Julio Mateo Sent Down After Arrest

Julio Mateo was arrested and charged with a third-degree assault charge Saturday after a dispute at a Manhattan hotel that left his girlfriend (wife?) with five stitches in her mouth. What a guy.

The Seattle Mariners six-foot, 220-pound reliever turned himself in at a Manhattan police station early Saturday evening.

After Seattle's 8-1 loss last night, Mateo was sent down to the AAA Tacoma Rainiers. He was 1-0 with a 3.75 ERA in nine games this season.

Of course, "It has nothing to do with what has gone on," Mariners manager Mike Hargrove claimed. "It has everything to do with the fact that we were playing a man short today and we don't know anything about the situation as far as how long it's going to take or last."

Update: The Mariners have suspended Julio Mateo for 10 days for missing Saturday's game without permission. The suspension will cost him $54,645 of his $1 million salary this year.

[Seattle Post-Intelligencer] | [Baseball Musings]