Grind: The Pirates yet again shrug off domestic violence
Good Tuesday morning!
• Not much but the basic baseball banter seems to have emerged from the Pirates and Marcell Ozuna, a free-agent designated hitter, agreeing to terms yesterday on a one-year contract that'll guarantee him $12 million. You know, like how he'd fit in the lineup. Where he'd take the payroll. What impact he'd have on Andrew McCutchen's future.
There's a hell of a lot more to it.
In May of 2021, Ozuna, then with the Braves, was arrested by police in the Atlanta suburb of Sandy Springs, Ga., and hit with a felony charge of "aggravated assault strangulation and battery - family violence," to quote directly. And unlike far too many such cases that are reduced to he-said-she-said, this was not only witnessed by the officers on the scene, but also captured, in part, by their body cam:
That's Ozuna's left hand about his wife's neck as police entered. And referring again to the report, the hand had been applied there "forcefully," among other acts. He never disputed any of it. Ad even after legal charges were dropped, Major League Baseball conducted its own investigation and suspended him 20 games.
On Aug. 19, 2022, the following year, Ozuna was hit with a DUI after swerving across lanes in Norcross, Ga. He pleaded no contest, so he didn't dispute that, either.
Three nights later, when he rejoined the Braves after a brief injury absence, the Atlanta fans booed him. And loudly enough that he'd be asked about it afterward.
His response: "It's kind of a motivator. Just don't listen to whatever they're saying."
A motivator? To do what?
And this is who'll end civic treasure Andrew McCutchen's time in Pittsburgh?
Never underestimate the depths the Pirates can achieve in doing precisely the wrong thing.
• Maybe it wouldn't stand out if it weren't a pattern of acquiring domestic abusers for this franchise. One can't attach Ji Hwan Bae to the current front office, since he was signed by Neal Huntington. But Ben Cherington was the one who brought aboard Aroldis Chapman and Domingo Germain, and those two, like Bae, were suspended by MLB for domestic violence following full investigations.
• I'm sickened by this stuff. Always have been. Always will be. And every single time it happens with any of our teams, I'll be here to call it out.
• For the record, Mike Clevenger, a reliever invited to big-league camp this spring, had accusations levied against him three years ago, but nothing came of them on any front.
• It's not easy separating Cutch from this, but it's fair. I'll try.
I don't have a solid baseball argument for Cutch vs. Ozuna. This batting order needs power, and Ozuna provides more. And for little more than double what Cutch was making in 2025, it makes financial sense, as well.
That's tangible. That's real.
But this is intangible, and it's real, as well: Cutch matters. How a franchise treats its most important player of the opening quarter to this century matters. And to fail to communicate with him -- read this again: FAIL TO COMMUNICATE with him -- as if he's just some other guy, that's yet another stain on Cherington, as if he still has room to be stained further.
It's a terrible look for Bob Nutting, too. He was the one who brought Cutch back, and then, as his GM soured on keeping him around, the owner was nowhere to be found.
I say this all the time, but there's a ton more to being a steward of these things than payroll, and Nutting's so much worse at those things than he is at anything related to payroll.
THE ASYLUM
Grind: The Pirates yet again shrug off domestic violence
Good Tuesday morning!
• Not much but the basic baseball banter seems to have emerged from the Pirates and Marcell Ozuna, a free-agent designated hitter, agreeing to terms yesterday on a one-year contract that'll guarantee him $12 million. You know, like how he'd fit in the lineup. Where he'd take the payroll. What impact he'd have on Andrew McCutchen's future.
There's a hell of a lot more to it.
In May of 2021, Ozuna, then with the Braves, was arrested by police in the Atlanta suburb of Sandy Springs, Ga., and hit with a felony charge of "aggravated assault strangulation and battery - family violence," to quote directly. And unlike far too many such cases that are reduced to he-said-she-said, this was not only witnessed by the officers on the scene, but also captured, in part, by their body cam:
That's Ozuna's left hand about his wife's neck as police entered. And referring again to the report, the hand had been applied there "forcefully," among other acts. He never disputed any of it. Ad even after legal charges were dropped, Major League Baseball conducted its own investigation and suspended him 20 games.
On Aug. 19, 2022, the following year, Ozuna was hit with a DUI after swerving across lanes in Norcross, Ga. He pleaded no contest, so he didn't dispute that, either.
Three nights later, when he rejoined the Braves after a brief injury absence, the Atlanta fans booed him. And loudly enough that he'd be asked about it afterward.
His response: "It's kind of a motivator. Just don't listen to whatever they're saying."
A motivator? To do what?
And this is who'll end civic treasure Andrew McCutchen's time in Pittsburgh?
Never underestimate the depths the Pirates can achieve in doing precisely the wrong thing.
• Maybe it wouldn't stand out if it weren't a pattern of acquiring domestic abusers for this franchise. One can't attach Ji Hwan Bae to the current front office, since he was signed by Neal Huntington. But Ben Cherington was the one who brought aboard Aroldis Chapman and Domingo Germain, and those two, like Bae, were suspended by MLB for domestic violence following full investigations.
• I'm sickened by this stuff. Always have been. Always will be. And every single time it happens with any of our teams, I'll be here to call it out.
• For the record, Mike Clevenger, a reliever invited to big-league camp this spring, had accusations levied against him three years ago, but nothing came of them on any front.
• It's not easy separating Cutch from this, but it's fair. I'll try.
I don't have a solid baseball argument for Cutch vs. Ozuna. This batting order needs power, and Ozuna provides more. And for little more than double what Cutch was making in 2025, it makes financial sense, as well.
That's tangible. That's real.
But this is intangible, and it's real, as well: Cutch matters. How a franchise treats its most important player of the opening quarter to this century matters. And to fail to communicate with him -- read this again: FAIL TO COMMUNICATE with him -- as if he's just some other guy, that's yet another stain on Cherington, as if he still has room to be stained further.
It's a terrible look for Bob Nutting, too. He was the one who brought Cutch back, and then, as his GM soured on keeping him around, the owner was nowhere to be found.
I say this all the time, but there's a ton more to being a steward of these things than payroll, and Nutting's so much worse at those things than he is at anything related to payroll.
Consider this the new Exhibit A.
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