Now that Jose Bautista has had time to ice both his ribs and his jaw, it’s time for us to reflect on whether baseball’s justice system — written and unwritten — dispensed the proper verdict following the Rangers-Jays, Bautista-Odor brawl.

We can debate whether it’s right or wrong for baseball players to beanball each other over offences equivalent to children wailing about being looked at funny all we want. But no matter what conclusion we arrive at, it won't change the fact that baseball has a long-standing tradition of policing itself according to an unwritten justice system. Oh, and just because the rules aren’t written and are often illogical doesn’t make baseball’s strict adherence to them any less of a reality.

On the other hand, Major League Baseball is burdened with the unenviable task of balancing the public punishment of players with granting them latitude to police themselves through bizarre on-field traditions suspiciously similar to assault.

It’s hard to examine a system so rooted in unwritten codes and testosterone-driven nonsense and know whether any of its so-called justice makes any sense, but here is what I believe:

- Jose Bautista deserved his beaning.
- Rougned Odor deserves his suspension.
- The Rangers aren’t any more gutless than the Blue Jays, if you want to put that label on either team.
- Next season’s drama will be someone else’s problem.

Let’s start with Bautista’s beaning.

Bautista’s big, bad bat flip in the 2015 ALDS did more than offend players on the Rangers staff, it offended purists past and present all around the league. Very few players can do something that flamboyant and polarizing at the expense of another club and not get stung by a fastball in the ribs.

For what it’s worth, I believe Bautista knew a beanball was coming. I also believe he felt it was worth it. A player gets only so many opportunities to elevate himself to legendary status, and in Game 5 of the 2015 ALDS, in front of a sold-out crowd and on the heels of a mammoth and timely home run, Bautista gave fans and opponents a bat flip for the ages.

In fact, if you read the Jays commentary both preceding the first series against the Rangers and after the brawl, there was never the sense that getting beaned was the shocking part. Instead, the shock comes from the timing and who was sent out do it. The real end question isn’t whether Bautista should have been beaned for showing up other professionals in grand fashion on a grand stage — an obvious yes — but whether he should have been beaned in his final at-bat during the final game in the 2016 regular-season series between the Rangers and Jays, with no chance to answer back.

As for the Rangers being gutless cowards, well, you need only point to Odor’s right cross, the one that damn near knocked Bautista’s beard off, to prove the team is neither. So why would the Jays say such a thing? Simple: because the Jays believe (or at least they’re strongly insinuating) that the escalation to a brawl was precipitated by the Rangers’ inability to assert their complaint in the manner in which baseball considers “the right way.”

Allow me to unpack this madness for you.

Just a few weeks back, I wrote that the Rangers would drill Bautista. Prophecy fulfilled. However, I also said they should do it early, by an established veteran so everyone was clear why the beaning was done; case closed.

How the message is sent is important, not just for the other team, but also for your own. Typically a pitcher is elected, and that pitcher should carry the weight of the entire club and possess enough authority to speak fully and finally, meaning everyone on both sides should understand the message. Once it's sent, no additional frontier justice should be needed.

The Blue Jays are implying that Bautista would have traded a welt from an opposing ace, early in the series, for a chance to swing out of his shoes in future at-bats in that same series. They are also postulating that, if and when Bautista went deep, he’d round those bases with pride, knowing his bat did the talking. No need for more beanings or brawling. No need for chirping, or ostentatious preening. No one has to like anyone, but the scales of respect would have been rebalanced.

Instead, the Rangers did Bautista dirty by robbing him of a chance to let his bat testify. Now he’ll have to ruminate on that beaning, and Odor's punch, until October 2016 at the earliest, or the 2017 season at the latest.

The reason I don’t find this to be a sign of gutless or cowardly behaviour is because Bautista let the Rangers stew over his bat flip for a full off-season. Turnabout is fair play, and revenge is a dish best served cold —especially during a time when the victim can’t do a damn thing about it but swallow.

