Aroldis Chapman’s problem is as much the commissioner of football as it is the commissioner of baseball.
The expectation is that some time this week Rob Manfred will dispense the first punishments under baseball’s new domestic abuse protocols. The commissioner said last week that he was close to ruling on two players, and because Jose Reyes has a legal case still pending and Chapman and Yasiel Puig do not, the belief is Chapman and Puig will soon hear penalties.
That Manfred was bestowed new powers speaks to the greater national sensitivity when it comes to domestic abuse, particularly in sports. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell did so much to harm his reputation and power base by mishandling domestic abuse issues, particularly with Ray Rice. That places an even greater burden on Manfred.
The labor lawyer that Manfred had been for most of his time associated with the sport would work to forge a suspension that could be well defended before a neutral arbitrator.
But a commissioner has to do more than that. He has to send messages and make statements and extol what his sport takes seriously, and the last thing he wants to do is project tolerance for domestic abuse. That is why I still think that even without abuse charges having been filed in the aftermath of the initial police report in late October from Davie, Fla., that Manfred will levy a serious penalty for Chapman — perhaps 30 or 40 games.
Manfred does not want to minimize a penalty and then get Riced by having new evidence – like video – surface, or by having Chapman entangled in something else in the near future.
And Manfred has the additional benefit that he could look tough and leave it to others to defend or reduce the penalty.
Chapman has said he would appeal any suspension, so it will be up to the Players Association to defend him. Then it would be up to independent arbitrator Fredric Horowitz to determine whether to uphold a suspension or lower it.
Thus, if a penalty is lowered, Manfred essentially could say he did all he could to be tough, and that the responsibility for the reduced suspension falls on others.
Obviously, Manfred does not want to put a case before an arbitrator that cannot be defended at all and potentially establish power-diminishing precedent. But he probably believes, in this matter, it’s better to have an outside party lower the punishment than the commissioner.
Something to remember here is not all the cases are equal. The case against Puig has seemed particularly weak, and it is possible he could, for example, simply be asked to go through counseling. Reyes seems to be facing the most serious sanctions because he had charges filed against him and has a trial scheduled to begin in Hawaii in April.
The facts with Chapman have been hazier. Something allegedly occurred between him and his ex-girlfriend. But she refused to file charges, though Manfred has made it clear he does not need charges or a trial as the basis to deliver a suspension.
In addition, Chapman allegedly fired a licensed gun eight times in his garage following the incident. This is not against the law, and those who have defended Chapman have equated it to shooting bottles in the backyard of your home.
Still, there is greater sensitivity with gun violence in this country, too. Remember that the Dodgers had a trade agreement with the Reds for Chapman in December, and backed out when the police report surfaced. One major reason they disconnected was because it came so soon after the shooting in San Bernardino, which is near Los Angeles, and the Dodgers did not want to be associated with someone who had fired his gun – even legally – out of frustration.
The Yankees obtained Chapman knowing that he likely would be suspended. They now wait for a ruling, likely this week, to see just how harsh the penalty is.
Shreve tipping his four-seamer?
As I wrote in Monday’s paper, one theory that came up why Chasen Shreve went from among the majors’ most effective relievers for five months to a pitching piñata in September was that he was pitch tipping.
Brian McCann said the lefty was doing it, but no one involved wanted to say what was being tipped or in what way. But I speculated it could be that he was telegraphing his four-seam fastball, in part because Shreve gave up four homers in his final 36 plate appearances – three off his four-seamer.
I asked Daren Willman if he could provide some further detail about this, and MLB.com’s director of research and development provided this information: From the beginning of the season through Sept. 5 – the period in which Shreve excelled – hitters were 17-for-95 (.179) off Shreve’s four-seamer. From then until the end of the season, opponents were 8-for-16 (.500) off the four-seamer with those three homers.
Upgrades at Yankees’ facility
The Yankees’ minor league complex is undergoing its greatest remodeling since the team moved in a quarter of a century ago.
There are four indoor, air-conditioned batting cages already under construction at the complex – across the street from Steinbrenner Field. And groundbreaking begins Tuesday on an additional six indoor cages.
In addition, a weight room is scheduled to be built that will mirror the state-of-the-art qualities of the ones the major leaguers use at Steinbrenner Field. The main office structure is scheduled to have a second floor added to house offices, meeting rooms and a classroom for Latin players. The Yankees are among teams trying to better care for the young Latin players in the areas of education and life skills. The team hired a full-time teacher for its Dominican academy and has hired an education coordinator that will oversee the entire system.
The team hopes that all the upgrades to the complex will be completed before spring training next year.