Chacon will be gone by Monday
The Astros say the pitcher was terminated because he violated his contract.
HOUSTON (AP) — Shawn Chacon was put on waivers Thursday by the Houston Astros, a day after he got into a physical altercation with general manager Ed Wade.
If another team doesn’t claim Chacon by Monday, the Astros say they will release the pitcher and terminate his contract for cause, which would set off a confrontation with the players’ association over the nearly $1 million that would remain on Chacon’s contract.
“Based on the information we have to date, we believe the Astros’ response violates the Basic Agreement,” union general counsel Michael Weiner said. “If Shawn Chacon clears waivers and is released, we will pursue appropriate relief on his behalf.”
If Chacon is released Monday, $983,607 of his $2 million salary would be in dispute. The union also could claim lost bonus opportunities for the pitcher, who has $1 million in available performance bonuses in his deal, starting with 130 innings and ending with 210 innings.
Houston says Chacon violated a provision in the uniform player contract that states the player may be terminated if he shall “fail, refuse, or neglect to conform his personal conduct to the standards of good citizenship and good sportsmanship or to keep himself in first-class physical condition or to obey to the club’s training rules.”
Chacon’s agent, Dan Horwits, said he would wait to see if his client clear waivers before he addresses whether a grievance would be filed.
“As the process unfolds there will be more facts revealed which will shed more light on the situation,” Horwits said. “By no means does that mean the physical confrontation was appropriate, and Shawn knows that.”
Wade said the problems began when he asked manager Cecil Cooper to call Chacon into a meeting to discuss media reports that he was asking for a trade because he was unhappy with being bumped from the rotation.
After Chacon refused Cooper’s repeated requests to come to his office for the meeting, Wade went into the team dining room to try to get him to meet.
After he said he wanted to speak in the dining room, things became heated.