The Braves have placed Roger McDowell on administrative leave pending the completion of an investigation by the team, according to Braves.com. Minor league pitching coordinator Dave Wallace will fill in for McDowell.
The move means the Braves are taking the reigns to this problem and are planning to fix it themselves instead of waiting for Major League Baseball to intervene, which is good to see. The organization has a continuing investigation running into what exactly happened during the weekend game in San Francisco in which a fan was allegedly threatened and was the victim of gay slurs by the Braves pitching coach.
As I said before, the intelligent thing to do is take a wait-and-see approach to this, and just wait for the final decision to be made in regards to McDowell's future with the team. The only words from the coach so far have been a short apology made Wednesday following a press conference by the accuser, Justin Quinn, and attorney Gloria Allred. The two demanded an apology from McDowell and a heavy fine from both the Braves and MLB.
The announcement of McDowell being put on administrative leave comes the same day after the news of Braves pitcher Derek Lowe being arrested on DUI charges. It's safe to say this is a PR nightmare for the Braves, and it's something the organization is not used to at all.
I think I speak for most fans when I say I'm glad this didn't happen during Bobby Cox's final year with the team.