Papelbon Files Grievance Against Nationals

Author by professormaddog31Posted in Baseball, MLB in court, Player News

1450740198577673644Site Mascot Jonathan Papelbon is at it again, this time flinging his venom towards his current employer, the Washington Nationals.

Acccording to Rob Bradford of WEEI, Paps is filing a grievance against the Nats in regards to a salary dispute stemming from his suspension last season. When Washington suspended the controversial closer for four games after his memorable assault on teammate Bryce Harper, they did so without pay. Papelbon and his representatives are claiming that there is no precedent in denying Paps his salary.

No date has been set for a hearing.

I think this tweet says it all:

26 thoughts on “Papelbon Files Grievance Against Nationals”

    1. Yeah, that makes it doubly annoying. But I just checked. I think you are right.

      Actually, I don’t suppose I should care. He is not afflicting my team. But that guy has a really special personality.

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      1. I think, maybe Article 12, section B.

        The Commissioner and a Club shall not discipline a Player for the same act or conduct under this provision. In cases of this type, a Club may only discipline a Player, or take other adverse action against him, when the Commissioner defers the disciplinary decision to the Club.

        I don’t know if the commish deferred punishment to the club.
        But perchance,I may be mistaken. Not that that event is anything new.

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        1. To me, that section reads like it just pertains to offensive to baseball generally kinds of offenses, which this is not. But, I don’t know the arbitration history, which sets the standards.

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      3. To me that rule is only about saying that MLB and the team cannot punish a player for the same offense, which did not occur in this case. MLB punished Papelbon for the Machado fight, and the Nats punished him for the choking incident. Unless the team has a personal conduct policy, which I would image they do, I don’t see how the CBA would be involved here at all, because there’s no rule stating a team can’t suspend a player with or without pay. As I’ve linked here before, teams have suspended players without pay before, and as Histo has mentioned to me before, Papelbon can’t really cite the lack of precedence since this is the first time a player has assaulted a teammate in the dugout before. As long as the team has a policy in place, then Papelbon violated that, it’s up to the team to punish him as they see fit, but without reading that policy, it’s really hard for us to make these sort of determinations.

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    3. Papelbon is WRONG 🙂 as I read page 304 of the CBA:

      5. For violation by the Player of any regulation or other provision of this contract, the Club may impose a reasonable fine and deduct the amount thereof from the Player’s salary or may suspend the Player without salary for a reasonable period or both. Written notice of the fine or suspension or both and the reason thereof shall in every case be given to the Player and the Players Association. (See Article XII of the
      Basic Agreement.)

      Click to access cba_english.pdf

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      2. The question is, does the team have a personal conduct policy, especially one with a provision that a player cannot assault another player. If so, Paps’s argument is pretty weak here. Even if he does win though, you have to wonder if the fight is worth it here.

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  3. The gift that keeps on giving. I’m not aware of any rule that says only the MLB can suspend a player without pay, but either way this is a pretty terrible move by him. Not only is he burning bridges with the Nationals, which granted were already burned, but the rest of the league is going to take a really hard look at him now. This guy is trouble no matter how you slice it. In the clubhouse, on the field, in the press, and off the field. I hope that four games’ pay is worth damaging your future earning ability.

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  4. If the rules prevent it, why isn’t he arguing that instead of there being no precedent for it? Also, what punishment did they give the last time a player assaulted another in the dugout?

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  5. A team has suspended a player without pay before per a quick Google search.
    http://m.mlb.com/news/article/50306362/

    Also, the entire thing about not having precedence. There’s never precedence, until the thing happens once. Then that sets precedence. Of course, there was no precedence in the Tom Brady incident, and that’s the reason that was overturned, but that was also a case where a league was stepping over their bounds. I don’t see where a team, the principle employer would not have the right to suspend their own employee. It’ll be interesting to say the least.

    Also, if this were to get overturned, could MLB then step in and issue a suspension without pay?

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  7. That’s why I love this site. In one morning, our crack commenter research team discovered what apparently no journalist in all of baseball was able to; that, a) it has been done before, and b) it is within the rules.

    Just keep mailing it in and cashing those checks, sportswriters of america, we’ll (well not me, but you know, others here) will take care of the heavy lifting for you.

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