Unlike some teams in baseball (cough, cough...Devil Rays!) when the Mariners found out about one of their players being arrested for domestic violence, they actually punished him. When Julio Mateo was arrested on May 5th, the Mariners suspended him for 10 days without pay, demoted him to Triple-A, and placed him on the Triple-A Temporarily Inactive list.Now Mateo is about to be re-instated and join the Tacoma Rainiers.
"Mateo has continued to voluntarily work with his counselor," the team said in a statement, "and the Mariners have been advised by her that he is working diligently and is ready to be returned to the work environment."
When or if the Mariners are going to bring him back to Seattle remains to be seen.
Now don't get me wrong, what Mateo did to his wife was a lot worse than what Elijah Dukes did. Well, that we know about anyway. I don't mean that to sound like Dukes did nothing wrong, but at least he didn't attack his wife. Mateo attacked his wife at the team's hotel in New York after she told him she was leaving him. He punched her in the eye, choked her, and bit her lip so hard that it required five stitches.
Julio Mateo is still a world class (expletive deleted), but at least the Mariners did something to him. Elijah Dukes received no punishment from the Devil Rays, unless you consider a couple of days off with pay punishment anyway.
Maybe Bud Selig should give Roger Goodell a call and ask him for some advice on how to handle these types of things.
Previously at The Fanhouse:
Julio Mateo Allegedly Beat, Bit And Choked His Wife
Elijah Dukes Allegedly Threatens Wife And Kids
