Aroldis Chapman’s suspension is as right as it can be

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Should Aroldis Chapman have been suspended for more than 30 games for choking his girlfriend and firing off a gun eight times in anger? You don’t even need to ask that question, as it’s a clear “yes.” However, MLB’s new domestic violence policy only allows commissioner Rob Manfred the power to suspend players for as long as the Players Association is willing to allow him to -- this is a joint agreement that the two sides will work together on, not Manfred handing out whatever punishments he feels like. The MLBPA already had motivation to protect Chapman, whose free agency could have been pushed back with a lengthy suspension -- it’s likely they would have appealed anything that caused that to happen.

Too lenient, and MLB -- and their new policy -- look weak and not serious about domestic violence. If they suspend Chapman for what the Players Association considers to be too many games, though, then there is the threat of an appeal, one MLB could lose considering Chapman is the first player to go through this process. The 30-game suspension seems to be in the sweet spot of being a significant chunk of the season -- Chapman won’t be eligible until a week of May has passed the Yankees by -- but not so significant that the MLBPA felt an appeal necessary. MLB gets to send a message and set a precedent that will help them hand out future punishments -- Chapman wasn’t arrested, there was no video, there were no charges and yet, he was suspended anyway -- and everyone except Chapman looks the better for it.

Chapman also loses around $2 million for this suspension, and one hopes the Yankees take that money and donate it to an organization focused on victims of domestic violence. It’s not like the Yankees are surprised by the suspension -- they traded for Chapman specifically because the threat of a suspension had cut into the asking price. They already benefited once from Chapman’s behavior, and that lost salary could do a lot more good in the hands of, say, Joe Torre’s Safe At Home Foundation than it would in the Steinbrenner’s pockets. It’s your money, boys, but if anyone else (rightfully) looks bad in this, it’s you.