Commissioner Rob Manfred got people’s attention with today’s ruling. 

Major League Baseball announced today that Yankees reliever Aroldis Chapman has been suspended for 30 games for violating the league’s new Domestic Violence policy. Chapman announced that he is not appealing the suspension. He will eligible to return to the Yankees on May 9th.

I give baseball commissioner Rob Manfred credit for coming down on Chapman. He could have given him a 10 or 20 game suspension but given the evidence against Chapman, it was an easy decision for Manfred. He needed to set a precedent with this decision and he did. 

While domestic violence might be a bigger issue for other leagues such as the NFL, it is a societal issue. All four major sports in our country have to deal with it. How they deal with it will be closely scrutinized. I think Manfred did a great job of setting the tone with this suspension and showing the players that this behavior won’t be tolerated. Now let’s hope the other commissioners follow suit and do more to hold their players accountable.