MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred announced Tuesday that New York Yankees closer Aroldis Chapman would be suspended for the first 30 games of the 2016 season due to domestic violence allegations stemming from an incident in October.
Chapman said he has accepted the ban, does not plan to appeal and is sorry for firing gunshots in his garage. He also mentioned (again) that he did not hurt his girlfriend and is taking the league's punishment because of his "bad judgment."
The left-hander spoke to reporters today through an interpreter. He's permitted to participate in spring training before his ban takes effect on Opening Day.
"I accepted the decision,'' said Chapman. "I have to take responsibility for it and, basically, move on."
Although law enforcement closed the case and Chapman was never arrested or charged, Manfred used his unrestricted powers under the MLB's new domestic violence policy to issue a ban for the closer for his disturbing behavior. Chapman admitted to firing the gunshots in his garage, and Manfred said the "use of a firearm and the impact of that behavior on [Chapman's] partner" were deemed inappropriate under the policy.
Chapman also said he no longer owns any guns following the incident and that he learned a "very important lesson" from his behavior. However, many will probably continue to question what actually happened back in October considering there were zero cooperating witnesses and Chapman's girlfriend agreed to not press charges later that evening. Additionally, Dan Patrick said he "heard" the initial suspension started at 50 games before the MLB and MLB Players Association eventually negotiated a 30-game ban. Such a suspension doesn't affect Chapman's free agency status heading into the offseason (if he was suspended for 40 or more, the Yankees would have gained an extra year of control over him), which may have played a role in his lack of appeal.
It's not entirely known why his stance changed in terms of appealing "any" suspension, but he said yesterday that he wanted to "minimize the distractions" that could potentially affect the Yankees, his new teammates and his family.
Manfred wanted to make a statement by taking a strong stance against those who were involved in domestic violence incidents this offseason. He did so in banning Chapman. Next up are Jose Reyes and Yasiel Puig.