Edwin Encarnacion and uncomfortable subjects

There are subjects I’d much rather avoid at all costs. This is one of them. We have been pretty lucky, in my time on the site, we really haven't had a story of this type. I knew it couldn't last forever.

My usual reaction to this type of story is to hope it isn’t true. I very much hope this turns out not to be true because I really like Edwin Encarnacion and I’d like to continue to like him.

I really used to like Bill Cosby. I thought he was one of the funniest people around. I can still recite a number of his routine's. When it started to come out that he was a scum, I hoped it wasn’t true. Of course, it turned out to be true.

Anyway, yesterday I was having a nice hike with my wife, and while sitting for a break, I took a look at my phone and there is an email from TMZ. I’ve been doing this for long enough to know that if TMZ is emailing me, to ask me to link to a story, it wasn't going to be something I want to see.

I was right.

You know the story by now:

The woman is suing Edwin for battery, misrepresentation of the facts and more -- and is demanding more than $11.5 MILLION to make things right.

Some thoughts:

• Why a civil suit and not a criminal case? I’d imagine the law on this is a bit iffy. If it is true, proving ‘beyond a reasonable doubt’ that he knew about STDs before hand might be tough. The civil suit has an easier hurdle as far as doubt concerned.
• I hate the word 'demanding' in that quoted bit above. I'd guess that the lawyer figured $11.5 million was a good number to start at. If it goes to trial, and if the court sides with the woman, it will be the judge that decides on the amount.
• I do wonder, with all the medical testing that players go through, they must test for STDs too right? I would think that Edwin would know if he had them or not. Or at least I would think so. I guess I don't know, but it seems to me that they test for everything.
• It will be an interesting case for MLB. It doesn’t seem to easily fall under their "domestic violence, sexual assault and child abuse policy". I’d imagine it will take MLB too long to figure this all out to suspend Edwin this year.

I don’t think this will be over and resolved quickly. Odds are it will take awhile before it gets in front of a judge, or more likely, until an out of court settlement is found.

For what it is worth, Shi Davidi tells us that Edwin’s agent says the suit is "completely inappropriate and meritless" . The same post goes on to say that Edwin won't be commenting, not a surprise  (Sportsnet also was smart enough to turn off the comments on that story).

Late addition, Brendan Kennedy in the Toronto Star had the woman's name and more new information:

Ashley Lebron, who claims she is a family friend of Encarnacion, filed the lawsuit Monday in New York. She accuses Encarnacion of knowingly infecting her with genital herpes and chlamydia when they had unprotected sex in February at Encarnacion's home in the Dominican.

In the same story her lawyer alleges that on the night in question Encarnacion was "aware" that she "had too much to drink and that her judgment is impaired."

Like I say, I hope it isn't true. I like Edwin. He seems like a good guy, I don't want to find out that he isn't. He's been a favorite of mine since he joined the team.