familia suspension

[Vic Sage]

According to Joel Sherman: "Familia is not in Mets camp today. He is in NY. NYM assume some kind of resolution in next 48 hours."

Original estimates put a possible suspension at 30 games, but according to Heyman: "Jeurys Familia will receive a ban for his spousal abuse episode, but it is not expected to be a very long one. Familia’s wife originally called the police, but has not been very forthcoming in the MLB investigation."

So what do we think? Somewhere between 10 - 30 games?
And who do we carry in the pen in the meantime? Edgin? Goeddel? Sewald?

[batmagadanleadoff]

What's the evidence anyways? I already forgot. Familia's wife did nothing beyond calling the police, right? And Jeurys admitted nothing, is that right?

[Lefty Specialist]

I believe the police noticed some scratches when they responded to the call.

Just get it over with already.

[batmagadanleadoff]

Answering my own question. It appears to be strong circumstantial evidence -- the wife calling police to say that Jeurys is drunk and "going crazy" and then the wife presenting with a bruised face.

http://nypost.com/2017/02/14/jeurys-familia-unveils-pr-tactic-no-domestic-violence-questions/

[Edgy MD]

The evidence, such as it is, included Ms. Rivas' 911 phone call, marks on her person*, and (make of this what you will) he gave his middle name as his surname to police.

* According to Fort Lee police, Ms. Rivas had “visible injuries” which included a “scratch to the chest and bruise to the right cheek.”

OE: oops, too late.

[batmagadanleadoff]

Edgy MD wrote: OE: oops, too late.

I've been noticing that the board no longer previews the newest posts that were added to the thread after beginning to compose your new post but before submitting it.

[Edgy MD]

Sometimes it do. Sometimes it don't. The devil is in the code.

[Ceetar]

Thought they blamed the bruises on one of the kids? But perhaps drunk and disorderly and only maybe abusive gets a lesser sentence?

It's already a farce because of the WBC. I hate to be on the site of the potential abuser and the team that benefits from it..., but it probably should be less than 30, and they should've decided months ago. Familia in NY probably means they're negotiating a "we'll do it for a little less, if you don't fight it."

[batmagadanleadoff]

Ceetar wrote: Familia in NY probably means they're negotiating a "we'll do it for a little less, if you don't fight it."

This makes a whole lotta sense.

[Guest cooby]

I drafted him last night

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

15 games

[Benjamin Grimm]

That's good news. I had pretty much penciled in 30 games for him.

[Guest d'Kong76]

15 games is reasonable.

[Frayed Knot]

I was thinking 20 so, yeah, reasonably good news.

[ashie62]

Baseball justice was kind to the Mets.

[Lefty Specialist]

Finally

[Guest cooby]

I drafted him knowing (and fully agreeing) with a suspension btw. Now if only he'd call and tell me his first name.

[Fman99]

The fact that they took until this late in the spring is ridiculous. There have been literally no new details on this case for months.

[Zvon]

Fman99 wrote: The fact that they took until this late in the spring is ridiculous. There have been literally no new details on this case for months.

This.

It's about freakin' time they resolved this mess.

[Centerfield]

15 games is less than I expected, so in a way, it's good news. But that doesn't change the fact that any suspension here is complete and utter bullshit. There is no basis to suspend Familia here, and the only reason to do so is to demonstrate that the league is "tough" on domestic violence. It's a joke.

It is important to distinguish Familia's case from those of Chapman and Reyes. There, the evidence and failure of the victim to cooperate left the prosecution with not enough ammunition to reach a conviction. That is absolutely not what happened here. Here, the Familias cooperated, and the prosecution made a determination that no domestic violence occurred. That is important. The court affirmatively determined that domestic violence did not occur.

That should be the end of any discussion of any penalties, civil or otherwise.

How does MLB justify this? Even Manfred's statement today admits as much:

Mr. Familia and his wife cooperated fully throughout the investigation, including submitting to in-person interviews with MLB's Department of Investigations…. The evidence reviewed by my office does not support a determination that Mr. Familia physically assaulted his wife, or threatened her or others with physical force or harm, on Oct. 31, 2016.

If that is the case, how do you then suspend Familia? The justification is along the lines of "whether or not he committed domestic violence, he acted inappropriately". Getting drunk, smashing a door, yelling a lot and acting weird. Is that what the policy forbids? If getting drunk and acting inappropriately is the standard, you are going to have to suspend half the league. And most of the fans.

I can't find the text of the policy anywhere, but the press release from 2015 says:

Major League Baseball and its clubs are proud to adopt a comprehensive policy that reflects the gravity and the sensitivities of these significant societal issues. We believe that these efforts will foster not only an approach of education and prevention but also a united stance against these matters throughout our sport and our communities.” A player accused of domestic violence, sexual assault or child abuse may be placed on paid administrative leave for up to a week while allegations are investigated before making a disciplinary decision. The policies giving the commissioner authority to impose discipline aren’t dependent on whether the player is convicted or pleads guilty to a crime.

So, if a player is arrested for domestic violence, a standard that is kept intentionally low and foster false-positives due to the nature of the crime, and then ultimately it is determined by the Courts that domestic violence did not occur, and then an investigation is held by MLB, where it is confirmed that domestic violence did not occur, how the hell do you end up with any suspension?