You might be thinking this long build up to get even will result in the baseball equivalent of a prizefight —more beanings, more punching, more home runs and more snuggle time with Adrian Beltre. I’d buy into that vivid imagery if I thought Bautista would be wearing a Blue Jays uniform in 2017, which, with the way things are going, I don’t see happening.

If Joey Bats is the catalyst for all this drama, then he’ll need to stick around for it to be of interest to Jays fans. What, you think Prince Fielder is going to demand retribution for Jesse Chavez’s beaning? Please.

If you’ve not yet noticed, Bautista likes the big stage. He’s a superstar now and he wants to play on a bigger stage than Toronto has to offer. Don’t get your backs up at that comment, Torontonians. The Jays are drawing well right now, but Canada’s baseball-consuming population is still a fraction of its U.S. equivalent. Bautista has been a big fish in a medium pond and he could easily be a big fish in an ocean. He loves Toronto, but he also loves his legend. A lot. He wants to see his legend grow. He’s been pretty clear about what he wants since before spring training started.

Mark Shapiro has been pretty clear too. The Blue Jays president has made it clear that internal development and depth is a goal, and Bautista is a huge value trade proposition. Not as much as he could have been in the past, but even a few months of Bautista is worth something to a team in the hunt for a postseason power pickup. If the Jays continue to stink, they’ll have to dump players and start recouping young, controllable talent. Might as well deal Bautista while you can get something.

An interesting aside here is that the Rangers may very well not be done with Bautista —especially if he showboats on his next team in a future matchup. The bad news for whatever team he ends up on is they get drawn into a fight courtesy of one (new) player’s beef. Hell, even if Bautista ended up with the Orioles, Darren O’Day would have to run out of the bullpen to throw punches in support of his long-time nemesis in a Rangers vs. O’s brawl. Oh baseball, you’re so silly sometimes.

As for Odor, he deserves his eight-game suspension. There is no doubt in my mind he wanted to punch Bautista as soon as the Toronto slugger started running toward his bag.

The fact is, Odor’s punch, and the brawl that followed, didn’t have to happen. Yes, Bautista can be a jerk, and he does like to rub pitchers’ faces in their mistakes, but he’s not prone to starting beef with other players. I think Bautista was ready for an intense conversation about the finer points of takeout slides, but he was clearly not prepared for it to escalate as quickly as it did. Closing fists as fast as Odor did is not normal for many players. They shove and bump, but throwing punches is something you know you’re going to do.

Follow my logic: If you’re Odor, you must know a hard slide is coming. Ask any shortstop or second basemen and they’ll tell you that when a player gets drilled, and it’s personal, that’s the time you have to be on your guard at second because that runner is coming in hot. He can’t hit the pitcher, so he’s going to hit you.

Though Bautista’s slide was late and meant to clip Odor, it wasn’t that dirty. Odor himself has done worse. Bautista came in hard, but his cleats were down and he went over the bag. It’s closer to breakup slide than break-leg slide. This may be why Bautista was caught off guard by the speed at which Odor went to full fists. Bautista was hot, sure, but he wasn’t hot to swing at Odor.

This explanation matters very little now. The sports world has effectively turned Odor and Bautista into Rocky vs. Ivan Drago. Odor has been asked to sign pictures of “The Punch,” been given free ribs at local Texas restaurants for landing it, and even had a drink (Rougie’s Red Punch) named after him by one of the Rangers’ minor-league affiliates.

When you close your fists and go for blows, you put the ole’ MLB in a tough spot, Rougie. They have to make an example of someone here, but they also want to give you room to operate. But, just like Bautista knew the consequences would be worth a chance

to make a big moment a legendary one via an epic bat flip, I'm willing to bet that Odor felt an eight-day suspension was worth a chance to land a legendary punch to one of baseball's biggest bats (and egos).

And, considering those eight days will be spent eating free ribs and drinking a fruit punch named in his honour, it might not be that bad a trade after all.

Dirk Hayhurst is a former Major League pitcher with the Toronto Blue Jays and San Diego Padres and a best-selling author.

Website: www.DirkHayhurst.com

Follow him on Twitter: @thegarfoose