CW: Graphic depictions and discussion of domestic violence
Ask Major League Baseball why league investigators cleared Mike Clevinger from disciplining him over domestic violence and child abuse allegations, and league officials will insist—if they answer1—that the Commissioner’s Office completed a “comprehensive investigation.”
But what does that mean, really?
Multiple women who dated Clevinger, who is currently rehabbing an injury in the Pittsburgh Pirates organization, told eyeblack that MLB failed to interview key witnesses to his alleged abuse. Some of the people these women claimed MLB didn’t engage were ex-girlfriends that MLB knew had accused Clevinger of abuse.
The alleged absence of follow up was more striking considering the information MLB already received from Clevinger’s exes. Before clearing the then-White Sox pitcher, league investigators saw multiple forms of evidence, including photos of bruises depicting Clevinger’s alleged assault of his ex-fiancée Olivia Finestead, reports from police who responded to her domestic violence call and who said they witnessed her locked out of his home, and widely circulated public tweets from the mother of his other children accusing the baseball pitcher of doing the same thing years before.
Even Finestead’s allegation that she taped Clevinger threatening her life a month after the league closed its probe—an allegation she made to MLB, police, and while testifying under oath before releasing her recording to eyeblack that you can view here—wasn’t enough for MLB to confirm that this constituted the “new information or evidence” it needed to reopen its investigation.
Again: What does a “comprehensive investigation”—a phrase MLB has used repeatedly when describing its process under commissioner Rob Manfred’s tenure—really mean?
League officials won’t answer eyeblack’s specific questions regarding how MLB investigators gleaned information, define what establishes a burden of proof needed for a suspension, or explain the league’s procedure for reviewing available leads, either with Clevinger, or in other investigations.
Though MLB won’t reveal the steps their officials take before the commissioner’s office disciplines or clears its stars, eyeblack decided to retrace their footsteps.
By sending dozens of Freedom of Information Act requests to law enforcement agencies regarding 11 different MLB player investigations, eyeblack obtained hundreds of emails between MLB’s Department of Investigations (DOI)—a team that itself is comprised primarily of former law enforcement and prosecutors—and the police departments they contacted. Following MLB’s correspondence, eyeblack was able to identify examples of how MLB collaborates with law enforcement to obtain what they believe they need to make an informed judgment.
Based on these emails, eyeblack will first explain MLB’s baseline investigative procedures before walking through one high-profile case. The 2015-2016 investigation of former superstar shortstop José Reyes stands out as a particularly useful example of how the sausage can be made. For instance, during the Reyes probe, MLB’s emails to police show its investigators leveraging friendly relationships with cops, and, in this instance, claiming they persuaded the veteran shortstop to waive his right to privacy from a criminal investigation. Records show MLB investigators took these steps to gather proof that players harmed their partners (and broke league rules).
Compared to the instances where Clevinger’s exes accused league investigators of passivity, negligence and outright avoiding evidence the women believe would have corroborated their abuse claims, MLB’s past investigations establish a recedent of scrupulousness, rigor, and effort that helped ensure the league reached the decision they wanted.
How the suspension sausage is made
Here’s how eyeblack understands MLB investigations known to involve the police usually go.
A member of the league’s investigative unit files a public records request to the appropriate law enforcement bodies requesting whatever documentation of the player’s incident is available. Though open records law in the United States varies from state to-state2, some documentation like an initial report from an officer responding to a complaint, is typically available without much pushback. But, departments tend to have more discretion over other forms of evidence collected—especially during an active, ongoing police investigation.
With Clevinger’s investigation, records obtained by eyeblack show league investigator Rick Burnham, a former New York Police Department detective that the league has employed since 2008, followed the same baseline approach. The December 22, 2022 correspondence the Olathe Police Department had with Burnham is brief. “I have attached the Open Public Record,” wrote Olathe’s record custodian. “Unfortunately, currently, this is all that we are able to release.”
eyeblack also requested a log of records requests sent to the San Diego Police Department (SDPD), the department that responded to Finestead’s domestic violence call and said they witnessed Finestead locked out of her home by Clevinger’s mother. According to the list SDPD provided, MLB’s Burnham also requested the reports eyeblack used in its initial report on the lingering consequences from MLB clearing Clevinger from abuse allegations.
