NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Major League Baseball is in a position to to take a strong stance against domestic violence with two potentially lengthy suspensions under its new policy, but Chief Baseball Officer Joe Torre says there is no timetable for penalties against Rockies shortstop Jose Reyes and Reds closer Aroldis Chapman as information is gathered on the alleged incidents.
"It takes time to gather information; we want to make sure we have all the information before a decision is made," Torre said here Tuesday at baseball's Winter Meetings.
"As awful as this situation is, there are still rights that have to be protected. So we are very careful in making sure that we respect that and get all the information and proceed accordingly."
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Torre admitted that MLB didn't find out about Chapman's alleged domestic violence incident until just before Yahoo Sports published a police report that stated Chapman fired gunshots and choked his girlfriend on Oct. 30. The incident occurred a day before Reyes was arrested in Hawaii after allegedly grabbing his wife by the throat and shoved her into a glass door.
Despite the serious claims, Torre left the door open on the possibility that Reyes and Chapman could be playing while MLB conducts its investigations.
"I think it could depend on the seriousness of it as far as are there arrests or things like that," Torre said. "We're certainly not going to get in the way of the law conducting what they need to conduct. But we take everything in consideration."
MLB and the MLB Players Association announced in August a new policy on domestic violence that grants commissioner Rob Manfred full discretion in disciplining players deemed to have violated the guidelines. With players receiving 80-game suspensions for testing positive for a performance-enhancing drugs, the domestic violence suspension — which has yet to be executed — could be upwards of 100 games.
"The policy has been written, so I don't sense there's any pressure other than paying attention to it and making sure that we do the right thing," Torre said.