M's giving Mateo chance to start over

TACOMA — While he talked, Julio Mateo fumbled with a baseball, absent-mindedly making pitching grips. He wore the uniform of the Tacoma Rainiers, the rest of whom went through drills on the field as Mateo addressed an assemblage of media in the stands Thursday at Cheney Stadium.

The relief pitcher has returned to the Mariners organization, albeit to its Class AAA minor-league affiliate, 19 days after he was arrested in New York and charged with third-degree assault for an incident at the team hotel.

"The first thing I'd like to say is, I'm very sorry for the situation this has created to the organization, to my teammates, the fans and their spouses,' " Mateo said in Spanish, his remarks interpreted by Rafael Colon, a Mariners consultant.

Mateo added that during counseling "I've learned a lot about myself. It's been a very difficult situation, a situation I hope doesn't repeat itself. It will not.

"I'm working very hard to gain that trust back from the fans, and show them that I'm not that person. To rebuild my image. That's very important to me."

Police say Mateo beat up his wife, Aurea, who suffered a black eye and needed five stitches in her lip from being bitten, according to the Manhattan District Attorney's Office. They also said Aurea Mateo was choked.

It was subsequently revealed that police were called to the Mateo residence in Seattle a week before the assault charges in New York. The report from that incident said Aurea Mateo signaled to one of the officers she had been choked.

Your take on the wisdom of the Mariners' decision to stick with Mateo, and not just send him packing, depends on one question: Are his alleged actions so heinous that he forfeited his right to a second chance?

It's a recipe for knee-jerk responses, and I plead guilty on that count. My first reaction, and second, and third, was to get rid of the bum. Hitting a woman is indefensible, one of the most cowardly acts imaginable. The Mariners had a chance to take a direct stand against domestic violence, an issue they have been admirably vocal in opposing through the years.

And yet while such a cold, visceral reaction is human nature, it's also human nature to believe in the inherent redemptive ability that lies within even the most troubled soul.

"Along with the punishment we levied against Julio, we also felt a responsibility," said Mariners executive Lee Pelekoudas, who stood near Mateo as he spoke and prefaced his remarks with a reiteration of the organization's condemnation of domestic violence.

"Julio served his time, in essence, when you talk about the punishment, the 10-day suspension. We also felt a responsibility, when someone asks for help, that we give them help."

After his arrest, Mateo was demoted to AAA and suspended for 10 days (the latter act, which cost him $54,645 of his $1 million salary, is under a grievance by the players' association).

Mateo underwent counseling during the suspension, which will continue after he is officially activated to play with the Rainiers tonight in Tucson, Ariz.

Pelekoudas, perhaps inadvertently, spoke to the complexity of this situation when he said, "This is the right thing to do, probably."

Mind you, there still is no guarantee Mateo will ever pitch again for the Mariners. Pelekoudas said repeatedly that the team is taking Mateo's case "one step at a time."

"I'm not going to address Seattle," Pelekoudas said. "This is a step-by-step process. The only thing we're concerned with now is getting him over the first hurdle, and that's getting him back on the field."

Mateo has many more concerns than that. He must return to New York on June 15 for a hearing on his charges. He says he has obeyed the restraining order against him that prohibits him from having any contact with his wife or infant son, Julio Jr.

"I am dying to speak to her and my child," he said. "But I must obey those restrictions and continue to obey those restrictions."

Mateo would not say how he will plead. "The situation in New York is an unfortunate situation between my wife and I," he said. "It's one of those things that no one will know except for my wife and I."

But asked whether his apology meant that he admitted the charges, Mateo replied, "I am apologizing for the situation I have found myself in, and the situation it has created to the organization. But I'm not apologizing for anything that's alleged or anything like that."

Mateo also said he was "proud to have a second opportunity. I'm going to make the most of it."

Never did he fear being released by the Mariners, he said.

"I don't fear anything. I haven't killed anybody. I don't sell drugs. I've never done anything like that."

What he is said to have done is bad enough. But the Mariners, for now, are sticking with Julio Mateo.

Larry Stone: 206-464-3146 or lstone@seattletimes.com. More columns at www.seattletimes.com/columnists