It could set a bad tone for his entire season if he doesn’t get his work in against real competition.
Without charges filed there should be no suspension.
Probably just work out at the minor league camp. Slaps on the wrist are unacceptable. Put some teeth into disciplining these overindulgent millionaires. MLB set this up for some reason, why bother if these are the punishments that will be doled out.
Snafus is a great word.
Agreed, very underrated word. “Snafus”, “debacles”, and “keen” all in the same paragraph. Excellent writing, Brad!
This is the most pointless suspension I’ve seen in any major sports of late.
It isn’t a suspension yet, only a rumor of one. Assuming it turns out to be an accurate rumor, why would the suspension be pointless?
B/c he didn’t plead to Any charges, wasn’t charged with a crime, or ever arrested. I don’t know what evidence they have that could be so bad to warrant a suspension, but not ANY charges.
Irrelevant. This has been discussed a thousand times.
So what..your comment irrelevant. Yet, you’re still here giving your opinion
This is really a bad response. Manziel broke a girls eardrum and no charges as of yet. It’s called needing proof. It’s likely the police were called and a situation of his word vs her word. And willing to bet after the initial call there was no more cooperation. Just because the police can’t get a DA to press charges because of a lack of cooperation doesn’t mean that the MLB can’t take what was initially reported and collected by the police and suspend him.
The facts to warrant an arrest by law are different from the facts needed to warrant a suspension from MLB. Simple as that.
Yet you’re still here commenting as well? Guess that makes your point irrelevant. Thank you
What if what was “initially” reported was false, and that’s why they chose not to pursue charges? I’m not saying this is the case, but what if?
Not an opinion, a fact. The domestic violence policy of MLB says in black and white that the commissioner can sanction a player whether or not the player was charged with a crime. This is true, whether you believe it or not.
Jenrry Mejia just got banned from baseball for life for something that didn’t result in any criminal charges, remember? All contracts have a “character” clause, and firing off 8 shots in your garage isn’t much of a “good character” move, right?
How do YOU know Manziel broke her eardrum?
Not wanting to stir the soup more, but BluekyLA has a valid point in regard to the League’s Policy here. They can invoke disciplinary action for behavior that THEY determine to be detrimental to the League….”As They See Fit”. Their ability to dish out that disciplinary action is not tied to “The Legal Aspect” of the case. Whether that is the right thing to do or not, doesn’t really matter…..It IS what the rules state. That being said…….the League had better be sure that they are making the right decision with each of these 3 guys, because they will be “setting a precedent for future actions” with their rulings.
Just because the Commissioner *may* suspend does not mean he *should*. This sets an awful precedent going forward that MLB will take the law into its own hands
I think they are just trying to “clean up their act” a bit. Pro athletes often get into trouble because they are so full of themselves, and sometimes “think they are above the law”. I like the fact that the League is trying to make sure that professional athletes understand that they need to act more like role models, because most of them are “to someone, somewhere”….
Gotta pull the reins in every now and then, or chaos erupts!
MLB and the players (both of whom are party to this policy) are trying to get ahead of the curve on the domestic violence issue, one which the other pro sports have be slow to react, clouding their image with the public. Chapman clearly was violent in a domestic situation. They will have to sanction him somehow, perhaps handing him a short suspension that he won’t appeal. Then the man has to get the message than he needs to work on his rage issues, since that is the entire point of the thing.
the commissioner does have the power to discipline whether or not there is a criminal case.
Baseball rat does have a point tho. Based on the new policy stated here : riveraveblues.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Domes…
The process goes like this: comish has to have an investigation – chapman would go on admin leave for up to 7 days. After the investigation the comish can discipline. The player can immediately appeal to an arbitration panel ( as outlined here: mlb.mlb.com/pa/pdf/cba_english.pdf). And the arbitration ruling is based on “just cause” (quotations in original). Just cause is a legal term. Reasonable cause gets you a stop and frisk. Probable cause gets you an arrest/warrant. Just cause and beyond a reasonable doubt are both higher standards.
It will be difficult, based on the procedure and standards set forth in the new policy to have any form of severe discipline stand after appeal. Especially because the comish has the ability to postpone investigation until the resolution of criminal matters – which were not able to secure a arrest under the lesser standard of probable cause.
Your link is not to the policy; but to a press release. The full policy language can be read here:
sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mlb-big-league-stew/mlb-ann…
The administrative leave (up to seven days) is at the discretion of the commissioner and any “just cause” appeal is going to be based on the language of the policy itself, not on any local or state statutes. The problem here is confusing the law with the policy.
