Oh here go hell come.
An AP report published on ESPNDeportes.com says that Angel Villalona, the former Giants prospect from the Dominican Republic accused of murdering a man in 2009, is suing the Giants for illegal termination of his contract.
Here’s the link: http://espndeportes.espn.go.com/news/story?id=1355469&s=bei&type=story It’s all in Spanish. What I gleaned from it was that he’s seeking $10,400 in lost wages and $5 million in additional damages in a suit filed August 8.
Villalona pleaded no contest to the charges. The prosecutor in Villalona’s murder trail was quoted as saying the charges were dropped. Villalona’s name was removed from a list maintained by Major League Baseball that kept him from playing pro ball in MLB.
The document outlining all of these issues–including Villalona’s suit against his former team–states that the team must make a decision on his contract status within five days.
Villalona was quoted as saying he cannot comment on the Giants’ decision about his contract, but he’s working hard in the D.R. to get back to baseball.
Oh boy.
I don’t know anything else about this story at this time. I don’t know how much access I could get to sources in the D.R. concerning this as it’s an extremely sensitive issue. But if I do get anything on it, before or after I leave, it’ll be here.
The only commentary I have on this is from a prospect angle. Villalona spent the last two years out of organized ball altogether. He had a bad rap for lackadaisical training and work ethic. He was underperforming before this all went down. So if he does make it back into the Giants org, I can’t say he’d be a top prospect all over again. Legal issues aside, he’d have to do a ton of work to prove he’s worth his initial $2.1 million investment, then to prove he’s worth all the additional trouble.

