Major League Baseball conducted its interview with Miguel Sano today as part of its investigation into assault allegations that were brought forth against him back in December, report La Velle E. Neal III and Phil Miller of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. Sano missed the Twins’ afternoon workouts today as he complied with the investigation and won’t be in the lineup for their evening game. As Neal and Miller note, the interview figures to be one of the league’s final steps in its investigation into the allegations against Sano. Once the investigation is complete, the results will be presented to MLB commissioner Rob Manfred, who will then determine whether any discipline is required for the Minnesota third baseman.
A bit more from the AL Central…
- Royals second baseman Whit Merrifield got his first exposure to center field in roughly a half decade in yesterday’s Cactus League game, writes MLB.com’s Jeffrey Flanagan. The 29-year-old Merrifield played more than 600 innings of center in his first two years of pro ball but has been primarily playing infield in recent years. However, with Alcides Escobar back in the fold, the Royals will give Merrifield some looks in center field. If Merrifield proves capable in the outfield, he could fill that need while also potentially opening second base for prospect Adalberto Mondesi, who, it should be noted, will now be utilizing his middle name rather than his first name. Mondesi, who previously went by his first name, Raul, recently explained the decision to reporters (including Flanagan), noting that he’d long gone by his middle name before moving to pro ball. “Back home, everyone knows me by that,” said Mondesi, the son of former NL Rookie of the Year and All-Star Raul Mondesi.
- While many Indians fans were happy to see Mike Napoli reunited with the organization earlier this morning when he agreed to a minor league deal, manager Terry Francona tempered expectations regarding Napoli’s chances of making the club (link via MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian). “He wanted a chance to be in a Major League camp,” said Francona. “There’s a decent chance we’re going to get him ready to have him go on another team and help beat us. Saying that, I think we all felt like he deserved it. He’s such a pro, so special to us.” Francona added that he was extremely honest and forthcoming with Napoli about the lack of immediate opportunity, although as Bastian notes, the well-respected and well-liked Napoli provides a nice depth option in the case of an injury. And, Josh Tomlin raved to Bastian about the team’s excitement over having Napoli in the clubhouse, even if it’s only for a short time.
hoping nap gets a chance with a big league club. hoping it’s a platoon partner with alonzo, but i doubt that’s going to happen.
I like him, but it’s…..in true Franconian…..kind of, you know, sort of, like, hard to kind of carry three kind of first basemen/designated hitter.
Lol. But would he really get that many words out through his gum?
Maybe Yonder Alonso will start shagging fly balls like we saw Carlos Santana do…
Napoli and Alonzo and a backup catcher to go with a utilityman makes for an extremely unflexible bench.
Always was a Napoli fan. Good luck.
Sano will miss at least a month of games if not more. There might not be good evidence, but in this culture an accusation is as good as a conviction. Give him the fine and suspension, just let the fans know soon.
Man this would be incredibly sad if Sano actually gets ANY sort of suspension…you should not be able to get someone suspeneded based on a story that she was basically hit on by Miguel. Just feel like it’s completely unfair to go off one persons account.
Shut up
Yeah he doesn’t deserve to have an opinion if it disagrees with you, am I right? It is incredibly unfair and sexist to punish innocent people. In America you’re innocent until proven guilty. Not innocent until a spoiled brat wants attention or doesn’t get what she wants and makes baseless accusations with no real evidence.
Who said MLB would be going off just one persons account?
It’s amazing that this Betsy Bissen deleted certain Sections of her Blog that showed pictures of Twins rear-ends (that she took), soon after this was posted on here… Not to mention, the Posts that I had deleted that same Day, stating these Posts on Her Blog. The Blog still exists, but it was amazing how qucikly these certain Posts of the Blog were deleted. #CleatChaser
Wow. Victim-shaming at it’s finest…
Who says she’s a victim? By all accounts i’ve read of her story she sounds like an ambulance chasing, slip and fall in a grocery store, gold digger. Her story is full of HUGE holes and doesn’t hold water.
She claims Miguel dragged her to a bathroom by the wrist from the field yet didn’t resist because media. She then claims she fought with him for 10 minutes outside the restroom, screaming at the top of her lungs in a cavernous hallway in a spring training ball facility not far from reporters and NO-ONE HEARD HER or reported the incident? Then she doesn’t report him allegedly rough housing her for over a month? Give me a break!