There has to be some standard here. You can't let suspensions be this arbitrary.

[Edgy MD]

There's also, at least in theory, an angle that suggests that this sort of symbolic toughness actually works to make the wider problem worse. I mean, if your husband is going to lose a piece of his salary and get a black mark on his record that could turn his career in the wrong direction whether or not abuse actually has occurred, it could make the next potential victim that much more reluctant to reach out.

It's tricky stuff and always has been. A victim that reaches out and gets their spouse suspended or fired (a) puts the spouse back in the home with them 24/7, ( gives the spouse motivation to be resentful, and © cuts themselves off from a source of income that they are depending on, perhaps for a potential escape from an unhappy marriage. It also (d) outs them as a victim and that's mortifying. It's a desperately hard call for a spouse to make, and if Familia's wife gets an unhappy outcome for making what was ultimately a courageous and proactive and preventative call, it may be harder for the next one to make, even if the situation is far more dire and chronic.

That's all speculative, of course. I don't know that the league made the right or wrong call, but I agree that they may have made it for the wrong reason.

[MFS62]

Add my name to the list of those who voted, "less than it could have been, more than it should have been".

Later

[Centerfield]

I mean, think of this in any other context.

We investigated Jeurys Familia for violations of the substance abuse policy. As you know, we take substance abuse very seriously. Our investigation revealed that Mr. Familia did not take any banned substances. We have nonetheless decided to ban him for about half of what we would have if he took banned substances. We are doing this so you guys can understand that we take this shit very seriously.

[Edgy MD]

What would be the equivalent incident? That he purchased banned substances but didn't take them, and his wife called the cops when she found them in the house?

[Centerfield]

Edgy MD wrote: What would be the equivalent incident? That he purchased banned substances but didn't take them, and his wife called the cops when she found them in the house?

I don't think so. Because if he had purchased steroids, that itself is illegal.

The consensus seems to be that he was drunk, loud, breaking shit around the house, was told to calm down, felt out of control, and so he barricaded himself in the bathroom.

This is not a crime, this is not domestic abuse. It should not warrant a suspension.

Manfred has said the conduct was "inappropriate". And Familia has admitted that he acted in an "unacceptable" manner.

Since when does inappropriate or unacceptable conduct warrant suspension? It seems nonsensical that one can be cleared of domestic abuse, but be in violation of the domestic abuse policy.

I don't know what the equivalent would be. If you don't take banned substances but still act inappropriately? I guess maybe eating a bunch of shit that's bad for you or eating something inappropriately?

"Jeurys Familia did not take any banned substances, but he acted inappropriately by putting ketchup on his Luger's steak, which I think we can all agree is pretty fucked up. 15 games son."

[Frayed Knot]

There's also, at least in theory, an angle that suggests that this sort of symbolic toughness actually works to make the wider problem worse. I mean, if your husband is going to lose a piece of his salary and get a black mark on his record that could turn his career in the wrong direction whether or not abuse actually has occurred, it could make the next potential victim that much more reluctant to reach out. It's tricky stuff and always has been. A victim that reaches out and gets their spouse suspended or fired (a) puts the spouse back in the home with them 24/7, ( gives the spouse motivation to be resentful, and (c) cuts themselves off from a source of income that they are depending on, perhaps for a potential escape from an unhappy marriage. It also (d) outs them as a victim and that's mortifying. It's a desperately hard call for a spouse to make, and if Familia's wife gets an unhappy outcome for making what was ultimately a courageous and proactive and preventative call, it may be harder for the next one to make, even if the situation is far more dire and chronic. That's all speculative, of course. I don't know that the league made the right or wrong call, but I agree that they may have made it for the wrong reason.

There's always the NFL move: interview Ray Rice's wife with him in the room and declare that, based on that conversation, you're satisfied that whatever minor problem caused her to be dragged by her feet from the floor of a hotel elevator while unconscious is all resolved and the two game suspension more than enough.
Then, after the first half of the security tape becomes public, you blackball him from the league for good.

[Centerfield]

And to be clear, if the results of the investigation had been inconclusive, then yes, I can see how you might suspend him. If the prosecution had said they wished they had more evidence, then yes, go for it. But here, they affirmatively concluded that this did not happen. This was an exoneration. This was them finding a stolen 1963 mint green Pontiac Tempest with the gun that shot the clerk.

What should have happened, was that MLB investigated, then cleared Familia, then reiterated that this is how it's meant to work. Arrests are mandatory and meant to find false positives. The MLB investigation ensued in a timely manner, identified that nothing happened, and cleared his name. Reiterate that even where the legal system clears someone, MLB will investigate on their own.

That's how it's supposed to work.

[Guest cooby]

Ha! No I didn't draft him! Funkymonkey did!

[Centerfield]

Actually, I think I know the equivalent. It would be like Familia going to a party where everyone is snorting coke, but he himself did not. Let's say Familia got really drunk, hung out with all the cokeheads, walked around town acting like a dick and saying stupid shit, but he himself did not actually snort coke.

I think that's your equivalent. Do you suspend him for that?

[Guest themetfairy]

I'm with CF. The investigation concluded that Familia had a tantrum inside his home and separated himself from his family without causing any physical harm to anyone.

I cannot see how this conclusion possibly justifies a suspension.