Aroldis Chapman may take Alex Rodriguez's advice, but he won't follow in his footsteps.
The new Yankees closer was suspended 30 games by the MLB under its new domestic violence policy, stemming from an alleged incident with his girlfriend back in October.
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Chapman reportedly choked his girlfriend and fired his gun off eight times in his garage, but investigators didn't push forward with their domestic violence case against him due to a lack of evidence.
MLB commissioner Rob Manfred decided to institute a 30-game ban anyway, which he announced Tuesday. Manfred levied the suspension because of Chapman's "use of a firearm and the impact of that behavior on his partner," his statement read, according to Yahoo Sports.
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Chapman, who had a 1.63 ERA in 66 1/3 innings with the Reds last season, released a statement accepting the suspension.
Statement by NY #Yankees Aroldis Chapman on his suspension of 30 games by @MLB pic.twitter.com/Sm59o7rq02
— Uncle Bill (@UBtalkin) March 1, 2016
The Yankees also made a statement, agreeing with the decision, despite the impact it has on what should be a dominant back end of the bullpen.
#Yankees statement on Aroldis Chapman suspension -- pic.twitter.com/Oh4x8szy8a — Jill Martin (@Jill_CNN) March 1, 2016
The reliever's punishment is obviously way less severe than that of Rodriguez, his new teammate, and rather than fight it, the flamethrower has opted to accept it.
A-Rod fought the MLB tooth-and-nail, even going to court, after it suspended him for the entire 2014 campaign due to his connection to the now-defunct Biogenesis clinic and performance-enhancing drugs. Eventually, Rodriguez accepted the punishment, but not without a fight.
Chapman, meanwhile, isn't bothering with an appeal, much less a sideshow act.
Rodriguez gave his teammate some advice before the suspension was levied on him.
"Obviously that is a serious situation and Major League Baseball has a process and we are going to let that play out,'' Rodriguez told the New York Post on Feb. 25. "As far as advice, I would say focus on your job on the field, it starts there. Two, focus on building great relationships in the clubhouse and three, anytime any of us run into a challenging situation it gives you an opportunity to look in the mirror and make some changes.''
Chapman may end up taking Rodriguez's advice, but his actions following the 30-game ban surely don't reflect how the 2009 World Series champion handled his unprecedented 162-game suspension in 2014.
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