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Nationals' Jazhiel Morel Fired; Appears to Throw Coffee at Woman in Video
August 22, 2020
Jazhiel Morel, an employee for the Washington Nationals, was fired by the organization for allegedly throwing hot coffee at a convenience store worker in the Dominican Republic.
Nationals general manager and president of baseball operations Mike Rizzo told ESPN's Kiley McDaniel, Jeff Passan and Enrique Rojas that Morel was fired Saturday:
"The Washington Nationals learned of this horrific incident earlier today and immediately terminated the employee," Rizzo said in a statement. "We do not tolerate this type of behavior in our organization."
Video of Morel allegedly throwing the coffee surfaced Friday on social media:
Jeff Passan @JeffPassanThe Washington Nationals fired an employee in the Dominican Republic on Saturday after he allegedly threw two cups of hot coffee in the face of a female convenience-store employee. News at ESPN with @kileymcd and @Enrique_Rojas1: https://t.co/7NuKANm6Nz (Video via @OdeComunica) https://t.co/vSYNhwleMP
Per Dominican Republic journalist Edith Febles (h/t ESPN), Morel has agreed to turn himself over to police Monday.
In the video, the man believed to be Morel is seen saying something to the clerk before throwing two cups of coffee in their face.
According to ESPN, Morel was the administrator for the Nationals academy in Boca Chica. He started with the organization in 2017 and was promoted to the job in November.
The academy opened in 2014. The organization has signed Dominican players such as Juan Soto and Victor Robles in recent years.
