Nightengale: Aroldis Chapman now a toxic asset to many MLB clubs

Bob Nightengale | USA TODAY Sports

NASHVILLE — The Cincinnati Reds insist they really didn’t know.

Yet the Boston Red Sox knew.

The Los Angeles Dodgers later found out.

And now the fate of Aroldis Chapman is in Major League Baseball’s hands.

The Reds just might be stuck with a man whose trade was supposed to be the key to their rebuilding project.

"This is bigger than the game of baseball," former Colorado Rockies general manager Dan O’Dowd told USA TODAY Sports. "I really don’t see how there’s a market for him now."

In an informal survey of executives from nearly a dozen teams, they reached the same conclusion as O’Dowd.

"I know we can’t touch him," a high-ranking National League executive said. "Our owner would never go for that. And I’m getting the sense from other teams that they feel the same way.

"Yeah, we know talent can cover up some character flaws, but domestic violence is such a hot topic now."

It was just a year ago that the Reds traded Alfredo Simon to the Detroit Tigers, and few even blinked that he was the same guy who was cleared of involuntary manslaughter charges in a 2010 New Year’s Eve killing and was accused of rape two years ago — eventually settling a civil suit with his accuser.

Yet these days, perhaps with the NFL paving the way with Ray Rice and other cases, domestic violence has become one of the greatest sins in the game.

Just ask Washington Nationals manager Dusty Baker, who praised Chapman’s character from his days with the Reds and was immediately ripped on the Internet and the airwaves.

"He’s a heck of a guy," Baker said. "I mean, a heck of a guy. I’ll go on record and say I wouldn’t mind having Chapman. He is a tremendous young man with a great family, mom and dad, and what he went through to get here and what his family had to go through to get here.

"There was a couple times when I had to stop him from quitting or going back to Cuba because he was lonely for his family. I got nothing but love for the young man."

When asked specifically about a Yahoo Sports story on Chapman that included a copy of a police report, Baker said he hadn’t read it. Let’s see, according to the report, Chapman allegedly choked his girlfriend, shoved her against a wall, fired his handgun eight times in his garage and punched out the window of his SUV — all with their 4-month-old daughter inside the house.

And, yes, knowing Chapman, Baker found it hard to believe.

"I mean, who’s to say the allegations are true, No.1," Baker said. "And who’s to say what you would have done or what caused the problem."

Baker praised Major League Baseball’s domestic abuse policy when asked, even saying that it shouldn’t be specific to men.

"I think it’s a great thing," Baker said. "I mean, I got a buddy at home that’s being abused by his wife. So I think this policy needs to go further than the player. I think the policy should go to whoever’s involved. Sometimes abusers don’t always have pants on."

Baker’s comments titillated the Internet, and before he knew it he was Twitter’s top trending topic. He later clarified his remarks, but the damage was done.

"I was talking about the young person," Baker said later. "I did not see it. ... Domestic violence, I’m not condoning it."

It was a swift reminder of just how sensitive the domestic violence issue is these days, and no one is willing to wait for an explanation from Chapman, who won’t be charged in the case because of insufficient evidence, police in Florida announced Tuesday.

The Dodgers, who were willing to trade two prized prospects for Chapman, appear to be backing off and exploring other closers. The Houston Astros, who also were in heavy negotiations with the Reds, said they would await the results of MLB’s investigation before declaring whether they will have any interest in Chapman.

When one American League executive was asked if his team could still have interest in Chapman, he said he thought the public relations backlash would be so severe it would be impossible to even dare mention him in trade talks.

Besides, we’re talking perhaps months before baseball’s investigation is even complete, with MLB vice president Dan Halem saying only that they hope to have a resolution by the start of spring training in mid-February.

"There’s challenges to investigating these kinds of incidents," Halem said. "Typically when law enforcement gets involved, it takes longer than people think it should to get all the facts and get ourselves in position to interview witnesses.

"We have a lot of experience with investigations on the drug side; that’s to our benefit. But it’s never easy for a private organization to investigate matters when you can’t force everyone to cooperate with you."

Oh, and let’s not forget that since the domestic abuse policy was implemented in September, there have been three incidents. Rockies shortstop Jose Reyes was arrested in Hawaii for allegedly punching his wife in November, and Dodgers outfielder Yasiel Puig recently had an alleged altercation with his sister.

"We are investigating all three," Halem said. "We want to make sure we uncover every stone we can uncover. We understand that there’s always a need for expedition, but particularly since these are the first three cases, we want to make sure that we proceed carefully."

Considering they will be the first test cases in baseball history, you can be assured that Commissioner Rob Manfred will take his time. He will want to make a strong opening statement. No one has any idea whether we’re talking about a two-week suspension, one month or even 50 games.

The additional sting of a 50-game suspension is that it would prohibit Chapman from becoming a free agent at the end of the 2016 season. He can only miss 46 days of service time without it delaying his free agency.

And don’t believe for a second that Chapman will get a lighter punishment simply because there are no charges.

"The policy does not preclude us from taking action based on whether or not the player was arrested or pled guilty to a crime," Halem said. "The commissioner is going to judge it based on the conduct itself."

It’s "an awful situation," in the words of MLB vice president Joe Torre, and it will look a whole lot worse if anyone participated in a possible cover-up, particularly since The Boston Globe reported that the Red Sox were aware of the alleged incident in November. They immediately opted to trade for San Diego Padres closer Craig Kimbrel instead of Chapman.

But for now, the Chapman investigation might forever change the way clubs preliminarily announce trades or free agent signings — contingent upon a physical and completion of a background check.

It’s just the world we live in.

"Baseball is a microcosm of society," Baker said.

Sadly, we are finding that out.

Follow columnist Bob Nightengale on Twitter @BNightengale.