By re-signing Odúbel Herrera, the Phillies are complicit in a culture of domestic violence | Opinion

There once was a time in which the Phillies had seemingly built an endless supply of goodwill through players and teams who embraced the city fully. Chase Utley and Ryan Howard endeared fans not only with their hard-nosed play but also with their humanitarian actions off the field.

This is a far cry of the Phillies team of 2022. The team has spent the past three years rehabbing center fielder Odúbel Herrera’s image following his 2019 arrest for a domestic violence incident in Atlantic City that left his girlfriend with visible bodily injuries. The charges were dismissed because his girlfriend declined to proceed with the case.

After conducting an independent investigation, Major League Baseball suspended Herrera for the balance of the 2019 season and the Phillies removed him from the 40-man roster that winter. And yet regardless of the public outcry to move on from Herrera, the Phillies signed him back this week.

In 2015, John Middleton became the public face of the Phillies’ ownership group after David Montgomery took a medical leave of absence. In this time, Middleton also grew his stake in the ownership of the Phillies to 48%. In 2016, he was elected the “control person” of the franchise. In 2020, Middleton hired Dave Dombrowski as the Phillies’ president of baseball operations; Dombrowski is the chief personnel decision-maker.

The franchise leaders ushered in an era of stark mediocrity only punctuated by sporadic acquisitions of big-name free agents such as Bryce Harper, JT Realmuto, and Zack Wheeler. The Phillies’ record was below .500 every year from 2013 through 2018, one at .500 in 2019, and most recently in 2021, two games above .500 (82-80).

Regardless of Realmuto’s and Harper’s outstanding individual achievements, Dombrowski continues to make mind-boggling gambles on mediocre players whose moral character is questionable at best.

Herrera spent the entirety of last year platooning — the concept in baseball of rotating multiple players as starters at a position from game to game, rather than having a regular starter — with various outfielders. A glance at his 2021 stats shows that he slashed a docile .260/.310/.416.

In an unsurprising and similarly amoral move, the Phillies also enlisted the services of Jeurys Familia, a bullpen pitcher who, like Herrera, has a domestic violence arrest.

» READ MORE: Corporations, including the Phillies, need to do more to address domestic violence | Opinion

The Phillies’ top brass continues to not only be comfortable with a lack of accountability, it actively embraces it. The front office has opted for the morally objectionable status quo. Not only does signing Herrera and Familia signal that the Phillies are complicit in a culture of domestic violence, but also that they are unconvinced that fans care.

Fans like myself are eager to cheer for Hall of Famers like Bryce Harper, who has consistently amassed riveting seasons. Last year he batted .309 and captured his second MVP. This was the Phillies’ first MVP since Jimmy Rollins won the distinction in 2007.

The Phillies have devolved into an apathetic culture in the front office over the better part of the past 10 years and undone all of the goodwill germinated by the teams from 2008 to 2012.

“Not only does signing Herrera and Familia signal that the Phillies are complicit in a culture of domestic violence, but also that they are unconvinced that fans care.”

I could not begin to understand the thinking behind some of the decisions that the Phillies’ leaders make, but it’s clear that they don’t care or think about survivors of domestic abuse.

In Philadelphia — where on average the Domestic Violence Hotline must turn away more than 6,000 requests for emergency housing per year, and 43 people were killed by domestic violence in 2021 — it is hard to find a Phillies fan who hasn’t been impacted, either directly or indirectly, by domestic violence. Nationally, the issue is similarly pervasive. Domestic violence affects an estimated 10 million people in the U.S. annually.

It’s a tough time to be a Phillies fan when the team continues to sign and employ morally questionable players such as Herrera and Familia.

If you or someone you know is potentially in danger from partner violence, please call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 or the Philadelphia Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-866-723-3014.

George Basile is an avid Phillies fan and former college baseball player who has written about the MLB and other Phillies topics.