A FAMILIA STORY

Mets good at tough talk on violence but expect it to take back seat to wins

In June, Sandy Alderson talked extensively about the responsibility the Mets had when they signed Jose Reyes. Coming off, at the time, the longest suspension under MLB and the union’s joint domestic violence policy, Reyes was cut by the Rockies and was a baseball pariah. The Mets GM said the team was willing to take a chance because it knew the person beyond the player. And with that came a responsibility, especially to the fans he knew were outraged by the decision.

Alderson explained that “both Jose and the organization will be held to a standard going forward that recognizes the seriousness of domestic abuse and a commitment to stand against it.”

Now, the Mets have a chance to prove that wasn’t just talk, but don’t hold your breath.

In sports these days, there has been a lot of talk about how serious domestic abuse is, but not much serious action.

On Monday, Jeurys Familia was arrested for an alleged domestic violence incident in Fort Lee, N.J., exactly one year to the day that Reyes was arrested for a domestic incident with his wife. According to court papers, police officers who responded to a “dispute” in a Fort Lee apartment after 2 a.m. Monday morning found probable cause “to believe that domestic violence had occurred.” Tuesday the Mets “reacted.” “The matter was brought to our attention and we are monitoring the situation,” a Mets spokesperson said when the news of Familia’s arrest surfaced.

That statement does not exactly scream of the Mets preparing to take a strong stand against domestic violence.

Familia, like anyone else, absolutely deserves to be considered innocent until proven guilty in these cases. According to court records, he was released on bail and will possibly have his day in court to plead his case.

The Mets and all of sports, however, are being judged on how seriously they take these growing numbers of domestic abuse cases. The talk of zero tolerance and serious consequences always is quieted when it comes up against the cold, hard facts of wins and losses.

It’s doubtful that will change anytime soon. MLB has certainly gotten out in front of the issue better than the NFL and will force the Mets and Familia to suffer consequences, if warranted.

The complaint filed Tuesday said that Familia caused “bodily injury to another” and that the police officers observed a scratch to the chest and a bruise to the right cheek of the victim, whose name was redacted in the court papers.

MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred issued a 52-game suspension for Reyes, who had his criminal case dropped when his wife refused to cooperate with prosecutors. Reyes was required to donate $100,000 to a charity that dealt with family abuse and had to undergo therapy.

If MLB finds any credence to the charges against Familia, he will face the same type of punishment. If he is convicted, as Atlanta outfielder Hector Olivera was last month, Familia could be looking at 82 games. The Mets will see this as severe. Familia is the best closer the Mets have ever had. This season, he set a team record with 51 saves, the most by a Dominican-born reliever. Over the last two years he has put together 94 saves. Aside from three blown saves in the 2015 World Series and giving up a three-run home run in the wild-card game this season, he is one of the main reasons for the organization’s success the last two years.

The Mets were already going to need to think about bringing in a veteran, back-of-the-bullpen reliever next year because they felt, in part, Familia’s heavy workload led to those postseason breakdowns. Now they will most likely need a closer for at least 30% of the season.

They could go out and land a bigname reliever like Kenley Jansen, but that would cost a big contract. Arbitration eligible, Familia is expected to get tendered a contract worth more than $9 million this winter.

With the Mets expected to pick up Reyes’ option and having Familia under this cloud, this issue will certainly cost the team some fans who are upset with the message this sends about domestic violence.

But in terms of wins and losses, Familia and Reyes are too good a deal for the Mets to pass up.

It’s easy to talk about the responsibility of taking a stand against domestic violence. It just seems too hard to actually back up that talk at the cost of winning games.