Past precedent shows that requesting SDPD records is no small thing for league investigations. In 2018, MLB cleared Twins slugger Miguel Sanó from a fan’s claim that he sexually assaulted her at an autograph signing, one of a small handful of instances where MLB completed an investigation and publicly confirmed that it would not suspend the accused player since establishing its police. The league attributed its decision, in part, to an “absence of contemporaneous substantiation.” The woman came forward with her claim in 2017, but the alleged incident occurred two years earlier.
But, in Clevinger’s case, SDPD released records of Finestead informing cops she was strangled and locked out the same night she said it happened. If MLB obtained the same report, league investigators possessed at least a partial corroboration of her real-time accusations.
“It matters that MLB is doing the right thing.”
On October 31, 2015, baseball superstar José Reyes allegedly slammed his then-wife, Katherine Ramirez, into a sliding glass door so hard, their Hawaiʻi vacation was interrupted by a hospital visit to treat her injuries. Both the Maui Police Department that arrested Reyes, and MLB launched investigations into then-Colorado Rockies shortstop’s conduct. But, Ramirez declined to cooperate with police, and on March 30, 2016, prosecutors dropped their charges against Reyes.
"Once that process plays out, I think we'll be in a position to have access to all the facts and be in a position to act quickly," MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said of the criminal probe. New records obtained by eyeblack show just how far MLB would go to make its case.
On April 7, 2016, Bryan Seeley, MLB’s then-vice president of investigations, emailed the Maui Police Department, attaching a sample letter he said league investigators wrote for Reyes and asked him to sign that would grant MPD permission to send “all documents, photographs, or recordings in your possession or control” related to Reyes’ police report and court case – in other words, details far beyond what Reyes or Maui Police was legally required to release.
“Thanks again for meeting with us today,” Seeley wrote. “I have attached a release form/letter that we previously sent to Mr. Reyes and asked him to sign. (He hasn’t signed it yet but we are hoping he will.) Would the wording of this letter work for you?”
Kathleen Paschoal, MPD’s records manager, wrote back that the “wording of your letter is more than sufficient to satisfy our statutory requirements for release” and thanked MLB’s investigative lead for his efforts. Paschoal commended Seeley for his “persistence,” and for “explaining MLB’s desire for accountability.” She affirmed that MLB’s release waiver was “more than sufficient to satisfy our statutory requirements for release” and that “it matters that MLB is doing the right thing.”
Correspondence between MLB officials and the police appeared chummy and informal. “Hopefully Mr. Reyes signs it right off the bat 🙂”3 joked Paschoal. “Sorry, I had to.”
One week later, Seeley’s emails indicate that MLB hit a snag in its efforts to convince Reyes to waive his rights.
“Would you have a few minutes to talk sometime today or tomorrow? An issue has come up in our attempt to get Mr. Reyes to sign the release form,” Seeley wrote to Paschoal on April 14th. By that evening, representatives from MLB, MLBPA, and Maui police had scheduled a new call to discuss Reyes’ case, where they would discuss new concerns from the union about Reyes releasing evidence both he and his then-wife may have wanted to remain private.4
Regardless, by the next day, emails show MLB claiming it succeeded. “I’ve been told that Mr. Reyes is going to sign the release form, which is great news,” wrote Seeley on April 15.
“That’s great news Bryan,” Maui Police’s records manager responded. “I was hoping for that outcome as well.” Paschoal then confirmed the police would send its otherwise confidential material from Maui’s criminal investigation to Reyes’ employer.
By May 31, MLB announced its decision and suspended Reyes for 51 games. “Having reviewed all of the available evidence,” Manfred wrote, “I have concluded that Mr. Reyes violated the policy.”
