Oakland Athletics: Ramon Laureano’s suspension reduced from 6 games

Oakland Athletics’ outfielder Ramon Laureano had his suspension reduced from six games.

Oakland Athletics‘ outfielder Ramon Laureano has become a baseball anti-hero seemingly overnight following his altercation with the Houston Astros and bench coach Alex Cintron last Sunday.

But while his actions drew admiration from Athletics faithful and the majority of the MLB world, it seemed clear from the get-go that a suspension was incoming.

Fortunately, the ruling for Cintron was revealed earlier in the week and the MLB unexpectedly came down hard on the Astros’ coach handing him a whopping 20-game suspension — the longest suspension ever given to an MLB coach.

Laureano wasn’t going to get off without punishment, however, as the initial ruling handed him a six-game suspension for his part in the benches-clearing brawl.

While the suspension seemed reasonable given that Laureano, while not the instigator, was the one who did charge initially. Still, the speedy center fielder opted to appeal the suspension and the result was revealed on Friday.

After consideration, the MLB decided to reduce Laureano’s suspension from six games to just four. And given Laureano’s role in the brawl, that has to be considered a win for both him and the A’s.

Laureano’s suspension will begin Friday meaning that he will miss the entire Bay Bridge Series against the San Francisco Giants. He will also be sidelined for one game against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Monday night.

The Oakland Athletics have the depth to be able to replace Ramon Laureano.

While Laureano’s absence will undoubtedly be felt in a major way — both at the plate and in the field — the A’s have the outfield depth to make up for this loss in the meantime.

Robbie Grossman has been superb through the early portion of the season and Mark Canha has also played very well too. Canha will likely be the first player to get a crack at the center field job while Laureano is out.

While they lost two out of three against the Los Angeles Angels, the A’s remain one of the best teams in baseball currently with a 13-6 record — four games ahead of the Texas Rangers for the AL West lead.

Given the struggles of the rest of their division, the A’s appear to be in good shape to earn a playoff spot, although there’s still plenty of season left to be played.

For now, they’ll be forced to stay afloat without their 26-year-old center fielder.

But when Ramon Laureano returns, expect him to be greeted with a hero’s welcome.