ASTROS DEAL GILES FOR JAYS’ OSUNA
Closer Osuna, suspended 75 games for charge of assaulting a woman, acquired from Blue Jays for beleaguered Giles
SEATTLE — One enigmatic closer was exchanged for another.
The Astros acquired embattled Blue Jays closer Roberto Osuna on Monday, one day before the non-waiver trade deadline and while the righthander finishes a 75-game suspension for violating Major League Baseball's Joint Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault and Child Abuse policy.
In return, Houston shipped Ken Giles, once its unquestioned closer who in the last nine months underwent a drastic, precipitous fall from grace, along with David Paulino and Hector Perez.
Osuna was charged with assaulting a woman in May and pleaded not guilty. Details of the case are unavailable.
On June 22, Major League Baseball handed him a 75-game suspension, which ends Aug. 4. He is eligible to pitch for the Astros on Aug. 5 — their final game of a three-game series at Dodger Stadium — and will join the team there. Osuna is under team control until 2021.
In a statement, Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow called the “due diligence” done by the organization’s front office “unprecedented” while vetting Osuna. Luhnow added the 23year-old “will fully comply with our zero tolerance policy related to abuse of any kind.”
“If anything happens going forward, we absolutely will adhere to our zero tolerance policy,” Luhnow said on a conference call a few hours after the trade was made official. “But in
addition to that, we do believe in second chances. Roberto has served the penalty that MLB felt was appropriate for the information that they had about what he had done and we believe that this environment — the Houston Astros clubhouse, players on our team, staff we have, support system that we have, the influence that we can have moving forward and our community in general — is an environment that can hopefully turn this from a negative story into a positive outcome.”
Luhnow was not with the team in Seattle. Manager A.J. Hinch said the general manager will accompany Osuna to Los Angeles this weekend and intimated a team meeting will take place with everyone present.
Closed-door team meeting
Three hours before Monday’s series-opener against the Mariners, Hinch held a closed-door meeting, which he thought was “well-received.”
“We’re going to get together as a family would and talk about how this all came together and what the steps are moving forward to incorporate him on our team and give him a second chance,” Hinch said. “I wanted our team to hear that from me before the day started and it was well received.”
One of Luhnow’s “preconditions” before completing the deal was to speak with Osuna. The Blue Jays granted permission. Luhnow said the conversation — of which he declined to provide specific details — was “enlightening.”
“All the things I was looking to hear from him, I did and I was very happy with that conversation,” said Luhnow, who said he also reached out to “several members” of the Astros’ coaching staff and active roster.
Shortstop Carlos Correa said Jose Altuve was contacted by the front office. Altuve, on the 10-day disabled list, was not in Seattle with the club while he tended to what Hinch called a “personal matter.”
Neither Correa, Justin Verlander nor Collin McHugh said they were contacted in advance by the front office. McHugh is the team’s player representative to the MLBPA.
“This is a baseball operations decision,” Verlander said. “It’s (Luhnow’s) decision to make. I think it’s pretty typical that they wouldn’t inquire with roster moves like this, ask all the players their opinions. This is his decision.”
To reinforce the “zero tolerance policy” the club touts, Luhnow cited the case of former Astros prospect Danry Vazquez, who the club released days after he was arrested on domestic assault charges in 2016.
Video was uncovered in March of Vazquez beating a woman in the stairwell of Whataburger Field — the home of Class AA Corpus Christi. Both Verlander and Lance McCullers Jr. reacted on social media to the videos.
Verlander tweeted a middle finger emoji and wrote “I hope the rest of your life without baseball is horrible. You deserve all that is coming your way!” McCullers wrote “this is the reality of domestic violence. It's always brutal, always sickening. We must fight for the victims, video or not. He should be in jail. If you need help, find it. People care."
Verlander stood by his stance on Monday, hours after his club acquired Osuna.
“I think the thing for us to remember here is that the details haven’t come to light. We don’t know the whole story,” Verlander said. “Obviously, I’ve said some pretty inflammatory things about stuff like this in the past, and I stand by my words. But I think with an ongoing case as is this one, we’ll see what happens. It’ll be interesting.”
Osuna was to participate in “a confidential and comprehensive evaluation and treatment program supervised by the Joint Policy Board,” Major League Baseball said. Osuna’s next court date is scheduled for Wednesday in Toronto.
“I want to make it clear, there is no admission of guilt by Roberto Osuna with respect to what happened with Major League Baseball,” Osuna’s attorney, Domenic Basile, told Sportsnet shortly after the suspension was levied.
Osuna has thrown just 151⁄3 innings this season.
All-Star last year
He was an All-Star in 2017, when he collected 39 saves, and finished fourth in American League Rookie of the Year voting in 2015. He throws four pitches — a four-seam fastball, sinker, slider and cutter. He struck out 83 batters in 64 innings last year.
“I am excited to join the Houston Astros and move forward with a fresh start to my career,” Osuna said in a statement. “The positive character of my new teammates is a big reason for their success and I look forward to bringing a positive contribution to this great group of guys as we work towards many more winning seasons. I thank Jeff Luhnow and the entire Astros organization for believing in me — I will not let them down.”
Osuna’s familiarity with and success against the AL East — particularly the Yankees and Red Sox — made him a logical target for Luhnow, who said in June he’d focus the club’s deadline moves on postseason matchups. In his four-year career, Osuna has held Yankees hitters to a .343 OPS in 108 plate appearances Last season, the Red Sox mustered just a .639 OPS in 35 plate appearances.
“From the baseball side of it, it’s hard to argue that there’s a young reliever who has been as dominant in his career and has been as good at the back end of games,” Hinch said.
Still, another dimension lingers.
“We know what he can do on the baseball field and we know what his track record is as a ballplayer and specifically what he can help on this team and help in this bullpen,” McHugh said. “But as far as all the other stuff around it, there’s so much uncertainty around it that we’re reserving judgement and making sure we’re taking care of the business we have to take care of right now.”