Sano is INNOCENT UNTIL PROVEN GUILTY! If you don’t like it go live in Afghanistan or Iran!
If we are on Planet Naive, maybe the behavior of the complainant leading up to the alleged offense doesn’t factor into determining the exact nature and severity of the offense. If we’re talking about Earth it might be a different story.
Victim blaming, victim shaming… nobody has any problem doing that when partiers get laced drugs and OD. Not every victim is an innocent victim… you can have a hand in exposing yourself to victimization, while still be a victim of wrongdoing.
Time will tell how this Sano thing sorts itself out, none of us have the facts to draw any conclusions. But, if you ever get a chance to get to know a current or former successful athlete or other similar statured person and they’ll probably tell you the hardest part of it all is knowing who just sees dollar signs when they’re looking at you, and who your real friends are.
She said she’s a victim. And she has every right to tell her story, and MLB has every responsibility to investigate it, free from internet bro’s assaulting her credibility or motives.
She has every right to tell her story of course. So does Sano. And we, using the first Amendment, have every right to agree or disagree with her or Sami’s credibility. Welcome to America.
The Sixth Amendment tells us that you can compel your accuser get on the stand, swear to tell the truth under penalty of perjury, and assault their credibility and motives all day long. And if you’re saying things that are knowingly false you could have your own set of civil and maybe even criminal consequences.
Like it or not, even if he’s obviously guilty, if this were a criminal case the victim’s behavior can very easily be a mitigating factor for the offender, especially with this relatively low grade offense on the crim sex conduct spectrum.
Based on the information that’s out there… I don’t think she’s lying in this case. I think he got handsy with her thinking she was a groupie type, she wasn’t expecting it or interested, and in the intervening time the trauma of it distorted the details, particularly the elapsed time. I don’t know about the length but I suspect he’ll get suspended.
Pure speculation.
nteagle, this is the second time (that I’m aware of) that you’ve accused her of this. Have you noticed how many pictures of Twins players remain on her blog? Context is important here.
If he is suspended, it won’t be because of her story alone. It will be because there’s a pattern of behavior that he has established. What teammates and personnel say will play heavily into discipline, if he’s disciplined.
I doubt many of the fans here read the full account, or the remarks from teammates in Jeff Passan’s article, but her story doesn’t sound like a work of fiction. What players on record have stated support the possibility and it’s important to remember she never filed charges, criminal or civil, so she’s not seeking a payday like some people are suggesting.
I agree completely. The victim’s story brings attention to the issue, the other people around both parties help to corroborate it.
I haven’t read any articles and have no inclinations as to whether or not Sano is guiltily. But I believe MLB will take this issue seriously and explore all avenues in order to get to the truth
Eyewitness testimony is awful. Our brains evolved mechanisms to keep us alive, not to accurately testify to details long after the fact. Go into fear mode and you’ll see what your brain wanted you to see to keep you alive. I’m sure Sano seemed 9 feet tall to her and it felt like an hour. Based upon the info out there right now… In all likelihood it was probably ten seconds of handsyness.
Seriously, if you’ve ever had some kind of incident happen and were able to see it go down on video after the fact… you know what I’m talking about. It’s amazing how your perception of time slows down when the glands start dumping chemicals into your brain.
You think Sano will be suspended at least a month, even if there’s not good evidence? So he’d be basically being suspended for nothing, besides an accusation? If they can find solid evidence that this happened, then there would be a reason for a suspension, but making a large decision like suspension by going off of one person’s account, without evidence to support their claim would be very unwise.
If there’s “solid evidence” he should be in jail. MLB isn’t a criminal court. If the league or a team deem a player has acted in a way detrimental to the organization, they’re well within their right to suspend them.
Twinsvet, it’s not a criminal investigation. If he’s suspended, it will be because he violated the league’s conduct policy.
Why should he go to jail. This isn’t a criminal investigation. Just because you are a bleeding heart doesn’t mean you throw random people in jail because of alleged incidents not backed by police reports. You folks will be the death of the constitution in this country.
I understand this. My point was that “innocent until proven guilty” is not applicable here, because that’s merely a criminal court burden of proof. There does not need to be “solid evidence” for him to be suspended.
