MLB commissioner Rob Manfred is one-for-one in domestic violence cases. His suspension of New York Yankees’ closer Aroldis Chapman for 30 games showed the sport would not tolerate domestic violence, something other professional sports leagues have had problems with. It could have been ugly, but Manfred was able to give a fair, stern punishment for baseball’s first case like this.
The suspension calls for Chapman to miss a little over the first month of the season, but allows him to still test free agent waters at the end of it. He is banned from games, but is still allowed to train with the Yankees during the spring. A longer ban could have prevented Chapman from compiling enough service time to be a free agent at the end of the season. It would have cost him millions of dollars in the end, since he is expected to sign a large deal for 2017 and beyond. It is a win for Chapman since he can still be a free agent after 2016, will only be deducted fewer than $2 million and gets a clean slate. Chapman should be happy that it turned out to be only 30 games, since many wanted a steeper penalty.
The players union gets a win in this case as well, since Chapman agreed to not appeal the suspension. An appeal could have shortened the suspension by a few games, but would have ultimately just caused bigger problems. He would become the distraction no team wants, and ultimately would’ve just been part of a painful process for all involved. Chapman admitted his wrongdoing, apologized and chose to move on from it.
The sport itself gets a win in this case, since it’ll set a reasonable precedent. Unfortunately we will still see cases like this, but hopefully strict punishments will help limit them. Baseball was able to send a message, which was that any kind of domestic abuse or violence would not be tolerated. Chapman ultimately wasn’t charged, but still saw a punishment. MLB wasn’t messing around with this case, something that can’t be said about the NFL.
The NFL danced around with punishments for Ray Rice, Adrian Peterson and Greg Hardy, allowing the league to be tarnished. There was no rhyme or reason for the allotments. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell was clueless in these cases, whereas Manfred looked much better off.
Manfred did the right thing and now he just needs to get it right with Jose Reyes and Yasiel Puig, who are in line for steeper suspensions. Reyes was arrested for an incident with his wife, and Puig allegedly pushed his sister in a club. Both suspensions should be announced soon.
