Colorado Rockies: Jose Reyes to reportedly serve at least 60-game suspension
Colorado Rockies shortstop Jose Reyes has not played a game this season and may be facing an even longer ban in the next few days.
The Colorado Rockies have played 32 games this season, all of which have been without shortstop Jose Reyes.
Reyes has been on administrative leave since Spring Training due to his alleged assault of his wife in Hawaii following the 2015 MLB season.
Jon Heyman of MLB Network recently put up a Facebook post detailing just how long his suspension may be:
Jose Reyes should hear his penalty from MLB for domestic abuse soon, and word is that it’ll be at least 60 games and perhaps significantly longer than that. Eighty games, or about a half a season, may be a fair ballpark estimate, according to some. While Reyes was not criminally charged for an incident involving his wife in Hawaii, there’s little doubt Reyes will receive at least double the 30-game ban imposed on Aroldis Chapman, who became the first MLB player to receive a ban since MLB installed a specific domestic abuse policy back in August with the union’s approval. Reyes’ offense has been seen as more serious, as hotel workers at their Maui hotel reported that Reyes’ wife Katherine suffered injuries to her neck, wrist and thigh. Katherine did not cooperate with police, leading to charges being dropped. Nor has she cooperated with MLB.
Any case of domestic violence should be taken seriously, but it only becomes easier to hand down discipline when there are witnesses to the crime.
The case of her not cooperating is something often seen in domestic violence cases, as it can be hard to rehash details from a traumatic experience. Sometimes it is easier to just try to not talk about it and attempt to move on, although that is not easy to do.
Even though his wife was not cooperating with the police or MLB, this will not protect Reyes from suspension, nor should it.
From a baseball perspective, the Rockies are doing just fine without Reyes. Trevor Story has emerged as a more than suitable replacement at shortstop, as he owns a .971 OPS along with 11 home runs this season.
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Reyes has $44 million remaining on his contract between this season and the next, but the Rockies do not have to pay him when he is suspended. With Story off to a great start, the Rockies will have to figure out how to deal with Reyes, whose reputation is nothing short of ruined.