Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Yasiel Puig will not be disciplined by Major League Baseball after Commissioner Rob Manfred concluded his investigation of the domestic violence allegations brought against Puig earlier in the offseason.
MLB announced earlier today that Puig will not be suspended under the league's new domestic violence policy. The 25-year-old, along with Aroldis Chapman and Jose Reyes, were subject to discipline due to their alleged involvement in domestic violence incidents this offseason.
Puig is the only one out of the three that won't be sidelined in 2016.
"The Office of the Commissioner's investigation did not uncover any witness who supported the assault allegation; both Puig and his sister denied that an assault occurred, and the available video evidence did not support the allegation. Thus, barring the receipt of any new information or evidence, no discipline will be imposed on Puig in connection with the alleged incident," the league wrote in a press release.
The details surrounding Puig's case weren't as unsettling as Chapman's or Reyes', but Manfred made his first mistake as the league's commissioner in not handing down any sort of ban to the embattled youngster. Since Puig defected from Cuba he's been involved in a number of questionable off-the-field incidents, so letting him get away scot-free this time around is not going to teach him any sort of lesson.
Yes, the league's statement said there was insufficient evidence to convict him of any wrongdoing, but the same could be said about Chapman. In the veteran's case, there was absolutely no evidence, no cooperating witnesses (except the ones that said they saw "no physical altercation" between the two), the case was closed, he did not face criminal charges and his girlfriend, Cristina Barnea, ended up telling prosecutors she did not remember saying Chapman had hit her (which she said on the 911 phone call).
Chapman admitted to firing gunshots in his garage by himself after the heated exchanged with his girlfriend, but nobody was hurt.
Either way, Chapman should have been suspended - and he rightfully was - for being at all associated with such an incident (and admitting to firing the gunshots).
However, the lack of evidence and cooperating witnesses in Puig's case is essentially the same thing as Chapman's, except Puig's sister said her brother committed no wrongdoing.
Even if Puig didn't push his sister (like the reports suggested), he still allegedly sucker-punched a bouncer at the Miami restaurant and also "got physical" with a number of employees. If Puig was cleared under the league's domestic violence policy, then the case should have been re-evaluated under the "just cause" policy because such behavior is absolutely deplorable in any setting. Either way, it's not like this incident was out of left field for Puig, who has been associated with other troubling happenings over the last few years and is regarded as an enormous distraction in the clubhouse.
The incident, alleged or not, provided a number of other reasons as to why Puig should have been punished outside of the domestic violence policy. That's where Manfred got it wrong.
