NEWSLETTER
Chicago Cubs closer – and he’s been told he’s still the closer – Carlos Marmol has arrived in Mesa, Arizona for Spring Training, and, as you’d expect, the first questions he addressed were about the sexual assault allegations he’s been facing in the Dominican Republic.
As the Cubs have been, Marmol was pretty adamant about what is going on: he believes the accuser is trying to smear Marmol’s reputation in an attempt to scare him into just paying her to go away.
Not only did Marmol tell reporters that he didn’t do anything wrong, he and his lawyers are seeking criminal charges against his accuser. That squares with what Theo Epstein has said, openly suggesting that Marmol could actually be the victim here.
According to Marmol, when his accuser went to police, she initially requested money. Marmol explained that he simply gave the woman a ride, and the first he learned of the accusations was later when his accuser was talking about it on the radio. He called the situation “frustrating,” and said he’s “pissed off,” given that he knows he didn’t do anything wrong.
It’s possible he’ll still have to head back to the DR at some point as the case resolves itself, but – taking his comments together with the Cubs’ public statements in support of Marmol – this seems like the kind of thing that will end quietly and positively for Marmol.
