Phillies: Ball in team’s court following Odubel Herrera’s suspension

MLB suspended Phillies outfielder Odubel Herrea for the rest of the 2019 season. Now it’s up to the team to decide where to go from here.

Major Leauge Baseball announced that they suspended Phillies outfielder Odubel Herrera for the rest of the 2019 season. The suspension will constitute 85 games total, retroactive to June 24. He will not be eligible to play in the postseason as well.

Herrera was arrested Memorial Day weekend following an alleged domestic violence incident. The state dropped charges as his girlfriend did not want to press charges.

Both the team and Herrera stated that they support the league’s decision. He will undergo a “confidential, comprehensive evaluation and treatment program” as part of the suspension.

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This was the longest suspension issued by the league under their Joint Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault and Child Abuse policy adopted in 2016. Also, they specifically added a stipulation that Herrera could not play in the postseason, unlike previous suspensions for similar incidents.

Following the suspension, it is now up to the Phillies what they want to do with Herrera. They are limited in what they can do as the policy states teams cannot issue further punishment.

This is virtually a “double jeopardy” clause. Anything else done by the team would need to be justified as performance-related.

Meghan Montemurro of the Athletic [subscription required] outlined the main options the team has. The first would be to option him to Triple-A, but that could be interpreted as a second punishment and therefore against the policy. They could justify it based on performance as he had a 63 OPS+ and -0.4 wins above replacement before the arrest.

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Releasing Herrera would also be toeing the line between a being performance-based and being a double-jeopardy punishment. The MLBPA would have a strong case to make that the Phillies would be violating this clause if they release Herrera.

Another avenue for the team to wash their hands of this situation would be to trade him to another club. Of course, that requires another organization wanting to acquire Herrera, the two remaining years of his contract, and the baggage of employing a player who has been suspended for domestic violence. Trading Herrera is much easier said than done.

Ultimately, Herrera could return to the team in 2020. He said in his statement he looks forward to rejoining the club following the suspension. Their statement was less committal, not mentioning his future with the team whatsoever.

Looking at where Philadelphia stands now, Scott Kingery is serving admirably in Herrera’s absence, although center field may not be the best long-term fit for him. It’s impossible to count on Roman Quinn to remain healthy for too long, so the club can’t bet on him as a Herrera replacement.

There’s no easy solution for what the team does at this point. All of their options in this situation will generate backlash of one form or another. The suspension kicks the can down the road to the offseason, but they will be in a tough position once it arrives.