Yankees’ Chapman to miss 30 games

new york » New York Yankees closer Aroldis Chapman agreed to accept a 30- game suspension under Major League Baseball’s domestic violence policy, a penalty stemming from an incident with his girlfriend in October.

Under the discipline announced Tuesday, Chapman will serve the penalty from the start of the season in April. He will lose 30 days of pay — $ 1,856,557 of his $ 11,325,000 salary— and 30 days of major league service, which will allow him to reach six years of service time after this season, enough to become eligible for free agency.

“I found Mr. Chapman’s acknowledged conduct on that day to be inappropriate … particularly his use of a firearm and the impact of that behavior on his partner,” baseball commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement. “I am gratified thatMr. Chapman has taken responsibility for his conduct.”

Chapman became the first player penalized a finite number of games under the policy, which MLB and the players’ association agreed to in August following several high- profile incidents among NFL players.

Baseball’s investigation of Chapman stemmed from Oct. 30. Chapman’s girlfriend, 22- year- old Cristina Barnea, told police he pushed and choked her. Chapman said there was an argument but that he was pushed down by Barnea’s brother, eventually getting a handgun and firing eight shots into awall and window while locked in his garage.

TheDavie PoliceDepartment and Broward Assistant StateAttorney Stefanie Newman declined to file charges, saying conflicting accounts and insufficient evidencemade a conviction unlikely.