NEW YORK — Yankees reliever Jimmy Cordero has accepted a suspension for the remainder of the 2023 season for violating Major League Baseball’s Joint Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault and Child Abuse Policy, Commissioner Rob Manfred announced Wednesday.
Cordero, 31, will participate in a confidential and comprehensive evaluation and treatment program, per MLB policy. In the meantime, the right-hander has been placed on the restrictive list following an investigation.
Cordero’s suspension equates to 76 regular-season games, and he will not be eligible to pitch in the postseason should the Yankees reach the playoffs.
“The Yankees are fully supportive of Major League Baseball’s investigative process and the disciplinary action applied to Jimmy Cordero,” the team said in a statement. “There is no justification for domestic violence, and we stand with the objectives, standards and enforcement of MLB’s Joint Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault and Child Abuse Policy.”
Cordero’s agent did not immediately return a request for comment, and details regarding what the pitcher did — or who he harmed — are not yet known.
Aaron Boone said that he was among those in the dark.
“It’s sad,” the Yankees manager said Wednesday. “Your heart goes out to everyone involved. I don’t have any details. I don’t know what went down, which is part of the idea of the investigation and the policy in place. It’s meant to work that way. They do their investigation and then come down with their ruling. My biggest thing right now is just feeling for the situation and hoping and praying that something good comes out of this, that there’s maturity, that there’s growth, that there’s healing in whatever is going on.
“The message to us from MLB was this is an investigation that you guys are not a part of. So that was the extent of it. We got wind of something, but were not given any details.”
Boone said he learned about Cordero’s suspension on Tuesday night, and the reliever told the manager about the investigation “a couple days ago.” Boone said that his conversation with Cordero was “a little vague and all over.”
When asked when the Yankees organization knew about the investigation, Boone said “probably within the last week or so.” Cordero last pitched on July 2 in St. Louis.
Cordero is in his second season in the Yankees organization. He spent the 2022 season with the Bombers’ Triple-A club in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and went 3-2 with a 3.86 ERA over 30 relief appearances and one start this season.
Tommy John surgery cost Cordero his 2021 season. Prior to joining the Yankees, he pitched for the Chicago White Sox, Toronto Blue Jays and Washington Nationals.
Boone said that he spoke to his team on Wednesday, and he believed Cordero began telling individual teammates about the suspension on Tuesday. What was his locker had been completely cleaned out by the time the Yankees’ clubhouse opened up to reporters on Wednesday.
Aaron Judge said that Cordero’s suspension “came as a surprise to a lot of us.” The Yankees captain didn’t find out about it until Wednesday, and he also said he didn’t know any details about the incident.
Judge did say that he spoke to some teammates, including an in-person talk with Cordero.
“It’s a sad situation,” Judge said. “I’m just thinking about Cordero’s family and his wife and kids. It’s a tough situation that you never want to see anybody go through.
“I just said, ‘Hey, learn from this.’ I was pretty upset. I know a lot of guys on the team are upset. This is in the league’s hands. The league handed down the suspension. Hopefully, he learns from this and becomes a better person on the other side.”
Judge went on to say that he also felt disappointment and anger when he learned of the suspension. The outfielder also expressed support for MLB and the union’s policy on domestic violence and related matters.
Boone voiced similar sentiments, stating the league is “head and shoulders from where we were five, 10 and beyond years ago.” MLB and the MLBPA created its policy in August 2015.
“When things like this that are about as serious as it gets come up, there’s a heavy price to be paid,” Boone said. “And certainly, I support that. I know the organization supports that. Hopefully, now it turns to genuine healing in all these situations that are all different, I’m sure, in every case on some level.
“We don’t have a role necessarily in the investigations and things like that. The league as a whole has tried to be a little more proactive [with] educational things; going through domestic violence training or things like that that do happen. But as far as our role in handing down a punishment, unless we know of something, it’s hard to say. This falls in the league’s hand. We can’t know what we don’t know. In every area of life, you try and put your guys in the best position to make sound decisions not only between the lines, but obviously away from the field. And I think we’re better than we were years ago. And obviously we can all do more moving forward in every area of life.”
Boone added that the Yankees provide educational sessions pertaining to domestic violence every spring training, and a team spokesperson told the Daily News that the organization’s minor leaguers receive related training each summer. Judge also noted that there are plenty of other resources players can use.
However, Cordero is not the first Yankee to be recently suspended under the domestic violence, sexual assault and child abuse policy.
Domingo Germán received an 81-game ban in 2019 and didn’t rejoin the club until 2021. He slapped his then-girlfriend at a team event in 2019, and the physical violence continued when they returned home that night.
Germán’s history made it hard for some Yankees fans to root for him as he pitched a perfect game in Oakland on June 28.
Former Yankee Aroldis Chapman also received a 30-game suspension in 2016 following an incident that involved his girlfriend and a handgun. The Yankees traded for him shortly thereafter.
“Sometimes you don’t get to control who your teammates are, and that’s the situation,” former Yankees reliever Zack Britton said when Germán returned to the club.
Some of Cordero’s peers could now feel the same about him. Judge acknowledged that that’s their right.
“A lot of people have different opinions on the matter, some stronger than others,” Judge said. “Everybody’s open to their opinions.”
And as for Judge?
He wasn’t ready to commit to welcoming Cordero back if the team decided to keep the pitcher, who will be eligible for arbitration for the first time this offseason.
“I think that’s a ways away,” Judge said. “I’m not sure. I’ll have a better answer for you when the season’s over on that one.”
