On October 31, 2015, Jose Reyes allegedly grabbed his wife by the throat and shoved her into the sliding glass doors leading out to a lanai at their Hawaiian resort hotel room. His wife was taken to the hospital for treatment of her injuries while Reyes was arrested for these alleged acts. 

If convicted, Reyes would’ve faced anywhere from two days to five years in prison. If convicted, Reyes could’ve been deported. If deported, Reyes would’ve had to forfeit the remaining $44 million left on his contract. Fortunately for Reyes, he didn’t have to face these consequences for his alleged actions because his wife didn’t cooperate with the prosecutors. Reyes walked off scot-free. 

This left the ball in Major League Baseball’s court to punish Reyes. They dropped the ball. 

Reyes was only suspended 51 games. Major League Baseball believed the hospitalization of a person violently grabbed around the throat and shoved was only worth 51 games. They believed whatever role Reyes played, if any, in preventing his case from coming to trial was worth 51 games. 

The combined Chapman and Reyes suspensions equate to half a season. Half a season for two women allegedly being choked. 

Major League Baseball had been opportunistic in announcing their Domestic Violence policy. There were good provisions like getting perpetrating players help. There were other interesting provisions like leaving the matter of suspensions open-ended. It was an interesting provision as it arguably allowed each case to be judged on its own merits.

The results have been vastly underwhelming.  Reyes went from potentially facing deportation, thereby effectively ending his big league career, to a 51 game suspension. That’s only 31% of the season. He gets to keep roughly $36 million of his money. Additionally, he gets a $100,000 tax write-off for his donation to the cause of stopping domestic violence.  With this suspension, Major League Baseball set forth a powerful message for all to hear:

Grabbing a woman by the throat and shoving her into a sliding glass door wasn’t as bad of an offense as using PEDs.