Major league baseball has announced that Rockies shortstop Jose Reyes has been suspended without pay through May 31st under the league’s joint domestic violence, sexual assault, and child abuse policy. He’ll be credited for the time he’s already missed in calculating the suspension, though he’ll forego salary that had previously been available under his paid administrative leave.
Reyes will not contest the ban. It’ll technically cost him 52 games, Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports tweets, though Colorado will only have had 51 contests to that point (with one re-scheduled rainout). Reyes will be eligible to begin working out now and could start a rehab assignment as soon as the calendar flips to June.
The veteran infielder will end up losing just over $7.09MM of his total $22MM salary this season, as he’ll ultimately go without pay for the first 59 days of the 183-day “championship season,” as defined in the CBA. Plus, he’ll make a $100K donation to a charity for domestic abuse. That’s a more or less token amount, but presumably its inclusion in the terms of the agreed-upon suspension was motivated by some reason beyond the money involved.
All told, the severity of the punishment is surprisingly light, at least in comparison to the precedent set in this and other spheres of league discipline. He’ll ultimately lose quite a bit less time and money than had he been caught with a PED for the first time. Indeed, his suspension barely tops the 50-game bans handed out to minor leaguers for such relatively innocuous actions as testing positive for marijuana use.
Aroldis Chapman previously received a 30-game domestic violence suspension of his own, with commissioner Rob Manfred citing his use of a firearm in the course of a domestic dispute with his girlfriend. But he was never arrested or charged in the matter, and there was seemingly never any clear evidence that he had initiated any physical contact with his girlfriend.
The Reyes case seemingly contained an even more serious factual setting: his wife said at the time that he grabbed her by the throat and shoved her into a sliding glass door, and she received treatment at a hospital. He was arrested, charged, and set for trial until the charges had to be dropped when Mrs. Reyes decided not to testify against her husband.
To be fair, Reyes has been on administrative leave and in limbo for quite some time, as the incident in question occurred on Halloween night. But that delay occurred in large part because of the pending legal action and, it seems, an effort by the league, union, and Reyes’s representatives to avoid a grievance over the length of the ban.
It’s unclear what the future holds for Reyes. He has been bypassed at the major league level by Trevor Story, and it’s not apparent what role he would play for the Rockies, who still owe him the remainder of his salary for the present season and $26MM more thereafter (including a buyout on his 2018 club option).
A report earlier today suggested that there is trade interest in the soon-to-be 33-year-old, though it’s not clear whether he’d be pursued as a means of prying a prospect or draft pick from the Rockies or also because of his potential to aid another club down the stretch. If history is any indication, he’ll have another shot at the majors at some point, though Reyes already seemed in decline before this black mark went on his record.
Reyes issued a statement apologizing, rather vaguely, “for everything that has happened,” as Nick Groke of the Denver Post was among those to report. He went on to say that he’s “happy to put all this in the past and get back to doing what I love the most, playing baseball.” Reyes also thanked his wife, who he said “has remained by my side throughout everything.”
Regardless of how one weighs those words, Reyes will certainly have a long ways to go to show he’s learned from the incident. He’ll also be required to submit to counseling, as contemplated in the policy. Commissioner Rob Manfred said that he’s “encouraged by Mr. Reyes’ commitment to the treatment provisions of the Policy in order to ensure that such an incident does not occur in the future.”
Chapman got 30. Fifty two seems fair for Reyes.
Not enough
This is a bad opinion.
People can go back and forth all day about whether it should have been 162 or 90 or 30. He took a substantial punishment, enough to cost him millions of dollars and affect both his individual production and his place on the team.. The public can still judge Reyes for who he is, and baseball can move on. There’s no need for anyone to feel like he “should” have gotten more or less as a punitive measure because ultimately it doesn’t matter. No punishment will make good what he did, nor will it serve as a deterrent for the next guy.
I’ll agree with that, like to add a little however:
Wife beater gets around 50 games ok? That’s just brutal, no matter how anyone looks at it right? He plays for a team in Colorodo, which has legalized marijuana.. Right? Say he failed a drug test.. For marijuana right? Legal there.. He gets popped for 50 games.. Same ban for 1st timers.. Correct? You think it’s fair a wife beater gets same penalty a guy should get for smoking something that is 100% legal where he is at?
How about Chapman? That guy got less. He only got 30 games and he FIRED a gun when he got mad at his spouse! Should smoking dope be more of a penalty?
It doesn’t matter what is legal in the state if it’s illegal in the league. I’m also pretty sure MLB players don’t get tested for maijuana.
And personally, yes, I think that what Reyes is alleged to have done is worse than Chapman firing his gun at his garage.
Teams test and suspend for marijuana, so imagine(?) league tests for it along with PED’s also? All illicit drugs would think are tested am guessing?
