On Jan. 22, the baseball world lost Royals pitcher Yordano Ventura to a car accident in the Dominican Republic. He was only 25 years old.
It’s been nearly a month since the accident, but there’s still news here regarding how much money the Royals will end up paying the estate of Ventura. It has been reported that if Venura were driving while intoxicated, the Royals could void the remainder of his contract, which is worth $20.25 million. To this point there’s been no concrete evidence that he was intoxicated at all, but the toxicology report will reveal the evidence.
On that front, the Kansas City Star reports that the toxicology report will only be released to Ventura’s family and attorneys. Remember, this happened the Dominican Republic, not America.
More from the Star:
On Thursday, Tessie Sanchez, a spokeswoman for the Dominican attorney general’s office, said the toxicology report is not a public document.
“Autopsies are performed by law to any person who has died violently,” Sanchez wrote in Spanish in a text message to a reporter with the Star. “But it (the report) is only given to the public ministry and to relatives.”
It’s unclear if the Royals have any recourse here to figure out if Ventura’s contract can be voided or not. Expect the issue to linger here for a bit, unfortunately.
This isn’t to say that the salary is the only thing the Ventura estate might be due. The Star reports that MLB’s benefit’s package is likely to pay $450K in life insurance, over a million dollars in accidental-death insurance and more pension-related funds.
Still, these benefits pale in comparison to $20.25 million.
