White Sox pitchers and catchers report to spring training today, and Mike Clevinger is permitted to be among them.
Bob Nightengale reported Tuesday evening that Major League Baseball is not placing Clevinger on administrative leave.
Chicago #WhiteSox pitcher Mike Clevinger, who remains under investigation for potentially violating MLB's domestic violence policy, will be permitted to fully participate at the White Sox's spring training camp. He is not being placed on administrative leave at this time.
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) February 14, 2023
Clevinger has been under league investigation for last summer for accusations of domestic violence and child abuse that the mother of his child made public last month.
Without any new details, it's pretty much impossible to know what any of it means. There's a possibility that Clevinger was found to have done what he's accused of -- or some of what he's accused of -- and that merits weeks or months of suspensions, and he never pitches for the White Sox.
There's also a possibility that Clevinger could be cleared of any wrongdoing by the league, and placing him on administrative leave would imply a level of guilt it can't support, especially since he was allowed to pitch for San Diego when the investigation began. Perhaps this is how the league usually conducts itself during ongoing investigations, but Clevinger is one of the rare cases where it became public months into the process, or that a player changed teams during. James Fegan and Ken Rosenthal wrote that administrative leave is usually prompted by new information.
In other instances — such as allegations against Trevor Bauer, Marcell Ozuna and Starlin Castro, for example — MLB placed players on administrative leave to hold them away from participating in games while investigations were completed. But a major-league source indicated to The Athletic that administrative leave is typically deployed in response to new information and allegations coming to light.
The joint agreement in the CBA suggests the White Sox's hands are tied until the investigation is complete, or the commissioner's office transfers such disciplinary authority to the club. My sense is that releasing Clevinger at any point before then would constitute a prohibited "adverse action," because even if the White Sox chose to pay Clevinger the $12 million, it still could be easily seen as a disciplinary action taken before the White Sox were granted the power, setting up a grievance that would make the whole thing moot. It's not as if the White Sox already had plans for Clevinger's obsolescence in the final year of a five-year contract, and could make a case that he lost his grip on a 26-man roster spot. They just signed him to solve a major area of need.
So, spring training is here, and Clevinger looks like he'll be here, too. Rick Hahn had three weeks to come up with a bunch of ways to no-comment, and the hope is that the rest of the roster and coaching staff is similarly prepared, lest they say something they might regret.
There's no way to keep the situation from being terrible, and as I wrote a few weeks ago, every outcome sucks, because even the "best" one for the White Sox involves a high-profile case of fabrication that makes things worse for legitimate victims. His having a legal right to pitch for the White Sox won't make it any more fun to watch or think or talk about. His White Sox career instead becomes something to endure. I suppose White Sox fans are used to that.