In any event as I said elsewhere, the commissioner is in a tough spot, but he needs to show that the policy is meaningful. Just based on what we know for a fact about Chapman’s behavior, I think he gets and fully deserves a few days off and mandatory counseling for his rage issues. The MLBPA would probably lean on him pretty heavily to not appeal such a modest penalty, and if he’s any kind of man he accepts it and moves on.
About time DA stop being in bed with the cops — very happy to see the system is working.
It’s just a rumor right now.
chapman should be banned from throwing fastballs
His change is still like 98 fwiw
His changeup is still a plus fastball for a lefty.
Most players would love to serve the suspension in ST. They don’t get paid for ST. Its even less important for a RP’er, they just need a mound and someone to catch the ball to build up arm strength
I don’t see there is any evidence for a suspension, but I bet Chapman won’t bother to appeal it. I mean, why bother, LOL. Its almost insulting to women. If you think there is cause for suspension, which I don’t, it should hurt. A ST suspension makes a mockery of the whole thing
ST suspension is even worse. You haven’t throw to a batter for almost half a year. Your arm is at its weakest velocity at that point. To have a player skip spring training and not be able to do anything MLB related in an MLB facility will absolutely kill them. I mean look at Stephen Drew. No sprint training=no bat. I would definitely appeal.
Stephen Drew had spring training last year and he still couldn’t hit. A better comparison would be Kendrys Morales. His bat disappeared when he missed spring training and reappeared last year when he was able to attend.
Drew and Morales are hitters though and they need spring training so they can get use to a varying amount of pitches and velocities from different pitchers. A RP can easily rent a few AAAA hitters that were never able to make it in the majors and use them to throw to for a few weeks. There are quite a few academies in Florida that offer really nice facilties as well. A RP should have an easier time preparing for the season after missing spring training than an everyday position player would.
Stephen Drew is toast. His bat started going south late in the 2013 season and hasn’t recovered, unless he finds some lost bat speed, or maybe cheats on his swing and pitchers fail to catch on? His career is finished as any kind of offensive player. He’s a 100% glove only player at this point.
Pretty sure all these guys throw to batters all offseason. Most players only take October/November off then they are back at it. Do you honestly think these millionaire professional athletes take 6 months off? Come on…
So I suppose cognitive dissonance carries more weight than actual facts. Let’s send a message that you shouldn’t date a crazy girl who alleges you to be violent and defame you.
“Hey, I heard player X beats women”.
“Yeah, me too! But wait, didn’t future reports feature contradictions and retracted statements?”
“There’s no time for facts, man!? The social media bullies are calling the shots. Forget everything else!”
I could be wrong, but you have to be very naive if you think that is really what happened and its his girlfriends fault. Something probably did happen, but she didnt want to press charges against him, like a lot of domestic violence cases turn out
If Chapman did only what he admitted to doing in the police report, which included punching out the window of car and firing a handgun in the garage, then the commissioner has ample grounds to dock the man for a few games at least. If he doesn’t get some sort of meaningful penalty then the domestic violence policy will become a joke.
Just throwing this out there…
…what if he was defending himself?
Just throwing this out there…. You didn’t read any of the witness reports. Which include chaps own record of events.
How do you defend yourself against a car window and garage wall?
But I’ll bite. Given the same facts, and the only change made is now the gf is the over aggressor (she-hulk and predator rolled into one) Even if he was defending himself, he should still get some form of punishment. (Not saying he would deserve it, but he should get it.). He allowed himself to become embroiled in the situation w a gf that just months previously had broken into his apartment and which required police assistance. This is not the first time police were called bc of a confrontation with this woman. And he discharged a firearm during a family and friends type party.
None of this paints the mlb in a favorable light.
And I’m a Yankee fan
Well said but you know those lawnmowers can get nasty sometimes. I’ve felt like shooting mine more than once.
Totally agree with you. After having lived in Florida I can tell you they take domestic violence very seriously there. Usually when the police are called somebody is going to jail. In fact several years ago my brother and I got into a yelling match. No punches were thrown yet when the police showed up they cuffed me and arrested me for domestic violence. The police said that Florida has a zero tolerance policy for domestic violence and when the police are called someone has to go to jail. They would rather have a cooling off period and have the charges dropped later (which mine were the next day when i went to court) than have things escalate after they leave. So if Chapman wasn’t arrested then and there obviously the police knew they had no case and didn’t want the bad publicity when they dropped the charges. Having gone through the process of domestic violence in Florida I am 100% on Chapman’s side when it comes to a suspension. He should not be grouped with Reyes because more than likely he did nothing wrong. Hopefully, a video of him choking and beating her in an elevator doesn’t come out and force me to eat my shoe for sticking up for Chapman without knowing all the facts or seeing the evidence.
