Aroldis Chapman will miss the first 30 games of the 2016 MLB season, his debut year with the New York Yankees, after MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred handed down a suspension to the closer on Tuesday after deliberation with the MLB Players Association.
Chapman was one of three MLB players involved in domestic violence cases this offseason and Manfred said two weeks ago that he expected discipline in two out of the three cases. Chapman received the first suspension under the MLB's new domestic violence policy while Jose Reyes and Yasiel Puig await their fate.
Chapman will not appeal the ban even though he previously said he planned to. He will still be able to participate in spring training with the Yankees, however.
The suspension may come as a surprise to some since it was previously reported that the MLB may not have had enough evidence to ban the left-hander. Chapman, who was accused of pushing and choking his girlfriend, was absolved of any wrongdoing when the police closed the case and the prosecutor's office announced it would not file any criminal charges (he did admit to firing gunshots in his garage after he left his home during the argument with his girlfriend, but he was not held accountable for that).
However, Manfred made it clear that just because Chapman or Puig weren't held accountable by the law didn't mean they wouldn't be disciplined by the league, stating "the fact that law enforcement decides that it either is not going to - or cannot, because of a lack of proof - proceed doesn't mean that discipline is not appropriate."
The ban is the worst-case scenario for the New York Yankees. Chapman's suspension of 30 games is just long enough for the veteran to be sidelined without New York gaining an extra year of control over him due to service time considerations. If Chapman was banned for 40 games, he would not have accumulated enough service time to qualify for free agency after the 2016 season. Instead, the Yankees traded four prospects for 132 games of Chapman, which still probably wasn't a bad deal for them, but it certainly doesn't maximize their usage of him.
Professional sports has been cornered by the issue of domestic violence ever since the NFL botched their discipline of former Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice. Every such incident is now ultra-sensitive and Manfred clearly wanted to make a powerful statement when ruling under the league's new policy. It'll be interesting now to see if the commissioner bans Puig, considering he was in a similar situation as Chapman (case closed and no charges filed). Reyes, on the other hand, is almost assured to be suspended after being charged with domestic violence.
Chapman will be eligible to return on May 9 when the Yankees host the World Series champion Kansas City Royals in the Bronx, but will lose $1.7 million of his 2016 salary ($11.325 million) during his absence.
