Major League Baseball and the Players Association have announced a new agreement covering domestic violence, sexual assault, and child abuse. It’s a huge new set of rules, as it covers not only MLB players, but also MLB employees in the Commissioner’s Office as well as MLBPA staff.
MLB releases new policy for domestic, child abuse
MLB and the MLBPA agreed on some significant changes that could result in hefty punishments outside of what the law provides.
Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports
In this new agreement, commissioner Rob Manfred decides on the length and severity of the punishment, with no minimum or maximum number of games set by the agreement itself. Manfred can determine that figure on his own, case by case.
In some ways, it’s like the NFL’s setup, but so far in his tenure there is little reason to believe Manfred is another Roger Goodell. (Of course, he’s new and a sports league commissioner, so things could always change in a hurry.) In addition, the MLBPA actually had a hand in negotiating this agreement, whereas the first time the NFLPA read their league’s new policy was when the NFL announced it.
MLB and the MLBPA have announced an agreement on a Joint Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault and Child Abuse Policy. pic.twitter.com/C1eTGljC6r
— MLB Communications (@MLB_PR) August 21, 2015 Players can still challenge any punishment levied on them by going in front of an arbitration panel, so it’s not like Manfred can just do whatever he wants -- the players will have a place to defend themselves if, say, a particularly rich and popular player got off easy compared to an unknown one. The fact that prior good behavior isn’t a factor in these decisions (while previous punishments will be considered) is a bonus, too -- if it happens once, MLB will try to keep it from happening again.
MLB also sent out a press release explaining their motives for the new policy, and it includes quotes from both Manfred and the leader of the Players Association, Tony Clark.
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