Reason am saying that.. Boston has a history of testing kids (at least) in it’s MiLB organization for years, released at least 1 for violation club policy for 2nd failure (marijuana a pitcher whom they had given a sizeable bonus to only 3y previous and was quite talented.. 8th rd pick Mathew Price from Va. tech who missed 1y from TJ surgery. There was another failure who was tossed also can’t remember from top of head..
MiLB =/= MLB.. The difference a union makes
Boston is not testing their minor leaguers, MLB is. But once you are on the 40 man roster (a union member) you don’t get tested for marijuana. Any team individually testing any player would be a violation of the CBA.
Exactly. Most PEDs are legal, just not allowed in baseball. Laws are laws, and these are workplace rules, agreed upon by management and labor as it happens. Should be no problem distinguishing between the two.
None of this is about what’s legal or not because nobody was convicted of any charges. That is why the sentences were lighter. If Reyes’s wife had cooperated and he was found guilty of charges, his suspension would’ve been substantially more I’m sure.
In the absence of a criminal conviction, there is no proof as to what happened, so the best judgments the MLB can make is as to how badly Reyes tarnished the reputation of the business.
I don’t agree that there’s “no proof” just because he wasn’t convicted of a crime. Even a conviction isn’t proof of anything, other than that a jury operating under evidentiary rules in the courtroom game of a trial decided he was guilty.
What are you a lawyer now. Haha just kidding Harvard.
Marijuana is still illegal at the federal level, in case you weren’t aware. Just because a state makes it legal doesn’t actually make it legal. At any time, the feds could come in and take everything associated with the Marijuana industry. It’s not illegal to drink if you’re over 21 but it’s illegal to do certain things while drinking, no?
And what about the punishment his wife and children have taken?
Can he be traded while suspended?
Don’t you get a longer suspension for smoking pot in the minors?
hope the Rockies donate some of that 7 mil they are saving as well instead of just keeping it in their pockets!
They’re free to do what they want with the money.
I know, that’s why i said “hope” and not that they should donate some of the money
They’re free to do what they want with the money tho
Somewhere, tmf29 is reading this and doing a facepalm.
what?
It was English! He agreed with you the first time…. And now we’re all going… Does he have a hearing problem with written word!???
My question now is the standard set for Hector Olivera ? Does he get the same punishment?
Depends if he gets convicted.
Swap Reyes, Blackmon, Gray, and Nunez for Olivera, Markakis, Aybar, and Hursh.
Contracts about balance, Reyes will recover (still show he can be positive and viable hitter) and ensure we do not rush Swanson, get Gray and Blackmon who I feel is identical to Markakis.
Aybar and Olivera contracts balance bad contract swaps. But Olivera could regain some value in Colorado with confidence. Markakis could have opportunity in altitude and that lineup to turn those doubles into HRs. And the prospects swap need.
Never gonna happen, but fun.
PEDs should absolutely be punished more severely than DV. One affects the game whilst one is completely outside of the game.
52 games is fine. A little excessive maybe, but an overall good punishment.
The underlying current here is that the game of baseball is more important than domestic violence. Not saying that’s what you meant, but it does come off that way, a little.
Thorny question, to be sure.
When you’re suspending somebody from the game of baseball, sure it is.
You see, this is where you’re getting in the weeds. Domestic violence is the issue, not the game of baseball. The sport’s importance disappears in the shadow of wife beating. PEDs affect the game negatively. Domestic violence can (and does) get people killed. There’s just no comparison.
Yes, I believe baseball is held to a higher moral standard than most other sports (NBA/NFL come to mind) in North America. So, when DV occurs around baseball, the brand is much more damaged. Thus, the penalty should be greater than PED’s. The steroid era didn’t turn off a generation of fans, whereas condoning DV very well might.
I know this is all very subjective. It’s just that PED’s don’t physically hurt anyone or threaten lives. That is the difference.
Sure, DV is obviously a much more serious offense than cheating in a game. But, from the context of the game itself (which is what is being dealt with), the cheating is more severe.
Cheating in baseball certainly has more to do with baseball than anything you do outside of it.
The same thing happens in other facets of life as well. Get caught cheating on a final exam , you get expelled from many universities. If you get arrested but charges get dropped you’re much less likely to get expelled than if you’re caught cheating.
Exactly. You would never get expelled from school for a DUI that occurred off campus. Same type of deal here.
Not true. Campus ethics rules do include firing for outside offenses, as do workplace rules. You can get fired for breaking the law outside the workplace. You can get expelled for breaking the law off campus. You can get fired or expelled for doing something that affects the corporate brand or violates campus ethics, regardless of legal ramifications.
College: you pay university for education.
Professional baseball: team pays you to put on sports displays for paying audience.
And?
