The problem is MLB’s therapy requirements for abusers are minimal. Chapman went to one therapy session, blew off the rest of them, and didn’t receive any sanction for it. I doubt anybody else has gone to anything. Therapy for abusers is surprisingly effective, provided they actually do it. Tying that to continued eligibility seems like a good idea going forward.
How prevalent is therapy, especially anger management or couples counseling, in Latin American countries? I've been under the impression that it is more something seen in, for lack of a better term, western white culture than elsewhere. For Latin American players, it might not be something they would even treat seriously, especially if they didn't grow up here. For Chapman, therapy might be seen as an affront to his culture and his machismo and that may be why he washed his hands of it after one session, for which he likely should have been punished even further, especially if he agreed to do it as part of his way back to reinstatement.. With a large concentration of Latin players, many of whom may have been taught since birth that they will always be more important simply because of their sex, be it for cultural or even religious-based rationale, and may balk at the idea of someone outside of their culture telling them they're doing it wrong. And, sure, we can tell them that's what is required of them to play baseball for MLB, but that doesn't mean they will actually change and, speaking to your point about the perils of zero tolerance, may also drive them to try to keep their partners quiet at all costs rather than lose out on game checks.
Unfortunately, disgusting as it is, sports will always care more about results and performance than character, especially for teams desperate to win. This means that shitty people are going to work in sports, play on professional teams, and even officiate contests. There were even shitty people in Pleasantville. I'm all for going with character over skill, but it doesn't seem like a recipe for financial success and that's probably a nonstarter for any pro sports league or franchise. It's all about the money and they will only do what they have to do to keep the money flowing in. Going back a few years, MLB was clearly aware of the steroid issue long before it became a Congressional matter but sat on their hands because tickets were selling like hotcakes and they wanted to fully recover from the strike-shortened year that killed a lot of public interest in the game. It's why teams like the Chiefs still employ Tyreek Hill and their fans will bend over backwards to defend him: he can catch balls and they want to win, so he will always likely have a job in football until he can't play anymore unless he's involved in a murder and even that might be okay if he makes a deal with law enforcement to shift any culpability to another party involved in the murder like that walking caricature that used to play for Baltimore and is now a talking head.
So long as we value entertainment over the lives of others, these issues are going to continue to raise their ugly heads. How do we fix that?
