Reliever Roberto Osuna has signed with the Chiba Lotte Marines of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball, the team announced yesterday. Mexican publication Beisbolpuro first reported the agreement (Twitter link) last week.
Osuna has spent the 2022 season playing in the Mexican League, where he’s appeared in 12 games with the Diablos Rojos del México. He tossed 13 1/3 innings of three-run ball, striking out 15 batters and collecting six saves. That strong work caught the attention of the Marines, who figure to install Osuna at the back end of their bullpen.
The 27-year-old hasn’t appeared in a major league game since 2020, when he was outrighted off the Astros roster. Osuna had missed much of that season with an elbow injury that limited him to four appearances. That malady initially came with a recommendation he undergo Tommy John surgery, but a second opinion suggested he could rehab without going under the knife. He’s spent the past couple seasons pitching in Mexico and seems to have recovered from the elbow issue, considering how effective he’s been for the Diablos Rojos.
Of greater import is that Osuna served a 75-game suspension in 2018 for violating the MLB – MLBPA Domestic Violence Policy. A member of the Blue Jays at the time, he was arrested in Canada and charged with the assault of his then-girlfriend. He later agreed to a one-year peace bond, with the alleged victim withdrawing the charges to resolve the criminal case.
Per the Canadian Department of Justice’s web site, peace bonds are generally used when “an individual (the defendant) appears likely to commit a criminal offence, but there are no reasonable grounds to believe that an offence has actually been committed.” The Canadian Department of Justice further adds that peace bonds are obtainable by “any person who fears that another person may injure them, their spouse or common-law partner, or a child, or may damage their property.”
The Astros acquired Osuna from Toronto at the 2018 trade deadline while he was in the midst of serving his suspension. He posted excellent numbers, tossing 103 innings of 2.53 ERA ball with a 26.1% strikeout rate through the end of 2019. He led the American League with 38 saves in 2019, his most recent full season in the majors. There’s little question of his on-field effectiveness when he’s healthy, but it remains to be seen whether he’ll get another MLB opportunity at any point down the line.
Osuna means “Don’t push” in Japanese.
It means “not welcome here” in Canadian.
Well, I wanted the Orioles to sign Osuna
I would have given him a second chance!! Absolutely!
However, the O’s Bullpen is pretty solid this year, so looks like we didn’t need him
Still though, I would have considered it and I wish him luck in Japan
Dialog overheard:
L_O_F: “I think the Orioles should have signed Roberto Osuna.”
Thinking baseball fan: “He beats women.”
L_O_F: “Yeah, but have you see that cutter?”
@For The Love of the Game
That’s right no forgiveness
However, there are people out there that ruin cities, states and Countries with their nonsense and they are lauded for it and run their operations unabated!!!
SMH
All I heard was that the Orioles fans are aware they should be desperate for any talent and are willing to consider any idea. (but also… )
However, Orioles fans remain very good at deluding themselves into thinking that contention and winning seasons are not far off with where they are headed.
Couple starting pitchers and the Orioles don’t look half bad if you’ve been watching. Gunnar, DL, and Grod will be up in ‘23.
There’s a chance!
I don’t know about Osuna but if we can get someone else besides Baker that would be a plus.
Wow. Kind of surprised. Thought Japanese teams would have some sort of standards.
No reports of him beating more women. Hopefully he’s changed.
Americans beliefs about Japan are not quite in line with the reality of Japan. Very homogenous culture, very traditional, very male centric. It’s a country where you do not speak out. Japan is probably more similar to 1950s America.
I am not trying to start anything at all, but I know this probably will. But how is his suspension 4 years ago of “greater import” than the health of his elbow today? This is still a baseball website and not a legal website.
I am debating whether to hit post comment, but whatever.
Teams take chances on talented pitchers with health question marks all the time. We see pitchers sign two-year deals where the club knows they’ll miss the first season after they’ve already undergone Tommy John surgery.
Osuna, on the other hand, has been healthy enough to perform at a high level in Mexico for the past two seasons. I think it’s safe to say the suspension is having a bigger impact on his chance of getting a shot with an MLB club than injury concerns at this point.
But he pitched for Houston AFTER his suspension, In fact, he led the league in saves in 2019, the year after the suspension. So why would it be more detrimental to his job three years later?
Because Stephanie Apstein cried for like a year and the assistant GM rubbed it in her face after they won the pennant with Ozuna and then she cried some more and now it seems like everyone’s agreed that these wife-beaters maybe aren’t worth the hassle or the bad PR. Addison Russell is in the same boat. Puig too, though he just allegedly exposed himself
Because Houston was the only team willing to stoop low enough to have him. Nobody else would take him.
Once the lowest character franchise jettisoned him, him MLB says were over.
Yeah, it’s not like the Yankees employ Aroldis Chapman AND Domingo German or the Phillies employ Odubel Herrera AND Jeurys Familia or the Mets employed Jeurys Familia AND Jose Reyes or the Dodgers employ Julio Urias or the Red Sox employed Steven Wright. or anything.