“They’re there to protect themselves”
Reyes and his wife stayed together when MLB’s investigation concluded. “My wife Katherine has remained by my side throughout everything,” Reyes wrote in a statement apologizing for his alleged conduct. “And for that, I will be forever grateful."
The apparent hesitancy she showed is common among victims of public figures, said Leigh Goodmark, University of Maryland law professor and an attorney who represents victims of intimate-partner violence.
“Bringing things into the public sphere jeopardizes your livelihood, jeopardizes your family's livelihood,” Goodmark said. Even though Finestead said she broke off her engagement to Clevinger after he allegedly choked her and locked her and their child out of the San Diego home they shared, she told eyeblack that she was initially reluctant to participate in MLB’s investigation. She claimed that during MLB’s investigation, which started in 2022, she dropped her restraining order petition, sharing her records with eyeblack of unanswered alleged emails from Miami County, Kansas court officials asking her to complete the restraining order process. At the time, leaving Clevinger meant hopping between short-term rentals she accessed with the baseball vet’s credit card before settling with her family in Olathe, Kansas. Finestead said she was concerned for their child’s financial well-being, and that Clevinger and his mother convinced her that it could harm his free agency.
The last alleged email she provided asking her about her restraining order petition was on October 3. By November, the Chicago White Sox agreed to a contract with Clevinger worth a guaranteed $12 million.5
But, when MLB finished its Clevinger investigation, Finestead said Weinberg attributed her conduct during the investigation, which occurred after her breakup with the White Sox pitcher, as “part of the reason” the league chose not to discipline him over her abuse allegations. According to the alleged footage Finestead provided to eyeblack that you can view here, Weinberg argued that Finestead’s texts toward the player “will be used to portray you and to go against your truthfulness in a way that will undercut every piece of evidence relied on your account.”
Finestead then asked Weinberg: “Someone who is as poor as I am, has a kid all by themselves, doesn't have any of their stuff just got physically abused, emotionally abused -- none of that falls under the category of a reaction against abuse?” Weinberg didn’t confirm or deny Finestead’s explanation of her behavior in the alleged recording, but she shot back: “I just can’t believe you guys did nothing.”
Even though investigative bodies tasked with looking into abuse claims might be formed with the best of intentions, their primary function, Goodmark said, is to protect the institution.
“They're there to protect themselves, primarily,” she told eyeblack. “And then they're there to protect their athletes secondarily. And any good that might come out of it for the victim is even beyond a tertiary kind of resolve.”
In an upcoming issue, eyeblack will review and reveal another set of public records referencing an MLB investigation where the league said it couldn’t find enough proof of physical abuse, but didn’t stop trying to learn more about the player’s exchange with his wife. This kind of work wouldn’t be possible without your partnership. For those of you reading and enjoying eyeblack, please consider upgrading to a paid membership to help us build a home for distinctive sports reporting and analysis you won’t find elsewhere. Regardless, thank you for joining our community of readers keeping their eye on the ball.
1 MLB spokesperson Michael Teevan provided this league statement to eyeblack’s first story on MLB’s investigative process: “As we announced at the time, the comprehensive investigation included interviews of more than 15 individuals, in addition to Mr. Clevinger and the complainant, as well as a review of available documents, such as thousands of electronic communication records. Mr. Clevinger agreed to submit to evaluations by the joint treatment boards under the collectively bargained policies. Due to the confidentiality provisions of the MLB-MLBPA joint Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault and Child Abuse Policy for all individuals who are involved in an investigation, we are unable to answer these questions because doing so would be a violation of the policy.” Since then, the league has not responded to dozens of questions requesting additional information about the process.
2 For example: Massachusetts has a shield law preventing the release of police records relating to domestic violence cases to the public.
3 Yes, with the smiley emoji.
4 A representative for Reyes did not respond to eyeblack’s request for comment in time for the story’s release.
5 Clevinger’s attorney, Tina Miller, did not respond to eyeblack’s questions about the alleged exchange.