Giants president/CEO Larry Baer has been suspended without pay through July 1st of 2019, per an announcement from MLB commissioner Rob Manfred. His preexisting leave of absence will be converted to an unpaid suspension, meaning the cumulative suspension will be for 120 days.
The discipline was applied after the league reviewed the facts surrounding a public altercation that was captured on video. In the course of a verbal argument, Baer attempted to retrieve a cell phone from his wife, causing her to fall to the ground. He is not expected to face criminal charges in relation to the incident.
Manfred says that he met with Baer and reviewed the results of an investigation into the matter. The suspension was arrived at upon the conclusion that Baer’s “conduct was unacceptable under MLB policies and warrants discipline,” with the length of the term set based upon the view that Baer “should be held to a higher standard because as a leader he is expected to be a role model for others in his organization and community.”
Notably, the commissioner’s statement does not specify that Baer was suspended pursuant to the league’s joint domestic violence, sexual assault, and child abuse policy. That policy, which applies to Baer and all MLB owners, players, and personnel, has been pointed to as the underlying grounds for discipline in recent player suspensions. Manfred’s statement does make clear that Baer will be totally precluded from involvement with the club during his suspension.
There are some potential long-term ramifications here from an organizational perspective. The Giants announced (Twitter link) that Baer will return to his position. However, the organization will not continue to utilize him as the designated control person vis-a-vis Major League Baseball. Ownership representative Rob Dean will continue to fulfill that role, as he has since Baer took a leave of absence, on an interim basis. A permanent control person will ultimately be designated, along with other unstated “changes to the Club’s corporate governance structure.”
There could also be a counseling component to the action. Per Manfred, “Baer will be required to undergo an evaluation by an expert to determine an appropriate treatment and counseling plan.” Baer released his own statement, as John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle reports on Twitter. He says that he “made a serious mistake” and will “seek professional advice” as part of a plan for “doing what it takes to earn the trust and respect of the many people impacted by my actions.” Baer also made clear that he will will not challenge the suspension.
This whole thing is absurd to me. Much love Baer.
Nothing more absurd than your statement .
Not a Giants fan nor do I care about Baer, but completely agree.
Who cares you know this is a puusy world we live in when people are worrying about this crap, has nothing to do with the game of baseball.
… agree…. he should kill the wife and them get suspended, right??? Idiot!!
Did any of you actually watch the video? He was shown to be abusive ON CAMERA. You are as a big a problem as “Puusy” people
I also wouldn’t suspend him for killing his wife. We have a legal system to handle that stuff.
Anyone willing to knock their wife to the ground in public to get their phone back, has something to hide. Just sayin’.
On the other hand, anyone willing to steal their husband’s cell phone and refuse to return it isn’t a very good person either.
Sure. I’m not taking sides at all. But just from my experience he seemed like he had something to hide. And his wife was a wee bit dramatic, I think. Probably more to the story, that none of us have any business knowing. Baseball please! #openingdaypleasetakemysadnessaway
Maybe knock is a strong word here. It was more of a tussle and unintentionally causing her to fall. However, when you’re busted you take desperate measures.
You clearly didn’t see the video. Just sayin’.
Saw the video in HD quality boss. It was ridiculous from start to finish.
Apparently not.
They fought over the phone. She fell in the process of fighting.
“Knock” is a little far fetched. She fell. You can literally see him try to grab the phone her struggle to keep it and fall out of the chair herself in the process.
See my comment above, agree knock is poor choice.
Just sayin?
Something to hide is one thing but the fact that he got suspended 4 months is another
Maybe they’ll find another backup catcher or two to replace him.
this is the most brilliant comment I’ve seen all day.
*standing ovation*
Funny thing is, the Giants still see themselves in win mode
To quote one of my most memorable lines from “Field of Dreams”…….”But what’s this got to do with baseball?”
I have never wrestled with my wife, nor knocked her down. Sounds like he has a behavior issue.
Not everyone is in as a placid, non-contentious relationship as you are, unfortunately.
Is that what happened?
He punched her in the guts and then frog-splashed her through a picnic table.
I’ve wrestled with your wife.
My wife uses my phone all the time, I got nothing to hide. Also we wrestle almost every night in bed (not sexual). These are sensitive times and it seems like now the only acceptable reaction is overreaction. Good luck to everyone’s favourite teams and players, let’s hope everyone has a fun and healthy season.
Is Larry still eligible to play in the outfield?
Bobby Evans needs to be fired again.
Underrated comment, lol.
Remember the good old days when everything was blamed on the hitting coach?
The new scoreboard will be great for the visiting team.