Lol. If you think she was out to “defame” him, don’t you think she would of gone out of her way to press charges?
Stop defending a person with a domestic violence allegation, it’ll only make you look worse.
Chapman is getting suspended, deal with it. For how long, we will see.
Calling Chapman’s ex-girlfriend “crazy” isn’t defamation, though.
This could get incredibly messy.
If Chapman misses 45 days of time during the regular season, he cannot become a free agent next year.
If Manfred levies a suspension, I wonder if the union might suggest Chapman serve the suspension during spring training (if it is handed down). Risking any days of service time means risking millions of dollars at free agency and puts himself at risk for another season without a guaranteed long term deal.
A lot of eyes on this situation. If Manfred brings down the hammer and it’s more than 50 games, no question the union will cry foul.
The risk for Chapman missing spring training, is that he will rush to get back, and then get injured.
…and this is why the Reds traded him at a discount.
The legal ramifications of possible suspensions should keep us all entertained for some time.
I would really appreciate if MLB went as hard at players who get DUI’s as they apparently are on domestic violence. Any one of us can get murdered by Miguel Cabrera driving around while drinking a bottle of tequila, but only a handful of people can be harmed by domestic violence.
Miggy should have gotten a year for that DUI as an example. These ultra-rich players are far too wealthy to not have a personal driver anyway, its supremely arrogant of them to even drive anywhere with that much money at stake.
It was Scotch and you’re right, and he’s been charged with the domestic violence in the past as well, from the pictures though it looked like she got the best of him
Just because the Commissioner *may* discipline Chapman under the agreement does not mean he *should* do so. I think it sets a horrible precedent for the MLB to start dictating its own standards of law
No law is involved, only the policy jointly adopted by MLB and the MLBPA.
Just because you don’t want to throw Chapman under the bus does not mean you want to sweep women’s abuse under the rug. Perhaps someone believes that the first test case of this policy should be someone actually charged with a crime. like Jose Reyes. That way you have a clear precedent set instead of trying to wing it and looking like a fool as Roger Goodell did.
Did you read the police statements. Jeff passan from yahoo sports posed a link. Try page 4 paragraph 4 and the last two paragraphs on page 11. Now compare w Florida Dom violence statute: 741.28 Domestic violence; definitions.—As used in ss. 741.28-741.31:
(1) “Department” means the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
(2) “Domestic violence” means any assault, aggravated assault, battery, aggravated battery, sexual assault, sexual battery, stalking, aggravated stalking, kidnapping, false imprisonment, or any criminal offense resulting in physical injury or death of one family or household member by another family or household member.
(3) “Family or household member” means spouses, former spouses, persons related by blood or marriage, persons who are presently residing together as if a family or who have resided together in the past as if a family, and persons who are parents of a child in common regardless of whether they have been married. With the exception of persons who have a child in common, the family or household members must be currently residing or have in the past resided together in the same single dwelling unit.
I’ve provided you the location of the police report and the Florida statute on domestic violence. Enlighten me, based on the facts presented in the police reports, that this matter falls within the scope of domestic violence. It doesn’t. Was it a serious lapse in proper judgment – absolutely. But domestic violence, it is not.
(He still should be suspended or receive some form of reprimand)
Violence in a domestic setting is domestic violence. The definitions under Florida law have absolutely no relevance to the policy adopted by MLB and MLBPA.
Zero. Zilch. Nada.
What is a domestic setting? Seriously, I’m asking. It’s a very vague term. If you and I happened to get into fist a cuffs on the street it’s not domestic violence, but if we had gotten into the same fight in an abandoned house, it’s now domestic violence because the house is a domestic setting?
It’s general legal practice that when no definition of a term has been provided, and/or the term is so vague that it’s own definition is open to interpretation – you look to other uses of the term to devise the writers intent of the use of the term. So yes the definition provided is very much relevant.
