Urías placed on administrative leave after arrest
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Major League Baseball announced it placed Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Julio Urias on administrative leave Wednesday, three days after police arrested the left-hander on suspicion of felony domestic violence.
The leave was imposed under baseball’s joint domestic violence, sexual assault and child abuse policy adopted by MLB and the players’ union in 2015 and can be the first step toward a suspension. Players are paid but cannot play while on leave; Urias is playing this season on a one-year, $14.25 million deal in his final season of salary arbitration eligibility.
“They have to go through the process — players’ association, Julio’s group,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said in Miami. “Baseball is working through this.”
MLB and the union agreed to the leave, which did not specify a length. Absent an agreement, MLB could have imposed a leave of up to seven days with the possibility of a seven-day extension.
Urías, 27, did not travel with the Dodgers after his late-Sunday arrest outside BMO Stadium, where he had watched the Inter Miami-LAFC soccer game. He was taken into custody on charges of corporal injury on a spouse or cohabitant, which can be filed as a felony or misdemeanor.
Department of Public Safety officers offered no details Wednesday on the circumstances of the arrest but asked for any witnesses with information regarding the incident to contact them.
“The Dodgers take all allegations of the kind in this case very seriously, and we do not condone or excuse any acts of domestic violence,” the team said in a statement.
Asked whether a decision on the case will be made during the season, Roberts said he doesn’t know enough yet.
“Obviously, these are very serious circumstances,” he said. “I would expect it to take the time needed to make sure the right actions are taken.”
The Dodgers announced Wednesday they are replacing Urías’ bobblehead promotion on Sept. 21 with a giveaway of select “premium bobbleheads.”
Urías also was on administrative leave in 2019 following an arrest for alleged domestic battery. While he wasn’t charged, Urías was required to complete a yearlong domestic violence counseling program, and MLB suspended him 20 games. No player has been suspended twice under the league’s policy, which was instituted in 2015.
Urías’ attorney, Blair Berk, has not returned a message seeking comment.
MLB has opened an investigation into Sunday’s incident, when Urías was arrested and spent about five hours in custody before being released on $50,000 bail. In a statement acknowledging the arrest, the Dodgers said: “While we attempt to learn all the facts, he will not be traveling with the team.”
DPS on Wednesday confirmed Urías’ arrest for a violation of Penal Code 273.5, which is corporal injury on a spouse or cohabitant. Corporal injury on a spouse requires a bodily injury being willfully caused by physical force and is a felony.
Urías entered 2023 as the Dodgers’ ace, coming off a season in which he led the National League with a 2.16 ERA and finished third in NL Cy Young voting. A free agent this winter, Urías was expected to receive a contract in excess of $200 million, but he struggled this season, going 11-8 with a 4.60 ERA and allowing a career-high 24 home runs in just 117⅓ innings.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
