Atlanta Braves are Already Starting the Personal Rehab of Hector Olivera
Braves were reportedly trying to trade Olivera in Spring; now face uphill battle to rehab image
In a story for his new gig at TodaysKnuckleball.com, MLB writer Jon Heyman includes notes from several teams including the Braves. One tidbit jumps out, given the near silence we’ve had about Hector Olivera’s issues since his April arrest:
"The Hector Olivera domestic abuse case was said to have been “bad,” so the 82-game suspension reflects that."
Heyman also mentioned – as an aside – that the Braves were shopping Olivera in the Spring. Oh how things might have been different had they been successful.
What does “bad” mean?
Ordinarily, I’d put quite a lot of weight behind that word, though that has to be tempered against the fact that Olivera was still “only” charged with a misdemeanor in this incident. So with that as a backdrop, my own guess would be that he’s probably guilty of the offense… which is still going further than either of the prior MLB abuse incidents have.
Previous to this, the longest domestic abuse penalties issued by major league baseball have been:
- Aroldis Chapman: 30 days for… basically having a vindictive girlfriend
- Jose Reyes: 59 days for messing up his wife while on vacation
In terms of monetary losses, Reyes still leads the pack despite Olivera’s longer penalty.
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Yesterday, I discussed a possible plan for helping Atlanta get out of this quandry and how another bad actor (Marlon Byrd) could ironically be a help toward that goal. The good news here is that Heyman suggests that one of the points mentioned there is indeed in progress:
"The Braves are now mapping out a very serious plan for Olivera to work for women’s causes"
This is important, because if Olivera is ever to grace a major league field again – for anyone – he’s likely going to have to fully embrace the Michael Vick Protocol for Image Restoration.
So it’s clearly good that the Braves are trying to get out in front of this, but none of this changes the fact that there is no place to put him on the field at present and that resources to release him are not readily available. The fact that is seems this abuse charge is “bad” makes the situation just that much more difficult to navigate.
Note that by doing this, the Braves are doing the right thing – both by the victim and by Olivera. Even if none of these efforts result in him ever hitting a baseball again, by not hitting women he’ll at least be a better man and maybe that message can rub off on others.
Olivera’s next court date is July 11. His suspension ends on August 1st… though there’s no indication whether the legal proceedings will be resolved by then. There is definitely going to be a lot of work to do between now and then… and beyond.