If Phillies want to get rid of Odubel Herrera, it has to be for the right reason | Bob Ford

The reason for wanting outfielder Odubel Herrera to never again wear a Phillies uniform is not because he’s hitting .222, is maddeningly inconsistent as a player, or has simply worn out his welcome after four-plus seasons of being teasingly close to becoming a star.

That, however, is the clear bass line that thumps beneath the surface of the reaction to Herrera’s arrest for a simple-assault misdemeanor. The alleged incident, which took place Monday in an Atlantic City hotel room with Herrera’s girlfriend the victim, led the commissioner’s office to place Herrera on administrative leave pending an investigation.

The process is going to play out as it has in the past. Commissioner Rob Manfred will have his investigators collect as much information as possible, including from an interview with Herrera, and then his office will issue a decision.

Fourteen other players have been suspected of domestic violence acts since baseball’s policy went into effect in 2015, and the ensuing suspensions have ranged from 15 to 100 games. Two players were not given suspensions, and a third, Dodgers reliever Julio Urias, was reinstated May 21 while what could be a lengthy investigation continues.

What will be the decision on Herrera? If you want to look at the nature of the alleged incident, the police report, his history in this regard, and what the commissioner has done in similar cases, a reasonable guess would be a 30-game suspension. Manfred could extend the administrative leave, with the consent of the players association, until after Herrera’s June 17 hearing in Atlantic City Municipal Court, but he can essentially do what he wants when he wants.

Let’s say, for the moment, Herrera gets 30 games and is eligible to return to the Phillies shortly before the July All-Star break. He will return with a lot of baggage that must be unpacked for the fans to accept him again, without question, but history and human nature tell us that one hot month would take care of that.

It is very unlikely the Phillies would release him with approximately $23 million remaining on the five-year, $30 million contract he was given before the 2017 season. He could be traded, even if the value that comes in return isn’t great, just to get him off the books and off the roster. They could negotiate a buyout that allows him to become a free agent, but that’s not easy to accomplish.

The most probable outcome is that Herrera will return to the team, and he will play, and, if he should ever get another hit, he will definitely put his hands on either side of his helmet and point his little cow horns skyward in celebration. And life will go on.

The difficult question is whether it should continue as before for Herrera, or for anyone believed to have committed domestic violence. At what point does punishment fitting the crime not work as a guideline? Are there crimes for which no punishment fits? And does an organization that employs an alleged abuser – on the police report Herrera claimed he was “not guilty,” not yet a formal plea – encourage future abuse by others simply by keeping that guy around after suffering only minor consequences?

Those are questions worthy of intelligent, unemotional debate. If every accused major-league player were banned for life and his contract voided, would domestic violence be less prevalent in this country? Would justice have been served?

Regardless of where you stand on that debate, however, you must be willing to take the same position if the same thing happened with any other player on the roster.

Pick your favorite. Make it that guy. Put a bruise on his girlfriend’s throat, scratches on her arm, a charge mostly likely to be adjudicated with a fine and suspended sentence. It was a reprehensible act, but out of character as far as it is known. You still want him gone without recourse?

That’s the complicating issue with Herrera. Since June 1, 2018, a full season of baseball, he has hit .222. Before his arrest, he had lost his full-time starting job in center field and was being platooned on occasion with Scott Kingery.

Fans, and perhaps the team, might view the incident as a handy lever to get rid of him entirely. The fans, because he’s so frustrating. The team, to escape what looks to be a regrettable contract.

Simply using domestic violence for those purposes, though, diminishes the seriousness of the subject. It shouldn’t just be reduced to another player stat: batting average, on-base percentage, domestic violence index.

If the Phillies choose to divest themselves of Odubel Herrera in the near future, it shouldn’t be because they have judged him to be a bad baseball player. It should be because they have judged him to be a bad man. Anything else is just window dressing on one more baseball transaction.