Don’t let this distract you from the fact that Keuchel and Kimbrel still haven’t signed.
Or the fact that the Giants could probably sign one while staying under the tax. Win now, win now.
We don’t know the details but MLB certainly does. People can surmise about affairs and so forth, but it is clear MLB is helping Baer cover up the reason for the altercation in the first place. Baer did something wrong that led to the chain of events. He agreed to take the punishment so that his personal misdeeds were not leaked to the public. This is the only thing that makes any sense.
Exactly. Best case scenario for him really.
How does he not have to give up his position?
Why do the cubs retain Russel?
I thought this was supposed to be a family game? It should be zero tolerance throughout all positions in the game. Just like 3 ped charges kicks a player out for life, and not letting them come back.
Scum
How are you even comparing what Baer did with Russel?
absurd to say he should be banned given the lack of info we have on the situation and the fact that he owns the team. I doubt the other owners would approve of such, and would probably vote against it.
I wouldn’t even have suspended any of them. Where did you see that baseball was a family game, or about you for that matter? I honestly don’t want to hear about any of this stuff. I care as a human, but I don’t read the police reports, because I’m not interested. These guys need to be left to deal with their own legal issues and their job and the media need to stay out of it.
Manfred should be suspended for being a complete joke.
Yes. Manfred is going to ruin baseball.
@bencole Your opinion that conduct is out of the jurisdiction of MLB is not relevant, because they all sign contracts and take jobs that reflect policies that include conduct on and off the field. Comparing MLB jobs to typical at will employment is apples and oranges.
Sure, you’re right, they currently do. And I would make any any sort of collective bargaining or contract or personal conduct policy 100% illegal, and a prosecutable felony against the attempted drafter. Illegal contracts are not enforceable. Make it that way. Employment law does not differentiate between these type of jobs, the CBA does though. But if it’s statutorily outlawed, it’s illegal and unenforceable even if both sides agree to it, and it should be such.
So he basically gets a 4 month vacation. If you honestly think he won’t still have contact and influence on the team you like being played .
A 4 month unpaid vacation.
Is it ? Or will he just a bonus down the road
He’s a part-owner, so I can’t imagine he’ll be getting no money here.
the unpaid part is the actual punishment. he could probably even still go to the games as a paying customer.
So we have to share our phones too? What kind of marriage is that you don’t trust your significant other?
Many, undortunately.
seems a hit harsh a punishment from just the video and his’s wife’s statements. i don’t think its justified, but these sports leagues are obviously becoming more and more paranoid about public outcry agianst this sort of thing. cant blame them as a for-profit organization.
1st. We don’t know the truth behind why she stole his phone and wouldn’t give it back.
2nd. He clearly reacted in a manner inconsistent with proper etiquette in a public place. I can’t imagine 99.9% of people acting in the manner he did so he wasn’t thinking rationally with the expectation there would be any kind of fallout. That doesn’t speak well to speculation regarding his behavior when in private, but judging him based on pure speculation is asinine.
3rd. This was not an assault and I wouldn’t even go so far as to call it violent. No charges were brought because no crime was committed and in a country with 4,500 laws and more people incarcerated per capita than any other country on Earth, that’s saying something.
4th. Breaking social norms or being a jerk is (only usually now) not a crime.
5th. Breaking social norms or being a jerk is definitely against any MLB teams’ code of conduct and I would say this is almost certainly why he’s being punished. A 3 month suspension (1/2 the playing year) is about as far as you can go without termination. He’s a part owner so termination likely would have been a major legal drama, though I expect they’ll be looking to buy him out if they can.
6th. A 3 month suspension without pay is not a vacation. If anybody here was told to take a 3 month unpaid suspension, I doubt they’d be so excited about paying the upcoming bills. Baer is extremely wealthy so it’s not like his bills are going to be a big issue, but there is undeniable humiliation and damage to his authority and credibility in the organization from this fallout: those are the things which hurt a billionaire.
Why does woman always seem to fall when someone takes their phone. A bit dramatic don’t ya think. She is not the first, like record breaking stats
MLB playing the morality police – suspending Baer is a pathetically repressive, overbearing, and hypocritical response. Both parties copped to the embarrassment of the situation and took responsibility for their actions. No one was hurt, other than feelings. MLB was not affected, and few would have remembered the incident without MLB blowing it far out of proportion. Considering MLB’s capitulation to militarism and racism, the organization has no business condemning others for human fallibility or non-criminal behavior.
The SJW mentality of the commissioner’s office. I thought the punishment was a little harsh based on what we currently know.
