Yunel Escobar Suspended For Homophobic Slur On Eye Black

After a meeting involving Escobar and representatives of the Blue Jays, Major League Baseball and the Major League Baseball Players’ association, it was announced Tuesday that Escobar would be suspended. Here’s a (brief) statement from the Blue Jays, via tweets from the team’s official Twitter account:

A further Blue Jays tweet indicates that at least some good will come of this:

Toronto Blue Jays shortstop Yunel Escobar will be available to the media at 3:30 ET today at Yankee Stadium to answer questions regarding the slur written on his eye black during Saturday’s game, the team has announced.

Escobar will meet the press alongside general manager Alex Anthopolous, manager John Farrell and assistant coach Luis Rivera to discuss the eye black situation. The Blue Jays released a statement Monday condemning the Spanish slur, stating its stance against discrimination in any form, and stated their intent to investigate the situation. Major League Baseball has also launched an investigation into the incident.

Of course he’s confusing. The entire Blue Jays team is confusing. There are good teams, and there are bad teams. But there isn’t a more confusing team than the Blue Jays.

Long story short: No other team can look at their organizational depth chart and say, “I have no idea what in the hell is going on here” quite like the Blue Jays will this offseason. Do they make trades and free-agent signings in a win-now attempt, or do they trust the team they’ve built, hoping for better luck and rebounds from more than a few of the above players?

Escobar missed Sunday’s game against Boston with flu-like symptoms. He was replaced in the lineup by Adeiny Hechavarria. The Blue Jays did not play Monday.

For more information on the Escobar controversy and other Blue Jays news, please visit Bluebird Banter.

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↵p.s. Oh, and remember when we all thought the Braves were foolish for trading him?