Texas Rangers second baseman Rougned Odor will make $522,700 in 2016, according to Spotrac, but that didn’t stop one fan from creating a GoFundMe page to pay for any fine Odor receives for punching Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Jose Bautista in the face, per the Dallas Morning News.
Odor took exception to a hard slide by Bautista in the eighth inning of a 7-6 win over the Blue Jays on Sunday. The two players squared up, and Odor landed a right-handed hook. Both dugouts and bullpens emptied, and a melee ensued:
The league has yet to make a ruling regarding discipline for the players involved. Odor will almost certainly be suspended and fined, and he is preparing for the inevitability, per Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram:
USA Today‘s Gabe Lacques speculated MLB could ban the 22-year-old for up to 15 games:
The most macho among us might simply say that Odor cannot be blamed simply because he won the fight. Good point—if this were the MGM Grand and not Globe Life Ballpark in Arlington, Texas. No, Odor chose to escalate this battle, stepping to Bautista, shoving him and punching him.
Certainly, it appeared Bautista was squaring off to do…something, but Odor acted preemptively at every turn, playing the role of escalator, doing so with such quickness before teammates such as Adrian Beltre could step on the scene and save everyone from dozens of games lost to suspension.
Odor’s absence will leave a big hole in the Rangers lineup. According to FanGraphs, he’s tied for second on the team in WAR (1.2) among position players, and he’s batting an impressive .286 with seven home runs, 21 RBI and a .500 slugging percentage.
Even if Odor is suspended for fewer than 10-15 games, only three games separated the American League West champion Rangers from the third-place Los Angeles Angels in 2015, and the second-place Seattle Mariners were just one-half game behind Texas after Sunday’s contests.
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