Jake

So Rodon is not throwing very hard...

The NFL a couple years ago decided to make it a 15 yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty when players said the N word (I think it is presumed that if white or other non-black players say it, the eventual penalties would be more severe) and suspensions were possible for repeat offenders. They rolled out this policy in coordination with and with advice from black executives and players. MLB had to come up with a punishment on the spot for this and I just don't like the optics of suspending Tim when he'd already been booted from the game. This is all in the context of a situation instigated by a pitcher trying to hurt him.

I'm of the general belief that MLB is a very well run league that makes a ton of money relative to the size of its fanbase and has done a great job of modernizing their media presence, etc. So as far as I'm concerned I don't see it as part of a narrative of terrible management, but they've really bungled this.

Like I've said all along, I'm happy for MLB to decide they want to stop all players from saying it. But springing this policy on a black player who had just been antagonized with no known prior history of problematic language usage just makes no sense. If they just fined him nobody would care. Bear in mind he was already ejected from a tight game for using the word.

MLB looks so stupid here. They take this thing that caused days of unproductive debate and now tack on this, which will move the debate into much more controversial territory

If there is no explicit policy about this, and Tim used the n-word, I don't see any justification to suspend him when nobody knew it was against the rules. And yes I think it would be fair to have a double-standard in which Keller would be punished much, much more harshly if he used the N word at Tim's expense (or at all)

Is it possible he used a slur towards Latino players? I doubt it, but worth considering

It's possible I'm giving MLB way too much benefit of the doubt to assume they're punishing over the N word and not the word that refers to something you can put in your soup

I can go along with a policy against it, but it would be news to me if there is one. I don't think this would be the time to create one.

FYI the NFL started penalizing players for saying the N word (at least in earshot of the refs) a couple years ago

So chances are he said something along the lines of "you [n words] ..." Has there been any explicit ban on this language by black players like the NFL has done?

He said the N word

Well Ricky started charging like a wild bull so he had a kind of physical involvement that Tim didn't

Were they also ejected from the game they said it in?

See if it was that — and I agree this seems like the most likely magic word to get him in justified trouble — I'm not sure if what has been done is adequate. If I was an opponent I'd be upset he isn't getting named and shamed for that as several other players have been

The thing I think about is if Anderson said something bad enough to earn a suspension, it would almost certainly have to be something bad enough that you can't wave it off with a 1-game suspension and no comment about what was said

The K/BB/HR numbers look good, which is the most useful in small samples. I doubt Santana would have anything like that in AAA.

Watch the world turn on him when we find out what he said ?

I also was hoping (in vain apparently) that Dale Sveum would be held accountable for instigating both the first and second flare-ups

There are some things a player could say that I'd support punishing him over. Question is whether we'll get to find out and judge for ourselves whether what he said is acceptable

Renteria also suspended 1 game