Sano is accused of what would maybe be 5th degree assault, a standard misdemeanor. Police are not going to spend any time investigating something like that, even if it was immediate. Without other witnesses or any significant proof of injury, there wouldn’t be any charges filed or arrests made. Even if convicted, there wouldn’t be any jail time for the offense.
You’re right that MLB can and will suspend players without the kind of evidence necessary for a conviction, but there is a limit to how far they can go without the MLBPA getting involved. You cannot take action against players when there is almost no evidence to support a complaint.
Bissel has motive. She thinks she had her credentials pulled and said that’s the reason she came forward.
Bissel’s story is heavily embellished. What she said happened, simply did not happen the way she said it did. Period. 10 minutes at Ridgedale after a Twins signing event, near the Apple Store screaming and no security or people came? That didn’t happen.
Now, I’m not saying nothing happened. I think something probably did happen, and it probably involved Sano being incredibly inappropriate and even scary.
Here’s what we don’t know. Are there others who’ve come forward during the MLB investigation? What did the other parties named by Bissel tell MLB investigators? Did Bissels friends or family indicate they saw physical signs of injury? What did his team mates or former team mates tell MLB about Sano? There’s going to be a lot of the investigation we don’t see and all of that will factor into MLB’s decision.
MLB is on really uncomfortable ground right now. They need to balance the current political climate, the relative strength of the accusation which could range from incredibly weak to pretty strong depending on their internal investigation, an already angry MLBPA, and the rights of the players to not be punished without just cause or punished unfairly even if there was enough proof something happened.
Yes but Ms. Bissels said he (Sano) “sexually assaulted her” in her lengthy publication. Every police department in America would take such allegations seriously and investigate if notified and or a claim filed. That is fact. And no that’s not a class 5/ 5th degree misdemeanor it’s a felony.
Why did Ms. Bissels not file then if it was that bad. DING DING DING….because she’s either grossly embellishing or story (aka lying) and or wants a pay day / hush money from Sano and the Twins in exchange for not pressing charges.
Victim’s do not “press charges” in MN, the State does. As a matter of law it’s simply not up to her whether charges are filed or not.
Yes, but if she doesn’t notify police what happened then no charges will be filed. They aren’t mind readers.
Who files the report?
Also if they find good evidence they should make it public. They are supposed to be role models. Why would I buy that jersey if something happened?
I don’t think we even want to know what most of our role models do when they’re not on company time.
Or our next door neighbors, distant relatives, co-workers, probably even parents and/Or children
Would you want the world to know what you do outside of your job?
But where’s the “He’s in the best shape of his life” comment from Francona?
So why is the MLB investigating Sano and not Maxwell?
im legitimately confused.
His is just a plain old crime and not under the policy. Not a domestic and not sexual assault.
If MLB really views pointing a gun at someone just as a plain old crime, then MLB is really messed up.
JD396…it falls under the CBA…ARTICLE XII—Discipline – B. Conduct Detrimental or Prejudicial to Baseball (page 52)
Players may be disciplined for just cause for conduct that is materially detrimental or materially prejudicial to the best interests of Baseball including, but not limited to, engaging in conduct in violation of federal, state or local law. The Commissioner and a Club shall not discipline a Player for the same act or conduct under this provision. In cases of this type, a Club may only discipline a Player, or take other adverse
action against him, when the Commissioner defers the disciplinary decision to the Club.
mlbplayers.com/pdf9/5450407.pdf
Milkman…The answer is the same as it was a couple weeks ago when you asked the same thing and the same as it was in Nov….they are.
Nov 14, 2017
“Athletics catcher Bruce Maxwell plead not guilty to assault and disorderly conduct charges on Tuesday, reports Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle. Maxwell was arrested on Oct. 28 and charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and disorderly conduct after allegedly waving a gun at a Postmates employee that was making a delivery to his house, per Slusser. There’s no trial date set for now, and a hearing wouldn’t come until sometime in early 2018. MLB will conduct an investigation into the matter, but no announcement of any discipline would come until after a hearing (or a theoretical settlement).” link to mlbtraderumors.com
Notice the words “MLB will conduct an investigation into the matter, but no announcement of any discipline would come until after a hearing (or a theoretical settlement).”….just like all of the other cases. Either the case plays out, there is a settlement of sorts or as happened with many of the domestic violence cases, the charges were dropped. Afterwards MLB issues their finding and discipline.
Has a police report even been filed or is this still she said he said type thing? If not this is not a criminal investigation.
They are.