Kyle Davies Arrested Before Release

Last night reports broke stating that Kyle Davies was arrested in St. Petersburg, Florida for disorderly intoxication early Tuesday morning.

On Wednesday, Davies was released to make room for Salvador Perez on the 40 man roster.

The Royals insist that the release was connected more towards poor performance and the fact that Davies shoulder issues would not be resolved by the end of the year.

It’s a sad set of circumstances for everyone, really.

You have to wonder if Davies had gotten wind of the upcoming release and wanted to, well, release the stress of losing his job.  He had to know that Brayan Pena would be going on paternity leave, leaving a void at catcher and requiring someone to be added to the 40 man.

Then again, as many have suggested on Twitter, why not just place Davies (who was already on the 15 day DL) on the 60 day DL which also opens up a spot on the roster?  Perhaps they were just ready to cut bait.

With a bullpen stocked with young and capable pitchers already and a rotation full of pitchers already outperforming Davies, it was the right personnel move anyway.  Davies may have been given a look in the bullpen if he were expected to make a quick recovery, but the Royals may have just had enough of it and let him go.

Bob Dutton pointed out that the players’ union usually files a grievance in situations when a player is released after an incident, suggesting that maybe they hadn’t gotten wind of the arrest or, if Davies already knew (hence the drinking), they’d already made the decision before Davies stepped foot in whatever establishment he started at.

As for Davies, he’s stated his embarrassment about the situation and called it a “foolish mistake”.

It’s unfortunate.  Royals fans were not always the most supportive of Davies, but nobody wanted to see something like this scenario.  It’s easy to overlook that ballplayers are still people with their own personal goals.  When putting in all those years of effort to reach the big leagues, having it all stop is nothing short of devastating, I’m sure.

There hasn’t been any report that Davies tried to drive, just that he was being disorderly.  It could have been much worse.

All things aside, best of luck to Kyle and his family.