Major League Baseball has suspended Toronto Blue Jays reliever Roberto Osuna 75 games, as his assault charge continues to work its way through the court system.
The unpaid suspension is retroactive to May 8, when Osuna was first charged.
Osuna is next scheduled to appear in a Toronto court on July 9. Osuna’s lawyer, Domenic Basile, says his client intends on pleading “not guilty” to the “simple assault,” charge levied against him.
Under his release terms, Osuna was ordered to not communicate with the woman he allegedly assaulted, to stay 100 metres away from his condo in Toronto, to not buy, possess or consume alcohol and to not possess any weapons.
Outside the court this week, Osuna's lawyer said he believed MLB would wait until end of criminal proceedings to issue discipline. That MLB didn't means league investigators gathered enough evidence that court ruling wouldn't have impacted commissioner's decision.
— Shi Davidi (@ShiDavidi) June 22, 2018
The 23-year-old Osuna was put on paid administrative leave by MLB on May 8 and has seen it extended all the way to June 25.
MLB doesn’t need to wait for a conviction to deem a violation of the joint MLB-MLBPA Domestic Violence Policy has occurred. Jose Reyes (51 games), Aroldis Chapman (30 games), Jeurys Familia (15 games) and Steven Wright (15 games) were all suspended without a conviction.
(With files from Shi Davidi)
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