OK, so he was basically in personal escrow, just like Ozuna. Agree that some sort of punishment is justifiable and justified. Bauer sat three months and Ozuna, four.
But the actions, or inaction, of the prosecuting authority in both mens' cases is significant. Anybody can say anything. You can't discipline based on the worst thing that is said about the individual. Bauer says the woman made up huge chunks of that awful story, and the officer-cam in the Ozuna incident clearly doesn't support the officer's report and the initial reporting, to the point where the report and reporting might actually be considered false. Ozuna performed a litany of actions designed to address domestic abuse situations, followed by dismissal of the charges. Bauer wound up with a no bill.
So now baseball comes in and does their own investigation and analysis, presumably with a different threshold for punishment and standard for behavior. In the context of no charges - no provable violation of state or local law in the opinion of the prosecuting authorities - exactly how much farther does MLB intend to go? And how much farther does the MLBPA intend to allow them to go?
Again, Ozuna sat for four months, Bauer for three. A monetary penalty in the form of salary suspension for some portion of that time seems justifiable. Beyond that, I'd say both Bauer and Ozuna overpaid in terms of missing significant chunks of competition while each of their matters were sorted out. Now that they have been, no further suspension is warranted or appropriate, which is, I understand, where they've come out on Ozuna.
Substituting MLB's judgement for that of the District/State Attorney is difficult business. Should MLB have the right to hold the participant to a different standard? I'm OK with that, but there needs to be a clear means of judging and determining penalties. And Rob Manfred's unilateral judgement might not be the right answer.
