During the Houston Astros’ clubhouse ALCS victory celebration Saturday night, Astros assistant general manager for player evaluation Brandon Taubman taunted three female reporters about the organization’s trade for closer Roberto Osuna, who was suspended for 75 games last season for violating Major League Baseball’s domestic violence policy, Sports Illustrated’s Stephanie Apstein reports.
Per the report, Taubman addressed a group of three female reporters, “including one wearing a purple domestic-violence awareness bracelet” and yelled “half a dozen” times, “Thank God we got Osuna! I’m so fucking glad we got Osuna!” The Astros declined to comment for Apstein’s story and did not make Taubman available for an interview, but the report says Taubman’s behavior was egregious enough that someone else in the Astros organization apologized for it.
Following publication of the SI story, the Astros released a statement implying the story was false and mischaracterized Taubman’s “supporting the player during a difficult time.”
Reporters present have confirmed the Sports Illustrated account:
Osuna, then a member of the Toronto Blue Jays, was charged with domestic assault in Toronto in May of last year. The charge was withdrawn that September, after Osuna agreed to a “peace bond” requiring him to not contact the woman he was said to have assaulted and to continue counseling for a year. Taubman, a former fantasy baseball expert and investment banker, joined the Astros organization in 2013 as an analyst and was promoted to assistant general manager last September. Taubman’s contract was extended last month.
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