John Wetteland, MVP of the 1996 World Series, arrested on child sex-abuse charge

John Wetteland, a three-time MLB all-star and the 1996 World Series MVP, has been arrested on a child sex-abuse charge in Denton County, Texas, accused of the continuous abuse of a child under the age of 14.

According to online jail records, Wetteland posted $25,000 bond and was released on Monday, the same day as his arrest.

Wetteland, 52, was mainly a relief pitcher for the Dodgers, Expos, Yankees and Rangers in an MLB career that ran from 1989 to 2000 and included 330 career saves, All-Star Game appearances in 1996, 1998 and 1999, and a sixth-place AL Cy Young finish in 1999. While serving as New York’s closer in 1996, he saved all four Yankees wins in their World Series victory over the Atlanta Braves, becoming the second MLB pitcher to accomplish that feat and earning MVP honors.

After his retirement and between MLB coaching stints, he coached baseball and football and taught Bible studies at Liberty Christian School in Argyle, Texas, but has no current connection to the school, the Dallas Morning News reported.

According to the Morning News, the Texas Department of Family Services referred the case on Jan. 9 to police in Bartonville, Texas, a small town about 10 miles south of Denton. Officers from that jurisdiction then issued a warrant for his arrest, which was carried out by the Denton County Sheriff’s Office.

During the 2006 season, Wetteland briefly served as bullpen coach for the Washington Nationals but was fired by manager Frank Robinson in June of that year because of a long line of transgressions and insubordination that was affecting team chemistry.

“They seem to focus a little bit more on practical jokes and fooling around out there in the bullpen rather than focusing and concentrating on the game, and keeping their minds focused to what they would have to do when they came into the ballgame to get people out,” Robinson told The Post’s Barry Svrluga at the time. “I just couldn’t put up with it anymore. I talked to John on a number of occasions and told him flat-out what I needed and how I wanted things done. He just didn’t seem to understand.”

In November 2009, during his tenure as the Seattle Mariners’ bullpen coach, police were dispatched to Wetteland’s Texas home in response to a woman’s call about a man she said was “complaining of being depressed and contemplating suicide.” When they arrived, Wetteland came out of the house and asked to be taken to a hospital. But as part of a Mariners team statement issued the next day, Wetteland denied being suicidal and said he was hospitalized because of “my elevated blood pressure and heart rate.”

He remained with the Mariners through the end of the 2010 season.