Tampa Bay Rays postseason hero Randy Arozarena has been detained in Mexico after allegedly attempting to take his daughter from her birth mother and also assaulting the woman's father.
Jeff Passan of ESPN confirmed the initial report, via Yucatan Ahora, also adding MLB is looking into the incident. Passan noted any discipline would come via the MLB-MLBPA joint domestic violence policy.
Tampa Bay star Randy Arozarena was detained in Mexico after an incident in which he allegedly tried to take his daughter from her mother and assaulted the woman’s father, sources told ESPN, confirming a Yucatán Ahora report. MLB’s Department of Investigations is looking into it.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) November 24, 2020
Because the incident involves family, any potential discipline from MLB against Arozarena would fall under the league and union’s joint domestic violence policy. The prosecutor handling the case in Mexico said today further information on the case will come in the next few days.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) November 24, 2020
Arozarena also reportedly got physical with his daughter's birth mother, and the incident was accompanied by video, per Bradford William Davis of the New York Daily News:
During the altercation, Arozarena reportedly hit his ex-wife at a home she and their daughter are living in in Merida, Mexico according to Diario de Yucatan, a Spanish-language newspaper in the area. Yucatan Ahora, another local paper, reported that the Rays outfielder also hit his ex-father-in-law while trying to leave with his young daughter.
The fight drew attention from their neighbors, who stopped Arozarena at a traffic light in defense of his ex. There is a video documenting Arozarena’s confrontation with the neighbors while standing next to a Black Camaro he drove to the confrontation.
Charges have not been filed as of yet. Mexican law allows for a two-day period of deliberating before making filings official.
Arozarena defected to Mexico from Cuba before making his way to the bigs. He began his career with the St. Louis Cardinals before coming to the Rays in a trade last offseason.
Though a bout with COVID-19 kept Arozarena out at the beginning of the year, he became a staple in Tampa Bay's lineup. Arozarena also clubbed an MLB-record 10 homers and hit .377 in the postseason.
More details are likely to come in the next few days. But Arozarena will certainly be subject to discipline and intense scrutiny under the joint domestic violence policy.
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