Mariners suspend Steve Clevenger for remainder of season
The Seattle Mariners have suspended catcher Steve Clevenger without pay for the remainder of the 2016 season.
The team officially announced the suspension on Friday, one day after Clevenger posted controversial anti-Black Lives Matter tweets on his account.
The #Mariners have announced that catcher Steve Clevenger has been suspended without pay for the remainder of the season.
— MarinersPR (@MarinersPR) September 23, 2016
Mariners general manager Jerry Dipoto released the following statement on the suspension:
Statement from Executive Vice President & General Manager of Baseball Operations Jerry Dipoto on the suspension of Steve Clevenger. pic.twitter.com/mgpQITiBy0
— Mariners (@Mariners) September 23, 2016
The team had said that they were “very disappointed” after Clevenger sent the tweets on Thursday. Clevenger subsequently apologized, but the Mariners determined that punishment was still necessary.
The veteran appeared in 22 games this season, batting .221/.303/.309 before a broken hand suffered in late June ended his season. Clevenger will now forfeit the remaining salary he would have earned while on the disabled list, some $33,868 according to Darren Rovell of ESPN.