Major League Baseball continues to show it isn’t messing around when it comes to punishing players for domestic violence.
According to the New York Daily News, Mets pitcher Jeurys Famila will face a hefty suspension after allegedly striking his wife in a drunken fight on Halloween.
Industry sources believe that Familia will still face a suspension of at least 30 games under the joint domestic violence policy to start the 2017 season. So, even with the decision Thursday, Familia and the Mets are still sort of in a state of limbo.
Familia’s wife Bianca Rivas told police she did not wish to pursue a criminal case against Familia, and on Thursday prosecutors dropped all charges against the pitcher.
A 30-game suspension for Familia (which, for the record, appears to be little more than a guess on the part of the Daily News and its sources) would match the punishment given to Aroldis Chapman, who allegedly choked his wife and then fired a gun in the family garage. Like in Familia’s case, Chapman’s girlfriend declined to press charges. Unlike in Familia’s case, Chapman confessed to part of the accusation, apologizing for the gun shots.
Jose Reyes received a 52-game suspension last year for allegedly assaulting his wife. The primary difference there was that Reyes was arrested and charged, though prosecutors were forced to drop the case when his wife declined to cooperate.
The decision on how long to punish players for DV arrests seems somewhat arbitrary, which makes you think Rob Manfred and MLB are going to get in trouble sooner or later for an overly lenient or overly harsh suspension, but for now the league’s policy seems to be sending the right message. Even if baseball’s motives aren’t totally pure, these suspensions convey that domestic violence cannot go unpunished.
