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Houston Astros: Danry Vasquez Released Following Domestic Violence Suspension

By Katrina Hamrick |

Houston Astros outfield prospect Danry Vasquez was released this week, following his indefinite suspension from MLB for a domestic violence incident in August.

On Wednesday, MLB Trade Rumors reported that the Houston Astros have released minor league prospect Danry Vasquez. The move comes after the 22-year-old Venezuelan outfielder was suspended indefinitely by MLB for a domestic violence arrest.

According to the Corpus Christi Caller-Times, Vasquez allegedly struck his girlfriend multiple times. The incident occurred in a stairwell at the home stadium of the Corpus Christi Hooks, the Astros’ Double-A team.

Unlike many domestic violence incidents, the Vasquez episode was caught on video. The Hooks’ staff became aware of it after a male employee reported that Vasquez threatened him. While reviewing the tape for that incident, they also saw footage of Vasquez slapping his girlfriend three times.

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The Caller-Times offered this description based on the arrest affidavit:

“They saw Vasquez pulling his girlfriend by the arm and striking her in the face twice, the affidavit states. The first slap knocked her glasses off and sent her stumbling down the stairs. Then, he struck her again.“When Vazquez left her, he returned two minutes later with the male Hooks employee and appeared ‘to have a heated conversation’ with him. Vazquez struck his girlfriend a third time, knocking her glasses off again, after the employee left the stairwell.”

Just days before this incident, Vasquez was suspended three games for his role in starting a bench-clearing brawl. Vasquez was hit in the thigh by what he felt was an intentional pitch. He took issue with it, charging the mound and swinging wildly at the pitcher.

Afterward, he said this to George Vondracek of the Caller-Times:

“I’m not the kind of person that likes trouble. But sometimes you’ve got to get respect and they’ve got to know that they have to respect you. That’s the only way you can do it.”

Vasquez isn’t the first or the last player to want respect on the field. In this instance, though, it seems like foreshadowing.

The good news is that MLB and the Astros acted quickly following his arrest. They completely cut ties with someone who clearly has character issues. The frustrating part is that there are still players with histories of domestic violence – including Aroldis Chapman and Jose Reyes – who continue to make millions while doing very little to prove they truly understand the reason for the public backlash surrounding domestic violence allegations.

There are two reasons the Vasquez incident was easier to penalize, compared to other domestic violence incidents in MLB.

First, it occurred at the ballpark and on surveillance video, which eased the burden of proof on the victim. The league didn’t have to wait on a complex “he-said, she-said” defense to play out. They’ve already seen the tape. They also didn’t have to wait on the legal system before making their decision, because the incident happened at the stadium itself. When domestic violence allegations happen at home, away from cameras, it’s not always as cut-and-dry.

But the bigger reason is there is no players’ union to represent minor leaguers who are not on the 40-man roster. Had this occurred at the Major League level, union representatives would have fought with MLB over the suspension. Regardless of how the union leaders feel about domestic violence, their job is to advocate for the players. As a minor league player, Vasquez was released without a fight on his behalf.

In many ways, Major League Baseball is a leader in the professional sports world.

They have the strictest anti-doping regulations, and consistently lead in pushing player safety at an amateur level. When it comes to domestic violence, they’ve been very hesitant to take a hard stance. While the players’ union has advocated for players like Chapman and Reyes to accept their suspensions gracefully, the penalty for domestic violence is only a fraction of the penalty for performance-enhancing drug use.

The lack of action in other domestic violence cases also begs the question as to whether Vasquez’s on-field results factored into MLB’s decision. Sure, it’s easy enough to cut ties with a low-level prospect and tout his release as part of a tough stance on domestic violence. But what if the player was the organization’s top prospect? Would it be so easy to suspend and release him then, or would teams hesitate to lose that kind of talent?

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Hopefully, Vasquez’s suspension is the start of a stricter era in terms of domestic violence punishments. However, based on past precedent, it seems Houston and MLB would have been much more forgiving had he made himself a more valuable part of the organization.

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