MLB investigating Yasiel Puig for domestic violence
By John Buhler
Yasiel Puig will be investigated by Major League Baseball over a domestic violence issue stemming from an altercation with his sister.
According to the Los Angeles Times, Major League Baseball will investigate a report of domestic violence stemming from an altercation Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Yasiel Puig had with his sister Wednesday night.
Puig, according to the Associated Press, got into an argument with his sister Wednesday night at the Blue Martini bar in Miami. TMZ reported that the argument intensified when Puig shoved his sister. Puig reportedly “sucker-punched” the bar’s bouncer, leaving him with a black eye and a swollen lip.
Major League Commissioner Rob Manfred will have “broad discretion for determining the length of punishment for players for ‘just cause’.” The league has put together a new domestic violence policy to proactively handle such matters that have caused embarrassment in the National Football League. Major League Baseball adopted this new policy back in August.
The League has begun looking into Colorado Rockies shortstop Jose Reyes’ incident of domestic violence back on Halloween in Hawaii. That incident, along with Puig’s Miami altercation, could shape how the MLB handles future domestic violence situations in terms of punishment.
Both Yasiel Puig and the Los Angeles Dodgers organization declined to comment on the matter Friday night with the Los Angeles Times. This isn’t Puig’s first issues with the law since defecting from Cuba. He was arrested twice in 2013 for reckless driving.
The Dodgers are growing tired of Puig’s antics, but have already signed him to a long-term deal in June 2012. Puig is under contract with the Dodgers through the 2019 MLB season, earning $6 Million per year.