Half Measure

Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred announced on Tuesday that Colorado Rockies shortstop Jose Reyes was placed on paid administrative leave pending a resolution of the criminal case against Reyes in Hawaii. Reyes was arrested last October in Maui after allegedly assaulting his wife in a hotel room. He pleaded not guilty to charges of “abuse of a family and/or household member.” His trial is set to begin on April 4, the same day the Rockies open their 2016 season.

Manfred’s decision to place Reyes on paid administrative leave is his first under MLB’s new domestic violence policy. That policy was announced with much fanfare last August after several months of negotiations between league officials and the players’ association. “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,” Manfred said in a statement at the time.

Reyes’ paid leave is just an interim step while the criminal case and MLB’s investigation play out. Commissioner Manfred has yet to decide whether he will suspend Reyes without pay or for how many games. The new domestic violence policy contemplates just such a multi-step process but Manfred’s cautious approach may send a signal that he isn’t prepared to act swiftly and decisively in domestic violence cases.

Under the new policy, the commissioner may place a player on paid administrative leave for up to seven days while he conducts his investigation. After those seven days, the commissioner can issue formal discipline or allow the player to return to his team and defer a disciplinary decision for later. Manfred doesn’t appear to have relied on this policy provision. Before Tuesday, Reyes wasn’t placed on paid administrative leave, in all likelihood because the altercation took place during the offseason.

But as spring training began, and Reyes was set to report to Rockies’ camp this week, the commissioner invoked a different provision of the policy, one that applies if criminal charges are pending against a player. The text of the 13-page policy has not been made public but ESPN described this provision at the time the policy was announced: if the commissioner determines that “allowing the player to play during the pendency of the criminal or legal proceeding would result in substantial or irreparable harm to either the club or Major League Baseball,” he can place him on paid leave until the criminal case is resolved.

At first glance, Manfred’s decision to wait and see if Reyes is convicted of the charges seems reasonable. Police and prosecutors in Maui are closer to the situation, were on the scene immediately following the altercation, gathered evidence and interviewed witnesses. But gaining a criminal conviction in a domestic violence case is no easy task, as it pits family members against each other. Plus, the prosecution must prove to the jury beyond a reasonable doubt that Reyes is guilty of the charges, an exacting evidentiary standard more difficult to meet. There are myriad reasons why a jury could return a not guilty verdict, even if Reyes did assault his wife last Halloween night.

Which is why the new domestic violence policy specifically states that the commissioner’s authority to discipline a player is not dependent on whether the player is convicted of or pleads guilty to a crime. Instead, the commissioner may take make whatever disciplinary decision “he believes is appropriate in light of the severity of the conduct.” On appeal, the discipline will be upheld if the arbitration panel finds that the commissioner acted with “just cause.”

Jose Reyes isn’t the only MLB player facing discipline for a domestic violation incident. New York Yankees closer Aroldis Chapman is also under investigation following reports his girlfriend had told the police last October that he pushed her against a wall and “choked” her and then fired eight gunshots in his garage while she hid behind a bush outside the house. But Florida prosecutors closed the investigation without charging Chapman, citing conflicting accounts and insufficient evidence.

Chapman hasn’t been placed on administrative leave during the investigation. He told reporters at the Yankees’ spring training facility last week that he plans to appeal any suspension handed down by Manfred.

By adopting a comprehensive and forward-thinking domestic violence policy, MLB sought to distance itself from the uproar over the National Football League’s handling of the Ray Rice situation. But a good policy only goes so far. It must be applied in a way that tells owners, players, and fans that the league takes domestic violence very seriously.

By waiting to decide Jose Reyes’ discipline, Rob Manfred may find himself at the handcuffed by a criminal justice system in Hawaii he doesn’t control. Instead, the commissioner should act fairly but decisively, to ensure that the new policy is a real, tangible and meaningful step to combat domestic violence.

*Editor’s Note: The original posting of this article featured an image that was not Mr. Reyes. The image was mislabeled in Getty Images. We apologize for the error.