HERNANDEZ ALLEGES MLB CHANGED EVALS
Lawyers for Angel Hernandez claim Major League Baseball manipulated the umpire’s evaluations, renewing the allegation in an attempt to reinstate the racial discrimination lawsuit he lost last year.
Hernandez’s lawyers made the claim in a filing Tuesday to the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, trying to overturn the summary judgment U.S. District Judge J. Paul Oetken granted to MLB in March 2021.
The Cuba-born Hernandez was hired as a big-league umpire in 1993. He sued in 2017, alleging he was discriminated against because he had not been assigned to the World Series since 2005 and had been passed over for crew chief.
Hernandez served as an interim crew chief from 201116, at the start of the pandemic-delayed 2020 season and for part of the 2021 season but has not been made a permanent crew chief.
Citing the 2011-16 seasons, Hernandez’s attorneys said in the brief to the appellate court that “MLB manipulated Mr. Hernandez’s yearend evaluations in order to make his job performance appear worse than it actually was. Mr. Hernandez’s yearend evaluations for the 20112016 seasons do not even come close to accurately summarizing Mr. Hernandez’s
actual performance in those seasons.”
In an August 2020 brief responding to a similar allegation, MLB called the claim “devoid of merit.”
Hernandez’s lawyers wrote “the District Court failed to follow existent precedent applicable to discrimination cases in which the pool of minority individuals eligible for promotion is too small to yield a statistically significant conclusion as to disparate impact.”
Kerwin Danley became the first Black crew chief in 2020 and Alfonso Marquez became the first Hispanic crew chief born outside the United States. Richie Garcia, who was born in Florida, was the first Hispanic crew chief from 1985-89.
Oetken in January denied Hernandez’s motion to alter, amend or vacate his decision, leaving an appeal to the circuit court as the next step,
Notable
A foul ball against Arizona broke the right thumb of Reds catcher Tyler Stephenson, who is expected to miss four to six weeks.
Giants SS Brandon Crawford (right quadriceps tightness) was held out of the starting lineup for a second straight day but recorded a pinch-hit single in the ninth inning. OF LaMonte Wade Jr. (left knee inflammation) began a rehab assignment with Triple-A Sacramento.
Catcher Willson Contreras and the Cubs avoided an arbitration hearing by agreeing to a one-year contract for $9.625 million.
White Sox manager Tony La Russa said LHP Lance Lynn (right knee surgery) would be assessed over the next couple of days after making his third rehab start for Triple-A Charlotte on Wednesday. Lynn allowed seven runs — four earned — and eight hits over three innings while throwing 77 pitches.
Pitcher Lucas Sims lost to the Reds in salary arbitration and will get $1.2 million instead of his $1.6 million request, leaving clubs with a 7-3 advantage in decisions.