This afternoon, via Brittany Grihol of The Athletic, it was revealed that new White Sox right-hander Mike Clevinger is under MLB investigation for domestic violence and child abuse. The full story is available at the link in the following tweet.
Here is an excerpt from the article, which goes into detail regarding the investigation:
“Olivia Finestead, the 24-year-old mother of Clevinger’s child, told The Athletic on Tuesday that she has been in contact with individuals from MLB’s Department of Investigations since this summer. According to Finestead, she has detailed to those investigators incidents of physical, verbal and emotional abuse, including an incident from last June in which Finestead said Clevinger choked her, and another about two weeks later when she said Clevinger slapped her in a hotel room when the team was playing the Dodgers and threw used chewing tobacco on their child.”
Sources cited within the article confirmed that the investigation is currently open, and go further to confirm that the White Sox were not aware of these allegations nor the investigation before signing Clevinger earlier this offseason. This appears to have also been confirmed by Finestead herself on her latest set of Instagram stories, in which she writes: “I was told the @whitesox didn’t have a clue of Mike’s investigation. Can’t blame an organization for something they don’t know.”
Finestead continued: “I hope the @MLB does what they should and puts him in required therapy maybe even a small suspension so he can take time out to really think about why he abuses his kids and their mothers.”
The White Sox are no strangers to controversy recently, as before the organization agreed to terms with Tony La Russa on his original contract as White Sox’ manager, they were made aware of a second DUI that had occurred and that La Russa would appear in court for. This follows a string of minor league incidents related to Omar Vizquel and, last season, Charlotte Knights manager Wes Helms, who was put on indefinite leave last season.
At this moment, it is unclear what the White Sox plan to do regarding Clevinger, but they have made the following statement:
“Major League Baseball and the Chicago White Sox take any and all allegations very seriously, and the White Sox are completely supportive of the Joint Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault and Child Abuse policy shared by MLB and the MLBPA. MLB opened an investigation after learning of these allegations. The White Sox were not aware of the allegations or the investigation at the time of his signing. The White Sox will refrain from comment until MLB’s investigative process has reached its conclusion.”
As more information becomes available, we will continue to provide updates in this article.
Featured Image: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
Cheap words from a cheap organization….
Trevor Bauer: “the People are unable to prove the relevant charges beyond a reasonable doubt,” Deputy District Attorney Fernanda Barreto wrote at the time. Baseball decided otherwise.
Mike Clevinger: Nothing from law enforcement that I am publicly aware of, but baseball will investigate and decide.
An investigation convened ad hoc.