It's good to have policies
Without policies in sports things could get out of hand. A coach could bring an axe into the clubhouse occupied by a clumsy punter. A Cubs player could sleep with another players wife. A relative of the team President could get caught on tape stealing players money. Sammy could leave early. Rickey could be playing cards. A guy could lie about carrying dear meat or washing his truck.
The reason the Pirates released pitching prospect Olivo Astacio, two sources confirmed yesterday, was that he attacked another player with a bat earlier in the week during extended spring training in Bradenton, Fla.
Astacio and the other player were having an argument, the sources said, and Astacio struck the player's leg with a swing of his bat. He swung again and missed before the incident was broken up.
The other player -- who was not identified -- is not seriously injured, and no charges have been filed. But Pirates management, already wary of Astacio's troubled past throughout his professional career, promptly released him Thursday.
Astacio, 23, was an expensive Latin American signing for Boston in 2002, but the Red Sox suspended him for disciplinary reasons in 2005, and he sat out the entire season.
The Pirates' previous management signed him the following year, and he rose to Class AA Altoona by the final month of last season.
But he pitched only one game for the Curve before breaking his hand during a fight.
The Pirates, who on Thursday described their release of Astacio as a "significant violation of organizational policy," had no further comment yesterday.