But this isn’t a legal proceeding, it’s strictly an administrative one under the policy jointly adopted by the league and the players. It’s up to the commissioner to interpret when a player’s behavior falls under the policy and whether a penalty is warranted, and the player has the opportunity to appeal to an arbitration panel if he thinks the ruling is unfair.
As to the situation, it wasn’t a random walking down the street incident, it was a product of a dispute with his girlfriend. Chapman’s response to that dispute was pretty obviously inappropriate (to put it kindly). He gets no points for nobody being injured. The way he behaved, somebody could easily have been hurt.
The commissioner is in a tough spot on this for sure, but I suspect he will be motivated by a desire see that the policy will be taken seriously going forward, and also that any sanction he hands out will be accepted and not appealed. This is why I am guessing Chapman gets a few games suspension (maybe five). If he does I hope he uses the time off to think about his rage issues.
I love the hard line stances everyone here is taking toward punishing Chapman. His girlfriend admits to getting in his face, recants her account of being “choked” to being “pushed away” and has no visible injuries of any kind.
Chapman punches the window to a vehicle he owns, fires a gun he owns in a locked garage he owns, and the do gooders on here want precedent set down to enforce a hard (domestic violence? where?) policy.
How many games did the MLB suspend Drew Storen for breaking his hand in the clubhouse? Michael Taylor cut his pinkie finger in the clubhouse throwing a piece of gum away … did the MLB suspend him 60 games for that stupidity, I don’t remember.
Unless Major League baseball has evidence to the contrary of the police, the witnesses at the party or the woman involved (and her brother), then in what world is Chapman suspended for a lengthy period of time (and for committing what offense)? Stupid, yes. Anger management issues, yes. Lucky this wasn’t a life changing event, yes. But he didn’t break the law, he didn’t hurt anyone … so what’s the problem?
The problem is Ray Rice violently hit his girlfriend on camera and now anyone with even a remotely similar story is being seen as a villain. Never mind the facts, this is pure Internet lynch mob justice. We always think that we have evolved as a species, but we haven’t. We have the same mentality as lynch mobs in the past, but the medium is more technologically advanced. However we are still the same villagers carrying pitchforks and torches ready to hang someone for some reason.
While Ray Rice was an inciting incident in sports I think you’re really oversimplifying things especially when you take into account there’s been many proven cases. Take for instance Alberto Callapso who was arrested but never tried for domestic abuse despite his wife having the bruises to back up her story. The team attempted to suspend him but he was back on the field in less than a week.
The fact of the matter is historically domestic abuse is not always the easiest thing to prosecute. Most people charges with domestic violence often only get convicted of lesser charges or weapon charges. Many women still exist in a world where they are dependent on their abuser and don’t see a way out. Add fame and money into the picture and there are far more variables.
So yes, a tough deterrent needs to be set in any case where the charge on a very basic case proves valid. This will avoid the potential of turning a blind eye to bad behavior.
This isn’t lynch mob mentality or even team favoritism. This is just the acknowledgement there needs to be zero tolerance in the area of domestic violence.
Yup. The real lesson of the Ray Rice incident is that if a pro sport does not get ahead of this curve, that they will quickly find themselves behind it. This is why the policy jointly adopted by MLB and the players empowers the commissioner to act in situations where no criminal charges involved.
I love how some people never get the message no matter how many times it’s repeated that the law has nothing whatsoever to do with the policy. No, actually, I don’t love it. I am astounded by it.
He didn’t hurt anyone?
“Ban him for the season and make him apply for reinstatement.”
I Guarantee you’re saying such nonsense because of the team Chapman plays for. If Chapman was a Brave, your words likely are “He was innocent, he shouldn’t be suspended”
If you want my Unbiased opinion, due to the random Gunshots which is a display of violence on its own, he should be suspended. But I think a lengthy suspension is way too much.
This guy isn’t even a Braves fan. All he does is cry about the rebuild and how much the Braves suck. If Chapman were a Brave, he’d likely be screaming the same exact nonsense.
You should be banned from commenting for not understanding what is going on and making such foolish post.
Completely unfair to player and team to ban guys from spring training. And while I’m not condoning violence of any kind, and I understand that the league needs to send a message that they don’t condone violence, I think that they should just set terms for suspension. Like 7 games first time. 25 games 2nd time etc. Or something to the effect. I can’t imagine the players union liking the fact that the commissioner is judge jury and executioner on a case by case basis.
MLB and the MLBPA drafted and adopted this policy jointly.
As for the spring training ban, that was nothing more than a rumor.
Correct the commissioner’s name to Manfred