Miguel Sano accused of assault by reporter
- Thread starter Rusty13
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As far as on the field implications, I suspect a heavy suspension. Disappointing to see a rising star conduct himself this way.
This should put the Twins in a very tough position. Let's hope it is handled better than the NFL.
I liked Sano but eff him. People who do things like that shouldn't be playing.
I liked Sano but eff him. People who do things like that shouldn't be playing.
Disappointing to say the least. He was portrayed in a moving documentary as a up and coming star who went through the tragic loss of his young daughter and birth of a son.
It will be very interesting to hear what those who were with Betsy that day have to say and how the Twins and MLB respond. If this happened and I believe her, he needs to go. This is horrible and frightening. He needs to sit and lose some serious time and money. VERY strong messages need to continue to be sent loud and clear. I am so tired of these men who think they are entitled to whoever and whatever they want. NO ONE should have to live in fear of retribution if they speak up about any assault or harassment.
It will be very interesting to hear what those who were with Betsy that day have to say and how the Twins and MLB respond. If this happened and I believe her, he needs to go. This is horrible and frightening. He needs to sit and lose some serious time and money. VERY strong messages need to continue to be sent loud and clear. I am so tired of these men who think they are entitled to whoever and whatever they want. NO ONE should have to live in fear of retribution if they speak up about any assault or harassment.
Jeff Smith, 1B Coach? Former Sox minor leaguer. Took over for Butch Davis, who was fired after 2016 season.
This is the first story post-Weinstein involving a professional athlete. I suspect we will hear many, many more stories like this. And teams and fans will be facing some very tough decisions.
And Jeff Smith needs to be fired too. This is an easy decision by the Twins. ZERO tolerance. Good luck at home tonight Jeff with Mrs. Smith.
This has been discussed in the "Men Behaving Badly" thread in P & G on why we haven't seen these situations arise yet. You are so right; there are going to be some other sports "heroes" toppled and it's not going to be pretty.
And hopefully, some of the older stories re-examined, like those involving Big Ben and Suggs and others.
She said the 1b coach is already gone so I assume it is Davis. Really shitty of whoever it was. If he hit on her a couple times and took no for an answer and afterwards acted politely and professionally, then no big deal. But to continue the behavior is harassment. Really crummy from an older, married man.
There is soooooooooooooooooo much smoke around Peyton Manning. Big Ben too, but he's actually taken some flak for it, though not nearly enough.
The odd thing is, the Peyton teabagging story did pop back up a year or two ago and didn't really go anywhere. If it resurfaced today, instead, he'd probably get a lot of blow back, but it seems like some people are going to be "grandfathered" in, absent some new accusations.
Well, the question is whether or not athletes will be held to a different standard than every other public figure.
Do you want Mookie Betts kicked off the Red Sox if stories come out that he grabbed a couple of butts like Al Franken did?
Do you want Mookie Betts kicked off the Red Sox if stories come out that he grabbed a couple of butts like Al Franken did?
You want fair punishment for athletes commensurate with their actions, regardless of team and regardless of Al Franken. The league needs something harsh here.
I honestly don't know; with Peyton I was thinking more of spokesman roles, which is easier for me.
I guess the initial question was Franken forced to quit because what he did was so bad, or because what his position was as a government representative?
Initially, I was thinking the latter, but I'm not so sure it's not the former. It'd get me fired from my current job. It'd get me fired from any job I ever held at Whole Foods or Friendly's or gyms or bars.
So, if we make an exception for athletes, are we saying their job is too important to them (they'd be losing so much), or too important to us (we like rooting for them and fielding a competitive team)?
If athletes are carved out as an exception - that is, politicians are forced to resign, lawyers and doctors and retail workers and construction workers get fired, but athletes get suspended - then what are we saying to them, to our children, to women about what is and isn't right and who is and isn't above the law?
Well, Franken, and other politicians are elected to their positions because of their judgment and in many cases their morality. It is part of the job.
With out athletes, we seem to have not had a problem with domestic abusers, murderers, laptop thieves and all other types of criminals on our professional athletic fields.
I expect we will see some suspensions, either from the league or from the teams, but I just don't believe we will see teams cut bait with valuable assets on the field if word comes out about Aaron Judge or Andrew Benintendi. Now, if someone like Jacob Ellsbury gets accused and a team could potentially get out of their contract due to a morality clause, we may see teams take a different path.
While I agree with the sentiment, I don't expect it to play out that way. People with highly specialized and rare skill sets get treated differently. Maybe this wave of awakening will change that, but I'm not sure I'd be willing to bet on it.
Of course, there is a line. I'm not sure exactly how far that line is, but Luke Heimlich was certainly on the other side of it.
So far, at least. Look at Ray Rice vs. Joe Mixon.
