Randy Arozarena is under investigation from the league’s department of investigations after the Rays outfielder was detained in Mexico, ESPN.com’s Jeff Passan reports (Twitter links). Two different Mexican media outlets (the Yucatan Ahora and Diaro de Yucatan) reported on the alleged incident, and John Romano of the Tampa Bay Times detailed the differences between the two accounts.
Arozarena is alleged to have tried to take his daughter away from the child’s mother after he arrived at the woman’s house, according to the Yucatan Ahora, and was also reportedly involved in a physical altercation with the woman’s father. Abel Guerra, Arozarena’s agent, told Romano that Arozarena was never married to the woman, correcting the Ahora’s description of the woman’s father as Arozarena’s former father-in-law. The Ahora reported that Arozarena was being held on abduction charges while the Diaro de Yucatan said he was being held on charges of violence against a woman. The exact nature of Arozarena’s charges aren’t yet known, as police haven’t yet commented on the situation.
Guerra hadn’t yet been in touch with his client but told Romano that he had been in contact with other members of Arozarena’s family.
“The only thing I know is he was hyper-sensitive about making sure that the child’s needs were being taken care of. He was always sending money down there, and he was very involved in her life,” Guerra said. “I don’t want to speculate about (anything else)….When it comes to family issues there are always layers of complexity. Everything is perspective. Hopefully everything clears itself up. It’s a horrible, unfortunate situation.”
Passan notes that any league discipline in regard to the incident would fall under the MLB/MLBPA joint domestic violence, sexual assault and child abuse policy. This policy gives the league broad purview to issue suspensions of indeterminate length, depending on each individual situation.
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