MLB is Making an Example Out of Odubel Herrera With Harsh Punishment

Major League Baseball dropped a bomb Friday evening when it was announced that the league elected to suspend Odubel Herrera 85 games for violating its controversial domestic violence policy, despite the fact that the charges against the Phillies outfielder were dropped just two days ago.

After that news broke, most skeptics and pundits in the baseball community just assumed that MLB will cave and drop their own investigation. After all, that's what they've proved to do time-and-time again in years past.

However, the league making an example out of Herrera could presage that they could be turning over a long-awaited new leaf.

It's about time, no?

Let's take a stroll down memory lane to previous DV cases that MLB completely botched.

Chargers were ultimately dropped against Aroldis Chapman due to a lack of evidence to lead to a conviction. The All-Star closer was only suspended 30 games. Jose Reyes was famously suspended 51 games despite his wife's claims that he grabbed her by the throat. And the case against Jeurys Familia -- his wife, Bianaca, had a bruise on her right cheek and scratch on her chest -- was eventually dismissed for lack of evidence and the reliever was suspended just 15 games by the league.

That's to say nothing of Addison Russell's mere 40-game ban. Is 85 games the new precedent for violating such a grotesque policy? If so, we are absolutely on board. The harsh punishment fits the crime, even if charges were dropped, and hopefully Herrera's sentence from the league will lead to a decrease in this type of behavior.

Well done, Rob Manfred. It was long overdue, but at last a proper punishment has been issued for domestic violence.