He assaulted his wife. Are we really arguing about this?
You’re overreaching, and it’s making you look bad.
It is entirely possible that Baer’s behavior was inappropriate, without it also being criminal. All I see is an embarrassing tussle between two adults who should have known better, and one of them happened to fall in that tussle. If it had happened to be Baer who had fallen while reaching for his phone instead of his wife, would you be saying that she assaulted him?
What do you see that makes you so sure? Or are you just over-correcting because the “SJW” remark set you off? (I also dislike that term, but your reply is certainly not helping your cause.)
I think he had pics of his bf on the phone. No one gets that agitated about his or her phone unless they’re hiding something. Cue the Dragnet theme.
This is clearly an overreaction by major-league baseball. This is really getting out of hand based on what happened there should have been no suspension.
These are diffrent times with # me too era. MLB doesn’t want to appear insensitive.IMHO the female in this case was the stupid one.
Could have been worse. His name could have been Robert Kraft.
I can’t wait to take the family to a game at Oracle and watch their new back up catchers play on that shiny new scoreboard.
It’s going to be a great year this year. Let a fan play a game in their outfield? It would be a great promotional campaign.
The end of Larry Baer in SF. ? I think so. . .
It is none of our business and nothing to do with baseball. Had his wife complained or filed any issues against Baer, that is different. They didn’t concede to a problem and what he spoke was just to diffuse the situation and appease the public, which I don’t think he had to or should have had to do. This doesn’t affect me, they aren’t hurt or upset and fighting about it afterwards.
WHY should we all be interested or involved at all?!! I care about baseball. This will not change my life, my kids or grandkids, my loyalty tonthebGiants
Sorry for the typo. Re: my loyalty to the Giants. I am amazed at some groups in San Francisco that got riled up about this. I think there are way more important things to be involved in and upset about in today’s world, in the city then something this small that doesn’t involve the general public at all. It was just a Mira to fight that unfortunately was out in public. Most everybody has had one, they just weren’t famous.
@brat922 there have always been people who would make different choices about a business or an entertainment choice if they found out something about their values. always. Oscar Wilde was ruined when his lover’s father accused him of acting gay. Many people historically have been banned or blacklisted from entertainment industry, military, government jobs, community organizations, for being communist, mixed marriage, immigrant, gay, conviction history, in the news doing something scandalous, HIV+, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. This is not something new or soft or “SJW” or “PC”. It is a reality in a capitalist society — if your behavior of any kind threatens to (or actually ends up) harming business and you don’t have some protection in contractual form or by government regulations, then you will be punished, reassigned or terminated. Business depends largely on reputation, and that reputation is not all just about the product. It is also about the opinion of the customer about the people working for the business and how well the business reflects or matches their values.
Yes; we have a certain cognitive dissonance with this stuff. Ty Cobb went into the stands and nearly killed a man with no hands. Babe Ruth, who was married, had a legendary love for prostitutes. Ted Williams spit on fans. Kirby Puckett’s transgressions were accepted because he was beloved by the fans of the Twins. Curt Schilling has said things that are truly horrific; his contempt for people not like him is truly abhorrent. Roger Clemens very famously cheated on his wife. Mel Hall was a child abuser. The Royals, just this year, floated the idea of hiring Luke Heimlich, who molested a child. Barry Bonds beat his wife. Milton Bradley beat his wife. Julio Machado killed a man. Chad Curtis was a child molester….I mean, we can go on and on – Reyes, Familia, Osuna, Offerman, Chapman. Doug Decinces. Ugueth Urbina….
Samuel/TrimReaper/whatever he’s calling himself now will call me a SJW, and that’s fine. MLK was a “SJW” too, and while I’m nothing like him, I think using “social justice” as an epithet is vile. MLB should be doing better – not throwing Russell and Baer out of the game completely shows how far we have to go.
Why should Baer be thrown out of the game? Note: if your answer is “he clearly assaulted his wife”, then you better back that up with something substantial. Because to my eyes, and seemingly to the eyes of most people here, it looks entirely plausible that his wife fell accidentally.
Yeah, she just fell accidentally. Good lord, please watch the video and explain why she’s screaming. Baer’s actions are vile and yes, he should be thrown out of baseball. So should Addison Russell. This isn’t a thing to parse.
So in other words, you have nothing substantial to say.
Yes, I’ve seen the video, and read everyone’s follow-up comments. I don’t know why his wife was screaming, and neither do you. I can think of several plausible reasons, some of which look worse for Larry than others. What I won’t do is jump to conclusions, and you shouldn’t either. Your bias is showing, and you are not helping your cause.