One of MLB’s largest issues, and it spreads to different leagues as nicely, is the quantity of buck-passing that appears to happen when there’s a critical challenge. Whenever there’s somebody like Mike Clevinger being investigated for home abuse or one thing else terrible, a workforce is ready for the league to behave, and the league usually leaves it to the workforce. And nothing occurs. We noticed it initially with Trevor Bauer, which ought to have been simple for everybody. Bauer was nonetheless an energetic member of the workforce and Dave Roberts was going to ship him out to pitch even after information of his alleged misconduct broke — [Editor’s notice: Bauer has denied the allegations] earlier than MLB stepped in, in a uncommon occasion of the league coming to its senses. But way more usually everybody simply stares at one another and followers are left to cope with the participant being omnipresent.
Clevinger continues to be underneath investigation by MLB for violating the league’s home abuse coverage, which has gone on for some seven months. Clevinger has denied any wrongdoing and has requested that everybody “wait before they rush to judgment.” MLB dragging its ft to the diploma of lighting their sneakers on fireplace left the White Sox to do something, which they declined as a result of they assumed MLB would? It wasn’t clear. GM Rick Hahn addressed the media upon Clevinger’s arrival, and he actually didn’t assist a lot.
As reported in The Athletic:
“We’ve talked about ways to improve our background interviews,” stated Hahn, who detailed an inventory {of professional} contacts the Sox usually converse to of their vetting course of. “Some questions that perhaps would lead down other paths that weren’t asked. But again, I think it needs to be clear under the terms of this policy, there was no way for us to have known this information about an open investigation dating back to the middle of last season.”
In an ESPN article on Clevinger, White Sox GM Rick Hahn stated the workforce’s “only option” was to permit the pitcher to come back to camp whereas ready for MLB to conclude its inquiry.
“It is solely the discretion of the commissioner to discipline a player at the conclusion of an investigation,” Hahn stated. “[The] confidentiality element of the investigation is essential to the success and strength of the policy and one we’ll continue to respect.”
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It would appear to most that when you’re involved about “maturity issues” for a participant who’s 32, and one that everybody is aware of was the jackwagon that violated COVID protocols two years in the past and had his Cleveland teammates fortunately toss him underneath no matter bus they might discover, you’ll be able to most likely simply stamp a “PASS” on his portfolio and transfer on to another person to fill out the underside of your rotation. Hahn was caught between claiming to not know in regards to the investigation whereas additionally admitting that he knew Clevinger was a dolt, neither of which accomplishes no matter he got down to in his presser.
This all comes on the heels of when the Sox employed Tony La Russa two years in the past to be the supervisor despite the fact that they knew, however we didn’t, that he had been arrested for a DUI for the second time earlier than his hiring. (La Russa pled out to a diminished cost of reckless driving.) This time the Sox determined to pivot to only being silly as an alternative of deliberately ignorant, cussed, and evil.
It undoubtedly felt that the Sox by no means thought MLB would enable Clevinger to report back to camp, and had been left holding the bag when he did. They’re most likely proper in that whereas he’s underneath investigation the league shouldn’t have let him be anyplace the place anybody can see him. But that doesn’t imply the Sox couldn’t, even when it meant a struggle with the union. They might no less than have had some kind of plan. Someone needed to act, and nobody did. Which gave Clevinger a bullhorn of his personal, which he ought to by no means have.
So who wins out of this? The Sox don’t, as a result of their followers have this piece of shit in spring coaching. The league doesn’t, as a result of they appear balloon-handed. The followers actually don’t, as a result of they’ve Clevinger on their workforce. Only Clevinger, who’s the one man who shouldn’t be successful, wins.
The Sox didn’t have a plan, as a result of they didn’t suppose they wanted one. Either they didn’t do their homework, or they did and thought nobody would discover, or they had been caught chilly by MLB first by not figuring out in regards to the investigation after which by the league’s lack of motion. Maybe you could possibly excuse the primary, however you’ll be able to’t excuse the second. Being dumb isn’t an excuse for doing the incorrect factor.