Editor’s Note: This story focuses on the sensitive topic of domestic violence. We believe readers should be informed of that before consuming the entirety of the article.<\/p>\n
When Marcell Ozuna became the latest player with a domestic violence suspension<\/a> to sign with the Pittsburgh Pirates, it stopped feeling like coincidence and started feeling like policy. <\/p>\n One signing can be explained. Two might be rationalized. But four in a two-year span \u2014 plus another player investigated by MLB<\/a> \u2014 forces an uncomfortable question: What exactly is the standard in Pittsburgh?<\/a><\/p>\n First, there was Ji Hwan Bae<\/a>. Then, there was Aroldis Chapman<\/a>. Then, Domingo Germ\u00e1n<\/a>. Now, Ozuna (and Mike Clevinger). There\u2019s a difference between offering second chances and establishing a pattern, and the Pirates have unequivocally crossed that line. <\/p>\n This isn\u2019t about saying people can\u2019t change. It isn\u2019t about declaring that someone who has made a mistake is irredeemable. Growth and accountability are real \u2014 but so are patterns.<\/p>\n When general manager Ben Cherington was pressed this week on the organization\u2019s repeated willingness to take these \u201cbets,\u201d his answer boiled down to this<\/a>: The behavior is unacceptable. We do our homework. We evaluate what\u2019s happened since. Sometimes we\u2019re comfortable making the bet. Sometimes we\u2019re not. It\u2019s case by case.<\/p>\n It was a pretty standard, if scripted and emotionally detached, response. But then Cherington lost any remaining shred of credibility he may have had and essentially wrapped his response with: You should see the guys we didn\u2019t sign.<\/p>\n That\u2019s supposed to make fans feel better? Because what it actually sounded like was: Trust us. It could be worse. That\u2019s not accountability. That\u2019s deflection.<\/p>\n If one player with a suspension<\/a> is signed, you can argue redemption arc. If two are signed, you can argue coincidence. But when it becomes four \u2014 plus another investigated player \u2014 all within a short window, all connected to one organization, it\u2019s fair to ask whether this is philosophy rather than fluke.<\/p>\n If \u201cunacceptable\u201d behavior keeps clearing the bar, then the bar isn\u2019t very high. It’s as simple as that.<\/p>\n Pirates fans deserve more accountability, less deflection when it comes to player vetting process<\/p>\n I am convinced that Cherington cannot hear himself think or talk because what compelled him to say out loud “oh but you guys don’t see who and how we decide does NOT have moral approval from our organization :3” It’s one of the dumbest things I’ve ever read. pic.twitter.com\/KC0KwmTe4N<\/a><\/p>\n