Except the likelihood of the MLB brand being tranished and fan interest and viewership waning because of a high-profile athlete is much more likely than the DUI of one anonymous student among hundreds or thousands living on campus impacting your hypothetical University’s image, admissions, and its bottom line.
And while I’ll grant you that PED use represents cheating that “within the context of the game… is more severe,” Manfred and MLB are running a business that could potentially lose significantly more casual fans and revenue by being perceived as light on DV in even one player’s case than it can from even a handful of PED violations.
I hate steroids. I hate domestic violence a hell of a lot more.
That’s what Mondesi got for taking cold medicine. Just think about that.
A player who carelessly took foreign medicine without checking that the contents are up to standard with the legality of his job vs a guy who may or may not (lets not let the view of the public eye convict anyone yet) have hit his wife (who is uncooperative in an investigation.)
Plus there is atleast doubt that Mondesi was suspended for cold medicine.
“Carelessly took a foreign medicine” He’s Dominican… you make it sound like he took some shady back-alley drugs. He had the flu and went to the local store to get flu medicine. This much we can assume because MLB reduced the suspension based on the evidence he provided. There’s absolutely no way that should be the same amount of games as domestic violence. It’s not uncommon for the spouse to refuse to testify… failure to get a conviction doesn’t mean nothing happened. It just means they can’t convict him according to law. MLBPA operates independently of the law so they can choose to suspend him and. Manfed admitted that he violated the policy. Disappointing that a guy with the flu gets punished the same amount as a guy who allegedly choked his wife.
Meh. It’s really hard to compare one to the other. While you think something is far worse than the other, some would see the other way or some would see them as being equal. You can have your opinion about it but you’re in no position to make the call on what the punishment is. They made their move and it’s over with.
Regarding PED offenses, I understand there may be mitigating factors related to certain offenders being from the Dominican. I believe nonetheless that as the son of a 13-year MLB veteran allegedly named in the Mitchell Report as a drug policy offender, Raul Mondesi, Jr. has been too close to the PED discussion for the “because he’s Dominican” explanation of his own PED offense to apply.
Jose has kids. For someone who has witnessed this first hand in their home, my opinion is that he should have to undergo some sort of therapy or anger management.
It’s not all about money, or at least it shouldn’t be.
It SHOULD be all about his family and how he can heal himself so as not to perpetuate harmful behavior.
Well, his wife didn’t seem to think it was a big enough deal to their family’s well being to cooperate with charges, so I’m not sure it’s MLB’s job or place to involve themselves in deciding what is best for his family.
Oh, come on. Do you have any knowledge of domestic abuse and spousal reaction? Don’t hot take this stuff, man.
Yes. I do. I also don’t think it should be up to MLB to intervene on something that may or may not prove harmful to his family. The only hot take is crying that MLB should babysit their players
Your behavior outside of work will impact your status with your employer in any other setting, so I can’t fathom why it would be any different here. If anything, it is of greater concern since players do their job in public for entertainment purposes.
And, clearly, his wife’s decision not to testify at trial — which obviously could be motivated by any number of factors, and is common in these situations — does not change the simple factual question: did he or did he not assault her? There may not be sufficient evidence to win that question at trial, on a “beyond a reasonable doubt” standard, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t enough to determine he violated the DV policy, which Manfred says he did.
52 games is a bit ridiculous though. 20-30 would have sufficed, for an alleged event that happened completely outside of the realm of baseball. .
So he has to choke his wife on the field to get suspended longer?
your persistent and vehement argumentation is tacky, and seems to reveal more about your values than anything else. and you don’t seem to understand the concept of a contract. this suspension is basically a morality clause in the contract of all baseball players, so it absolutely has to do with baseball. when they sign a contract to play, every single MLB baseball player agrees to behave a certain way or else be subjected to punishment by the Commissioner. period. it does not have to pass muster in your worldview, mores or values. MLB doesn’t want their brand tarnished by men who use their power to harm women and children and they have the right via the contract to set that tone and expectation and to investigate and punish as they see fit. the point they are making is that they have a no tolerance policy for domestic violence. MLB does not have to follow any standards (and certainly not U.S. criminal court standards) except as outlined in the contract. if they players don’t like it, they can negotiate for changes in the next contract. it’s simple, and it’s all done. the players who have received punishment under the new law ultimately did not fight the suspension or object (even though they are losing millions of dollars) — so why are you (over and over and over)?
Because DV has nothing to do with the game of baseball.
not necessarily true. MOST places don’t care as long as you are able to continue working and do your job well.
Celebrities should be held to a different standard though.
Just realized this post is over a month old no idea how i got here.
Chester– what?!
I just updated the story to note that he’ll be required to submit to treatment. That was an important part of the policy.
Good to know. Thanks, Jeff.
