Lugo Removed from Roster HOUSTON -- Julio Lugo's days as Houston Astro are officially over. The Astros designated Lugo for assignment the morning after the shortstop was arrested and charged with misdemeanor assault for allegedly hitting his wife, Mabel, in the face and slamming her head on a car hood before a game. The arrest was made at Minute Maid Park following the Astros' 11-1 loss to the Atlanta Braves. The Astros will have a 10-day period to either trade Lugo, send him to the minor leagues or release him. General manager Gerry Hunsicker said that Lugo "will be removed from our team, effective tonight," meaning assigning him to one of the Astros' farm clubs is not an option. The club has purchased the contract of Triple-A New Orleans infielder David Matranga, who will be in uniform for Thursday's series finale with the Braves. Hunsicker said Lugo's arrest was not the only factor that went into the decision to remove the shortstop from the roster. The Astros, 11-15 on the year, have lost 13 of their last 17 games after starting the season 7-2. Lugo, who had appeared in 22 games, was batting .246 with no home runs and two RBIs in 65 at-bats. He had committed three errors. "These have been difficult times for our club," Hunsicker said. "We're off to a tough start and we're constantly looking for ways to make things better, improve the club. These moves today were a result of a lot of different things and not solely the incident that happened last. But the incident that did happen last night created some difficulties for both Julio and for our organization. "This is very difficult situation for the player to work through as well as the organization. Tremendous pressure, tremendous scrutiny. We feel that it's in Julio's best interests and the organization's best interests to put this situation behind us as quickly as possible and let Julio get on with his career elsewhere." Way to go, Julio!!! Hey, maybe it was an act all along by Julio and his wife.
I believe the Astros were responsible for Lugo until his legal processes were complete. He should have been suspended with pay, removed from direct association etc etc. If and when he was found guilty then they should have done this. Lugo, if guilty, deserves all hell. Dammit, he is not guilty yet.
Exactly. Seriously, I think that Astros management was at the end of their rope with Lugo before yesterday, and I believe yesterday's incident gave Astros management the ability to speed up the process and just dump his error-prone ass.
Guilt or innocence has nothing to do with this situation. The Astros organization is free to release a player at any time, for any reason. The club has no "responsibility" to him. However, Lugo is contractually owed the balance of this season's salary, and the team will likely pay him that $1.5M+. The only "out" is the "morals clause," and that is likely more trouble than it is worth.
Originally posted by CrazyJoeDavola This begs the question: Does anyone really believe in "innocent until proven guilty"? The purest form of democracy is the lynchmob. Majority rules.
Hunsicker said. "We felt it was in Julio's best interest and in the best interest of the organization to put this situation behind us as quickly as possible and let Julio get on with his career elsewhere.'' Someone needs to tell him the same same thing. I hope Lugo comes back to haunt them. I guess it's ok for drayton to suck the pocket books out of fans and give us squat on the field. Hey Drayton and Jerry whats next? you gonna trade Biggio for a AAA player? I can almost bet his wife assaulted him 1st
No need to tell us what happens next. Lugo gets picked up by another team and goes on to a 30 HR season while earning a gold glove and continues to excel for many more seasons. It's the way it works. I rest my case. Case closed. I kind of feel bad for the guy. He did a pretty bad thing, though. You can only hit your wife in your mind if she's being a biyatch .
I wish we could have gotten something out of this. A trade. damn....lost a player with nothing in return.
Trade him to Portland. He'll fit right in, once "Les Expos" move there. The Portland "Les Détenus". It's alll gooood.
damn why did they let him go , dang he's good! i mean who else we have, i mean we better get something for him, abuse is bad but we dont have to let him go, oh by the way who is the other player that was on the Indians I believe that hit his wife, I forgot and Its bugging me
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/sports/bb/1892955 Excerpt: The assault allegedly happened Wednesday afternoon as Mabel Lugo, 25, was driving her husband to the ballpark for the game. She told officers she tried to discuss ongoing marital problems with him, but he didn't want to talk about it and started to turn up the radio, police reports show. Lugo's wife told police that when she tried to turn the volume down, her husband punched her in the mouth, causing her to hit the back of her head on the window. She told police she almost lost control of the car as they were traveling in the 3800 block of the Eastex Freeway. When the couple reached the stadium, Lugo got out of the car and began taking his wife's house key off the keychain, police reports show. She objected, she said, before he grabbed her hair and slammed her against the vehicle. Lugo's wife told officers she didn't want to make a "big scene" inside the stadium because of his position. She drove a few blocks away, to the 1500 block of Preston near La Branch, and called police around 3 p.m. When officers arrived, they found her sitting in a 2002 GMC Denali. She was crying and spoke little English, so they called a Spanish-speaking officer to help translate. Police noticed a slight lump on her forehead, bruising to her face and blood on her lip, a report states. After initially turning down medical attention, she was taken by ambulance to Christus St. Joseph Hospital, where she was treated and released. She told police she was willing to prosecute because it wasn't her husband's first domestic assault, police reports show. Police consulted the Harris County district attorney's office about charges and obtained an arrest warrant before taking Lugo into custody at Minute Maid Park around 10:45 p.m.
At 5:00 p.m. yesterday I left the office...the Lugo sign out my office window (Root for the Good Guys) was still up. We were thinking it would be down by Monday. I came into the office this morning around 7:30...the sign was already down!! It now is a Today's Vision sign! Goodbye, Julio...
