Boston Red Sox To Keep Arrested Catcher Jon Denney Off Field ‘For A While,’ Club Says
Boston Red Sox minor leaguer Jon Denney will not be with the team “for a while” in spring training, said Red Sox General Manager Ben Cherington, after the 19-year-old catching prospect was arrested in Fort Myers, Florida, reportedly becoming verbally abusive to police officers in the process.
As police questioned him about driving on a suspended license early Thursday morning, after warning the Red Sox prospect earlier, Denney became “belligerent,” police said, and told them that he could not be arrested because he “made more money than we will ever see,” the officers wrote in their report.
“We spent the last couple of days gathering information and spending time with Jon figuring out what happened and what needs to be done,” said Cherington. “We’re in the middle of putting together a program for Jon to address things we feel he needs to address and that will likely mean he’s not on the field for a while.”
Cherington was angered by the incident and by Denney’s obnoxious behavior, but he is not willing to give up on the young player, drafted by the Red Sox in the third round out of Yukon, Oklahoma, High School last year, just yet.
“It’s not something that represents the organization the way we want. It’s not something that’s part of being a professional baseball player. It’s not something that’s part of being any employee,” the Boston GM said Saturday, in his first public comments about the Jon Denney incident. “There’s more to playing on the field and performing on the field. We’re all representing the organization in some way. That kind of behavior is unacceptable.”
But Cherington said that Denney is sorry for his actions and would not be cut loose by the defending World Series champion Red Sox. Instead, the Boston organization will place the teenage prospect in a program designed to deal with his off-field issues.
“Our first responsibility is to try to help our players in any way we can,” said Cherington. “There are some things that happened that shouldn’t have happened, and he’s got to address those things before he can play baseball again. We have all the resources we need to help him. He’s shown remorse. He needs to fulfill the expectations we have for him and complete that program.”
But the Boston Red Sox boss left the door open for the team to take further steps if Denney is not successful in his off-field program, adding, “We just have to see how it goes.”
