Chapman receives 30 game ban for domestic incident

Major League Baseball announced on Tuesday that pitcher Aroldis Chapman will receive a 30 game suspension as a result of a domestic violence situation that he partook in this past October. Chapman will not appeal the suspension, which will start on Opening Day.

Shortly after the announcement, Chapman spoke to reporters about the ordeal. He said "I want to be clear, I did not in any way harm my girlfriend that evening. However, I should have exercised better judgment with respect to certain actions, and for that I am sorry. 

On not fighting the suspension, "The decision to accept the suspension, as opposed to appealing one, was made after careful consideration. I made this decision in an effort to minimize the distractions that an appeal would cause the Yankees, my new teammates and most importantly, my family." 

Chapman will not be eligible to return until early-May

Chapman will lose a portion of his 2016 salary because of the suspension. To be exact, he is slated to earn $11,325.00 million this coming year, and approximately $1.8 million will be taken away. Despite the suspension, he will still reach the appropriate amount of service time to elect free agency at the end of the season. 

Chapman was acquired by the Yankees from the Cincinnati Reds in December of 2015 in exchange for a package of prospects (Rookie Davis, Eric Jagielo, Tony Renda, and Caleb Cotham). The 4-time All-Star is coming off a season where he posted 1.63 ERA in 65 games while accumulating 33 saves. 

According to reports, the domestic violence incident from October involved an altercation with Chapman and his girlfriend after she had "found something on his phone that she did not like."  Chapman claimed that he poked the woman on the shoulder and she fell to the ground. Later he admitted to firing eight shots from handgun in his garage during the incident. 

Chapman's case was one of three that were being investigated by the MLB's new domestic violence policy. The other two cases are surrounding shortstop Jose Reyes and outfielder Yasiel Puig. 

It is worth noting that Chapman will be able to practice with the team in Spring Training and participate in the exhibition games.