Thinking about Alfredo Simon

I just can't get my mind off of Alfredo Simon today. Per Britt Ghiroli, he is expected to be released soon by the Dominican authorities, thanks to the results of a ballistics test and another suspect that has surfaced. 

I had plenty of harsh words for Alfredo Simon over the past season, and in truth I don't believe he'll be much of pitcher ever (although Daniel Moroz, whose opinion I respect very much, believes he has potential). But my thoughts on him obviously have nothing to do with that.

Simon has been in police custody since January 2nd and will probably be released sometime within the next ten days. What happens to him after that is anyone's guess, although even if he'd been able to report to Spring Training on time he was hardly a lock to make the bullpen. But now he's been unable to prepare, he's had to deal with whatever happens while you wait in a Dominican prison while the authorities decide if you're actually guilty or not, and he's been removed from the 40-man roster. 

It's just....it just sucks. Ultimately it looks like he got off easy as he won't be spending a year in prison as was speculated when he was first taken into custody. It's been mentioned here a number of times that it happens in the United States as well that people wait in custody for long periods of time until trial, but Simon was detained based on what appears to be little more than witness and police speculation, speculation that has proven false. And he would have only been held that long if the ballistics test had confirmed their suspicions, but the fact remains that he had to wait nearly nearly two months for those results. Two months that he would have otherwise been spending preparing to try and make the Orioles. 

There's no real point to these ramblings other than the fact that Simon is on my mind and that I'm really feeling for the young man, a guy who probably has a spotty future in the majors even under the best of circumstances and only a few years to make any substantial money before his career is over. Now he has another obstacle in what has probably been a pretty rough life already.