Rangers' Jeffress still out as MLB looks into DWI arrest


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ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Texas Rangers reliever Jeremy Jeffress remained away from the team Saturday while Major League Baseball looked into his arrest on a drunken driving charge.

Jeffress was put on MLB's restricted list Friday, hours after he was booked into the Dallas County jail on a charge of driving while intoxicated.

Thad Levine, the team's assistant general manager, said the players' union was working closely with the commissioner's office, along with Jeffress and his agent, to "determine a best course of action moving forward." Levine said he didn't know the timeframe for a decision.

"We knew all along once you place a guy on the restricted list it's in Major League Baseball's hands as to when he gets reinstated," Levine said before Saturday night's game against Cleveland. "This is a little bit of a unique case because I think the union's working in concert with Major League Baseball on this, so they're trying to come to the best resolution they can. Once he was placed on the restricted list, we yielded any real control. And quite frankly, I think we do not say or have jurisdiction over this matter."

The 28-year-old Jeffress was put on MLB's restricted list Friday and could possibly face a suspension.

Online records for the Dallas County jail show he was booked around 5:15 a.m. Friday, about three hours after he was pulled over by a Dallas police officer during a traffic stop. Jeffress is free on a $500 bond.

Jeffress was twice suspended while in the minor leagues for violating drug rules, for 50 games in 2007 and the last for 100 games in 2009.

He came to Texas with catcher Jonathan Lucroy from the Milwaukee Brewers in a trade Aug. 1.

"I know he fights some stuff on the personal level," Lucroy said Friday. "Whenever you're dealing with stuff in your personal life like that, that becomes way more important than the game. And we have to help him get through whatever he's trying to get through, to help him be OK in life."

Levine said Saturday that MLB was still in a fact-finding mode.

"There has not been a conclusion from his incident the other night that Major League Baseball has come to the ultimate resolution whether or not it's a punitive matter or something where all hands on deck to try to help the person," Levine said. "I think they're going to leave him in a little bit of this limbo state until they have more facts so they can make a better decision."

The hard-throwing right-hander became the closer this season for the Brewers, recording 27 of his 28 career saves before the trade. As one of the setup men for AL West-leading Texas, Jeffress has no record and no saves with a 4.00 ERA in nine appearances with the Rangers.

"It's just adds to the number of challenges we've faced and found a way to overcome," manager Jeff Banister said. "It just gives an opportunity to somebody else in the bullpen to step up and pitch well for us."

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