The Yankees and Character

Mike Axisa makes a number of observations about the Yankees deal for Aroldis Chapman, but this one stings:

I think it’s pretty gross the Yankees essentially used a domestic violence incident to buy low on a player. That’s how I feel. You’re welcome to feel differently. The Dodgers had a deal in place for Chapman earlier this offseason, then backed away when news of the incident got out. (Here’s the story if you haven’t seen it.) The Reds then dropped their asking price — Brian Cashman confirmed it during a conference call yesterday — and the Yankees swooped in. There are a lot of people out there whose lives have been impacted by domestic violence and I think turning a blind eye to it sends a very bad message. Pro sports teams — it’s not just baseball, it happens in every sport — have shown time and time again they will overlook stuff like this as long as the player is good enough. I’d like to think the Yankees hold themselves to higher standards but it’s clear they don’t. It’s one thing for a player to be a jerk and difficult to get along with. Allegations of domestic violence are much more serious. Not a good look, Yankees.

I suppose this is one of the perverse incentives of the suspension system. If MLB decides Chapman should be suspended, the Yankees can argue that he served his time and learned his lesson. They can even point to Alex Rodriguez as an example of the team being wrong about wanting to welcome back a player. If MLB decides not to suspend Chapman, the Yankees are geniuses for taking advantage of the Reds. If there is no system in place, then teams have to deal with the public relations flak with no support from MLB. It’s quite possible in that system, Chapman would be persona non grata. Note that the Boston Red Sox releases Wil Cordero in his prime due to such an issue. His salary suffered for a couple of seasons before he bounced back a bit, but he probably cost himself millions of dollars. If the Red Sox had MLB cover, they might have kept him.

(There are other examples of this. One that comes to mind is the idea that umpires issuing warnings on hit batters leads to more retaliation than letting the teams handle it themselves. The other is the difficulty of suing tobacco companies due to the federal regulation of the industry.)

from baseballmusings.com http://ift.tt/1YLIVut