Louis CK, Harvey Weinstein, Bill Cosby all fit that category. The question - in my mind - isn't about the rarity or value of their skill sets, it's about the way sports tribalizes us and has us root for strangers. People feel differently about David Ortiz than about The Rock.
While this is a fair point, two of the people you listed flat out raped people (or are credibly accused of such). And Louis C.K. still his supporters who don't think he should be shut out for what he did. In cases where a certain line is crossed, yeah, we'll see reactions like we saw to Weinstein and Cosby, but something like what Sano did will probably be explained away to an extent, and he'll likely be allowed to resume his career after a suspension.
It's still going to be a step forward from where we were a year ago, which was a world in which video of a man beating his fiancee unconscious wasn't enough to end his career. So hopefully it's not the last step we take in this direction.
The description of what Sano is alleged to have done is really scary. I don't like the comparison with butt-grabbing. In my earlier years, I have been the "victim" of the latter more times than I can count, but, I am happy to say, never of an attempt to drag me into a men's room. That is every woman's nightmare, especially in malls in the evening.
For what it is worth I wasn't comparing what Sano is accused of doing to butt grabbing.
I was laying out a hypothetical where an athlete is accused of doing what Franken did. Should that athlete lose his job like Franken has?
I don't think so, but I don't think 1) Franken got a fair hearing and it seems reasonable that 2) our expectations are higher of Senators than of ballplayers. I just can't imagine Big Papi hasn't pinched a rear or two, but maybe I'm wrong. . . .
Yes, because the goal is to build a better society by ceasing to tolerate abusive behavior, and if the careers and reputations of some rich and famous dudes are damaged as a result of their own disgusting behavior that's a remarkably tiny price to pay for half our population getting to feel a little safer and heard and respected.
Sano categorically denying:
http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/21903348/miguel-sano-minnesota-twins-denies-assault-allegations-mlb-looking-matter
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A agent/lawyer written and released statement as expected. And the process of he said/she said begins.
Different circumstances obviously but isn't this similar to what the Yankees wanted to do with Alex Rodriguez?
Yeah, I'm not going to draw lines. Society can do that between rape and assault and harassment, and that's part of our job and then to evolve those lines.
I understand an athletic career is a lot to lose. It's a heavy penalty. And a lot of these guys are young. A lot of these guys are from different cultures.
My countervailing point though is what does it say to young boys and girls that Suggs and Ben R. and Mixon play for millions (not Mixon) every Sunday. What's the message? What does that reinforce? Part of the purpose of civil and criminal penalties is deterrence. I don't know exactly where I stand on the issue, and it sucks to lose a career and millions, but, maybe don't be reckless with so much at stake, and maybe a few people having jobs like you and me instead of being paid to play games is worth it for us to all treat each other better.
I don't disagree with what you think should be done. I disagree on what will be done. Sano didn't actually rape that woman, so people will draw a line between him and Weinstein. They shouldn't but they will. And I'm worried that even if MLB confirms everything she has alleged, that he'll serve a hefty suspension, but be allowed to resume his career afterward.
What he did was attempt a rape. He failed, thankfully, but he's much closer to the Weinstein end of the spectrum but I doubt he'll be considered as that bad by most people and I think that's a shame.
What he did was attempt a rape. He failed, thankfully, but he's much closer to the Weinstein end of the spectrum but I doubt he'll be considered as that bad by most people and I think that's a shame.
It's interesting he outright denied. I've seen - and interceded when I was bouncing, maybe not always when I wasnt, to my shame now - the grab the wrist move. It does sound like attempted rape, so I'm surprised he didn't say he was playfully pulling at her, point out that he's essentially a giant and if he wanted to pull her somewhere, he could've.
I have no idea how leagues will balance things out, but I think it's good in a way that it's a young star and not some middling, older benchwarmer whose banning could've come for any number of reasons.
I have no idea how leagues will balance things out, but I think it's good in a way that it's a young star and not some middling, older benchwarmer whose banning could've come for any number of reasons.
Not a chance he admits to ANYTHING. He’ll be a pariah even if he says “just playing”.
The economics of professional sports makes it really hard for individual teams to punish star players for this sort of behavior. A player like Sano, for example, is worth probably close to a $100 million dollars to the Twins. For a medium market team that's itself valued at ~$1 billion, that's a very significant asset. And they know if they released him tomorrow, another team would pick him up for free.
For star players with large contracts, teams would have to eat a ton of money to cut ties with a player over an incident like this. I'd imagine it's almost impossible to void a large contract without someone being convicted of a crime.
For star players with large contracts, teams would have to eat a ton of money to cut ties with a player over an incident like this. I'd imagine it's almost impossible to void a large contract without someone being convicted of a crime.
I think your point is correct, and that's why the team is going to on some level be relieved that this will be handled by the league. If MLB says he can't play, then another team has no incentive to take him on. Of course, this is also made more simple by the fact that he isn't on a huge contract yet (the Twins dodged a huge bullet there).