An Oct. 30 incident between Cincinnati Reds closer Aroldis Chapman and his girlfriend has put a proposed trade of Chapman to the Los Angeles Dodgers in limbo.
The Dodgers reportedly were on the verge of acquiring Chapman, 27, from the Reds for two minor leaguers on Monday. The deal in in limbo, however, as MLB is investigating the incident under its new domestic violence policy, a source told ESPN's Mark Saxon.
A source told ESPN's Buster Olney that the MLB investigation is not holding up the trade and that it's up to the teams as to how they want to proceed. The Dodgers are not sure what direction they'll take.
Reds general manager Walt Jocketty said Monday night that while the deal is not dead, it could take weeks to complete.
"The trade is still possible," Jocketty told reporters. "We've talked to several clubs. I've notified them all [Monday] that we will step back for a couple of weeks or whatever it takes. They were fine. This actually came up the last 24 hours. That's not what held up the trade. We just weren't able to complete it as fast as we wanted to."
Chapman fired eight gunshots in the garage of his Davie, Florida, home and was accused of choking his girlfriend during the Oct. 30 incident, according to a police report obtained by Yahoo! Sports.
Chapman's girlfriend told police the incident started when she questioned him about something on his cellphone. Chapman admitted to police that he fired the gun but denied choking his girlfriend.
Police said in the report that they did not make any arrests because of inconsistencies in stories and lack of physical evidence of injuries. Four days later, Assistant State Attorney Marcie Zaccor said there was insufficient evidence to charge Chapman in the incident.
According to MLB's domestic violence policy, a violator could be subject to suspension or a fine at the discretion of commissioner Rob Manfred.
Jay Reisinger, Chapman's attorney, told Yahoo! Sports on Monday night, "I've reviewed the facts as portrayed. On behalf of Mr. Chapman, we vehemently deny the allegations as stated. Beyond that, we have no further comment at this time."
The Boston Globe reported Monday night that the Red Sox, prior to obtaining San Diego Padres closer Craig Kimbrel last month, had also been exploring a trade for Chapman, until a background check turned up the alleged domestic violence incident.
ESPN's Jayson Stark contributed to this report.