Was the requirement for counseling made public for Reyes? Seems like it wasn’t Chapman, though the policy certainly implies that anyone found in violation will be required to submit to it, whether the commissioner announces it or not.
Yeah, it was — that’s a direct quote from Manfred in the post. Don’t recall specifically seeing it mentioned re Chapman, but yeah I’m nearly certain he has to go through it too. Not sure whether there is some kind of particular program or if it’s tailored by player/situation.
Ah I see the quote now. Interesting. I am nearly 100% certain that the commissioner did not announce counseling for Chapman. I was looking for it but did not see it. Perhaps this along with the agreed-upon public statement by the player is part of the negotiation. Chapman was more explicitly apologetic and accepting of responsibility, compared to Reyes in his tepid statement. Maybe the commissioner looked at what Reyes was willing to admit publicly and decided disclose the counseling aspect of the penalty.
I think the whole thing is negotiated. And “tepid” is a good word to describe that statement.
This seems a little unnecessary. The MLB dictating what he does or does not have to do outside of the white lines is dicey.
Somebody needs to respond to this to correct the history, and I guess it’s going to be me. Ever since MLB appointed its first commissioner in 1919, he’s been granted broad powers to take whatever action he believes to be in the “best interests of baseball.” Every commissioner since has used those powers and to sanction players and managers alike for activities that were not even close to between the white lines but in his view tarnished the reputation of the game. Generally they’ve done so lacking any standards for where and how they apply those powers, it’s up to the commissioner. That is what is really so different about the domestic violence policy. It was hammered out between MLB and the MLBPA and provides specific guidance for how the commissioner should exercise his “best interests of baseball” powers where this specific issue is concerned. So far from being “dicey” it is simply a defined application of the protection clause that commissioners have been exercising freely for nearly 100 years.
The precedent is simple. Whale away at your spouse if you don’t mind an extra 20 games suspension. If your going to get suspended, make it worth it. I mean, that how I read it. I thought he should have been suspended for a year. He got the same suspension as someone who took the wrong cold medicine. Joke.
On the contrary, I feel his punishment was 20-30 games too severe for conduct 100% outside of the game of baseball.
I think, what this suspension outlines more than anything, is a gross inconsistency between severity and punishment. Weed, flu medicine, or domestic violence – take your pick kids.
Mlb
Consistency is probably the wrong thing to look for here. This new policy was designed to get MLB ahead of the domestic violence issue, which has tarnished other pro sports. It provides the commissioner with guidance as to how he looks after the best interests of baseball where this issue is concerned.
Consistency isn’t what we want, really. Bernie Madoff got 150 years, while the sentencing guideline for a first offender 1st degree crim sex in my state is 12-14 years. Is that saying that it’s worse to steal lots of money than it is to molest children? Not really. There are tons of other factors that go into it.
For this, don’t compare the suspension lengths, but the rate of change. PED suspensions have been ramped up regularly for over a decade and that’s all been well-documented. We started with, what, 10-15 games or something? When that didn’t seem to work, it got beefed up
Compare that to DV. After the total excrement-show that was AP and Ray Rice a few years ago where the league did their best to make abusers look like the good guys because of how bad they handled it. Here, we’ve seen two suspensions for high profile players. By all accounts the league handled the investigations very professionally, and negotiated unprecedented stiff punishments while not needlessly damaging the players’ reputations. The union and league have been united on it so far and our first two cases seem to have the offending players on board. Considering the policy was changed from basically nothing to what appears so far to be the premier tough but fair off-field incident policy… I guess I’m happy with where we’re at.
Agreed. This summarizes my sense of where MLB stands on this issue. Imperfections with any policy can always be pointed out, but after being behind the curve on PEDs for so long, as a fan, it’s good to see the sport making a real effort to be proactive here.
Okay.. I saw May 31 and I was thinking, holy crap, that’s it? But it’s retroactive, which makes sense. I’m happy with it.
Wow. I’m shocked. I believe that he deserved a season-long suspension and am disappointed and in disbelief that he got…this.
(I somehow only heard Gary and Ron mention his name, but not the news, during the Mets game.) Anyway, I just wanted to add that I think that it’s disgusting that teams are interested in trading for him.
On the contrary, I feel his punishment was 20-30 games too severe for conduct 100% outside of the game of baseball.
Well, Reyes is part of the MLBPA and they collectively bargained this with the league, so there’s no real wiggle room. MLB saw the photos of the bruises and cuts and decided that this isn’t anything they want to look the other way with, so they came down hard on him. Good for them. The other major leagues’ penalties for this are an absolute joke. Regardless of whether this conduct was “100% outside the game of baseball” it doesn’t matter. Jose Reyes is a major league baseball player. He is under terms of his contract, one of which is a character and morals clause, even during the offseason. As in any profession, if you violate a contract you can get in trouble, even if it has nothing to do with your profession.