Let’s continue the narrative that only the Astros do business with DVers.
Let’s at least make a distinction between Urias whose name was cleared and the rest.
Most of the names you listed were from a long time ago. MLB, like society, is taking DV more seriously now. So Osuna will take a harder fall.
At the time the Blue Jays were desperate to unload him, Houston was the only taker. And when he became a free agent, nobody would touch him.
You do have great points on German and Herrera. Those two should be gone.
2018 was a long time ago too.
Or we should stop treating the MLB organization as if it should become a law enforcement agency. It’s fine if they want to ban someone for being convicted of a crime. But this is America and MLB is punishing people that are not even charged with crimes without due process. We have a really good (although not perfect) legal system in this country, we don’t need another one
There isnt such a thing as a long time ago when it comes to DV or abusing your kids…
Those effects last a lifetime.. Trust me I had a dad like Osuna.. So lets say my first hand experience defy’s your bad idea there.
I wouldn’t say that the American legal system is still “very good”. The problem is the jury’s that are selected to serve on cases. Far too many are of very low intelligence, and some completely disregard the evidence to attain a verdict that politically aligns with their beliefs. It is way past time for the U.S.A. to adopt the European, three judge panel. It won’t be perfect, but it would produce fairer verdicts in general.
If you argue that MLB is not a law enforcement agency, then why are you tying punishment to conviction? If anything *that* is what makes MLB more an arm of law enforcement.
Its not about punishing someone for breaking a law. It’s about not employing awful humans. Normal, kind, responsible human beings don’t accidentally commit domestic violence. It requires an unbelievably depraved mind to injure, threaten, or assault a spouse or child even once.
I think I’m traveling the same road as you Hiflew
Let’s remember who we are talking about tho, the MLB
It’s always the WHO not the WHAT in Mlb
History full of racisms, cheating and scandal
It;s why Bud Selig gets into the Hall his first day elig and Barry Bonds sits at home today.
If Chris Taylor did what Bauer did he would have been back months ago already, instead an unprecedented susp looms
It’s always personal with baseball, and yea it is kinda gross at it’s nuts and bolts. Looking beyond the curtains ( beautiful green grass) is troublesome when it comes to baseball. It’s a balancing act best used with tunnel vision
Feels odd that Osuna is not employed at least as a AAA player with guys like Chapman and Herrera still in the league.
There are degrees to things. Osuna’s crimes are seen as worse in severity.
I feel like a firearm discharge or strangulation on camera should rate higher than a dropped charge where the details never made it to court.
MLB teams will hire private investigators. Considering the rampant rumors that Osuna really beat the crap out of her, I’d speculate the franchises know what could potentially come out and just don’t want to deal with it.
I’m with you on Chapman, though. Police didn’t uncover evidence he choked her, but he admitted to recklessly firing a gun. He’s lucky he didn’t kill somebody.
You feel that way but obviously the powers that be don’t, and I do t entirely disagree with them. Point is, the differences between individual cases lends itself to subjectivity.
He discharged his gun at his garage wall. It was dumb but let’s not be dramatic. No one else was in danger.
If Chapman wasn’t so good, and playing with the Yankees, he might well be out of baseball now.
He is making much more money playing in Japan, than he would be making playing aaa ball. Every major league team is aware where he is playing, and how well ( or poorly) he is pitching. The recent cases of Bauer, and Watson ( Pro Football), have brought quite a bit of heat down on guys like Orsuna. It seems like if you are already playing, you are ok, but the guys on the outside looking in, may not be signed by a major league club. That could change at any time.
Honesty, I’d take him in the Sox bullpen
His crime was half a decade ago and there’s been no peep of another offense. I totally understand somebody wanting to give him a second chance.
What he allegedly did was horrible, but at some point we have to say a guy appears to have learned from his past and grown as a human being.
the degree of corruption and tolerance for it in other fields of work is so high that it does seem out of place for guys like osuna who legally would be in the same boat as guys still playing today to get blackballed out of the game. i think he will soon get another chance maybe even after this season, because he was electric and still very young, but i also think picking and choosing which people are punished and which arent for mistakes seems a little too subjective, especially when people who have done much worse are in a lot more influential and powerful positions than “MLB Closer”
You are right on the money!!
What a bag of crap. I’ll forgive a lot of actions but putting your hands on a women is not one of them and never will be. There are some despicable men in baseball which makes supporting the game extremely conflicting. Even more so for me since the Yankees seem to like to collect these bags of crap on their roster. I actively root for Chapman and German to blow their arms out every time they pick up a baseball to the point they never pitch again. Wish almost came true with German but not quite.
Yanks4life22 – Your hateful, ugly, unforgiving attitude towards these men says more about you than it does about them, and the picture is not pretty.
I wish him the best!!! I hope he makes it back to the MLB