TORONTO – If you’re trying to understand Major League Baseball’s logic – and feel free to use air quotes – behind its disciplinary process in the suspensions and fines levied against the Toronto Blue Jays and Texas Rangers for their weekend brawl, it goes something like this:
• Rougned Odor gets eight games for fighting and punching Jose Bautista, viewed as a relatively stiff penalty within the sport’s standards. The low throw the second baseman made at the all-star right-fielder as he slid into the bag was also factored into that;
• Bautista gets one game for “his actions during the incident and for his post-game comments,” which relates to his aggressive slide through Odor, and his statement Sunday that “I could have injured him, I chose not to, I just tried to send a message that I didn’t appreciate getting hit.” Bottom line, the sense apparently is had he headed right back to the dugout immediately after the slide rather than turning to face Odor, matters may not have escalated;
• Jesse Chavez gets three games because he intentionally threw at Prince Fielder after the teams had brawled and warnings had been issued, a relatively standard punishment; it’s the same penalty Aaron Sanchez received last year when he was deemed to have hit Alcides Escobar of the Kansas City Royals intentionally with warnings in place;
• Matt Bush received only a fine even though, in MLB’s words, he “intentionally threw at Bautista, causing the warnings,” because home plate umpire Dan Iassogna pooched things by not ejecting him. In the absence of a toss, baseball officials likely worried a ban might not survive an appeal;
• John Gibbons gets three games because he returned to the field after being ejected earlier in the game and “incited further fighting.” As a repeat offender there would have been less leeway for him, and you’d think his rant about the slide rule earlier this season probably hurt him, too.
Like it or not, that’s the gist how of the scales of justice were balanced out in the commissioner’s office, with appeals by Bautista, Chavez and Odor still to come. Bautista declined to share the basis of his argument, but did say, “I think I have good enough reasons to, I’m not just appealing it for the sake of appealing it. We’ll see what happens.”
And his feelings on the totality of the punishments?
“It doesn’t matter how I feel,” he said. “There are precedents set and they should be respected and as long as that’s within what happened, I don’t think it’s my job to conduct their research on that. I’m sure the people in charge did their homework, and at the same time, maybe giving you a little bit of substance, that’s why I feel so confident in my appeal.”
One precedent offers some intriguing food for thought.
In 2006, Michael Barrett of the Cubs socked A.J. Pierzynski in the head after the White Sox catcher crashed into his counterpart at home plate and was suspended for 10 games. Why Odor, who has a track record of trouble and clearly looked to be aiming his relay to first at Bautista’s face, comes in lighter than that is an interesting question.
Also, if Odor had done the same thing to a baseball golden boy like Mike Trout, does Odor get more than eight games?
If you believe yes, then why should Bautista get treated any differently, especially when Iassogna’s terrible decision to issue warnings rather than eject Bush set the stage in motion for trouble.
A common complaint in baseball, one not just from the Blue Jays, is that when umpires warn both dugouts, it’s usually because they believe a plunking happened intentionally. If that’s the case, an immediate ejection should follow.
Had Bush been tossed right after hitting Bautista, there’s no need for retaliation from the Blue Jays at that point, there’s probably no more trouble, and the Rangers have the pound of flesh they obviously couldn’t live without.
Instead, after the teams were warned, the Blue Jays had their hands tied, Bautista complained to crew chief Dale Scott at first base and eventually vented his frustrations by sliding hard at an infielder, an old staple in such eye-for-eye business.
The whole business is a poor way to protect a six-time all-star.
Also difficult to reconcile is that MLB then suspended Chavez, who did the exact same thing as Bush, because he acted after warnings rather than before warnings.
One message that sends is that it’s better to be the instigator.
The other glaring incongruous punishment for congruent crimes is that Rangers manager Jeff Banister escapes the entire mess with nary a fine.
Unlike Gibbons, who in MLB’s eyes “incited further fighting,” Banister basically incited all the fighting by instructing Bush to hit Bautista, and a baseball official acknowledged that only those with an extreme capacity for the suspension of disbelief could think otherwise.
Further, Banister is said to have put his hands on several Blue Jays players, generally a considered a big no-no, during the melee. At different points Banister – who’s been into it with the Houston Astros and Seattle Mariners previously – had to be pulled away by Rangers first base coach Hector Ortiz and Fielder.
Gibbons, without doubt, earned his suspension, but Banister had one on merit plus track record, as well.
That being said, the Blue Jays should feel relieved that both Josh Donaldson and Kevin Pillar were dinged only with $1,000 fines and not suspensions. First base coach Tim Leiper was also suspended one game while bench coach DeMarlo Hale, acting as manager at the time Chavez hit Fielder, got fined, too.
Sam Dyson, Robinson Chirinos, A.J. Griffin and bench coach Steve Buechele (for aggressive actions), were also fined on the Rangers end.
Still, there was never going to be any satisfaction to be found in any of this for the Blue Jays. The Rangers have now tagged an ugly addendum onto Bautista’s iconic bat-flip, and exacerbating things is a season-high matching four-game losing streak after Tuesday’s 12-2 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays.
Some wondered if Sunday’s brawl might provide a spark for the Blue Jays. So far, not even a little.