When Major League Baseball Teams Consider Player Acquisitions Against Potential Backlash and Publicity Storm

In 2016, David Wright was still the face, team captain and veteran clubhouse sage of the New York Mets even as he neared the end of his playing career.

That spring, when the club and then-general manager Sandy Alderson took the opportunity to bring Jose Reyes back to Flushing — after Reyes received a lengthy suspension for violating the communal domestic violence policy — Dominica It was Wright who welcomed Switch Hitting Reyes to Flushing. flushing fold.

“One of[Reyes’]best friends was still there and that was David Wright. Mets manager at the time, Terry Collins, said. “Things like that tell you the impact of Jose’s return. David was definitely the face of the team. I think that helped the situation quite a bit.”

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Just months after accusations of domestic abuse were outlined in a Maui police press release, the fact that Reyes has been accepted into his old club faces teams when considering signing the controversial player. It emphasizes the nuanced, multi-layered decision-making process. equation.

Reyes was a member of the Rockies at the time of his arrest on October 31, 2015, and was serving a 51-game MLB-administered suspension. However, Colorado released him soon afterward, opening a signing window for the Mets. Reyes said his wife refused to cooperate with the Hawaiian authorities, so he was never charged.

Pitcher Trevor Bauer was released from the Dodgers earlier this month following the conclusion of a months-long arbitration hearing.The legal story of the past two years?

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Bauer, 32, has been disciplined by baseball commissioner Rob Manfred for violating the joint domestic violence, sexual assault and child abuse policy, the same policy MLB deemed he violated in 2016. I received

Bauer was the subject of a league investigation into sexual assault allegations made against him by multiple women. A Los Angeles Superior Court judge dismissed a permanent injunction against him against one of Bauer’s accusers, and also lifted the temporary injunction at the same hearing in August 2021.

Among the allegations a San Diego woman leveled against Bauer was strangling Bauer until he was unconscious during two sexual acts at Bauer’s Pasadena home in 2021. Woman.

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But Manfred has the power to discipline policy violators without being arrested or convicted in court. Manfred gave Bauer his historic 324-game suspension, but the pitcher appealed and an independent arbitrator later reduced the penalty to his 194 games. The suspension will be extended until the 2023 season. Bauer lost about $38 million in salary as a result of the disciplinary action. He signed a three-year, $102 million contract with the Dodgers before the 2021 season.

The charges against Reyes were described in a 2015 Maui PD press release as “family and/or familial abuse.” The release stated that Reyes and his wife were “engaged in an altercation that resulted in physical and injury. Mrs. Reyes was treated by a doctor at the scene and then transferred to her Memorial Medical Center on Maui for further treatment. You have been transported.”

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Collins says there was “no problem at all” after Alderson decided to sign Reyes.

“I certainly didn’t get into the allegations of what happened,” says Collins. “I knew his boss[Alderson]was pretty thorough. If he was okay with it, I was okay with it.”

Alderson said in New York in 2016 daily news One of the terms Reyes had to agree to if he signed with the Mets was to continue the treatment outlined in the Joint Domestic Violence Policy, and to agree to many other team stipulations. Alderson said in the article that Reyes continued to meet all the criteria throughout the 2016 season.

“I think Sandy would have put everything away before Jose came to the clubhouse,” says Collins.

The Mets made it to the 2016 postseason, but Reyes was a no-factor in the Mets’ 3-0 loss to the Giants in the wild card game. 267 batting average in 60 games that season.

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Reyes benefited from several Mets allies, most notably Wright, and gained front office approval. In Bauer’s case, he may have had a Dodgers clubhouse ally (which he seemed to mention in a statement upon his release), but ultimately the team’s higher powers decided to cut ties. And despite still owing Bauer his $22.5 million.

Bauer’s last major pitching will be in late June 2021. He has previously played for Cincinnati (winner of the 2020 National League Cy Young Award), Cleveland and Arizona.

“I am grateful for the abundance of support I have received from the Dodgers clubhouse,” Bauer said in a statement. “I wish the players well and look forward to competing elsewhere.”

It remains to be seen if “elsewhere” will become a major or another professional baseball league.