Today, Yankees SP Domingo German was suspended 81 games for violating the league’s domestic violence policy. Here’s why the team should cut him instead.
On Thursday, MLB and the New York Yankees announced that German would serve an 81 game suspension for the incident. Including the time he served during the 2019 season, he will miss an additional 63 games during the 2020 MLB season.
In the final month of the 2019 MLB season, According to Bob Klapisch of the New York Times, Yanks pitcher German allegedly slapped his girlfriend during an argument in a public setting. Klapisch also reported that an official from the Commissioner’s office witnessed the incident.
As soon as the news broke, the Yanks placed German on administrative leave and he never touched the ball again.
Last season, German appeared in 27 games, featuring an 18-4 record with a 4.04 ERA. He was a reliable arm for the team every fifth day and actually had the best W-L% (.818) in the league.
All that being said, the right thing to do if you’re the Yankees is to cut German.
I’m a believer in second chances. However, domestic abuse of any kind is not acceptable and I believe that teams should have a zero-tolerance policy in this regard.
For as long as Domingo German is a household name, he will justifiably be associated with this incident. Especially since, to my knowledge, no apology or acknowledgment of any kind has been issued by him.
What message does this send the rest of the league and to the youngsters that look up to these athletes?
The fact that this type of incident could have been happening behind closed doors all along should be troubling enough. That he did it in front of his superiors in a public place is something else altogether.
It shows a complete disregard and respect for his significant other and the league that employs him.
Sure, he’ll sign somewhere else and perhaps even be effective. But no team should accept this type of behavior and it starts with the New York Yankees.