Tampa Bay Rays outfielder Randy Arozarena was arrested in Mérida’s El Porvenir neighborhood after a custody dispute got heated, local media reported.
Arozarena, who defected from Cuba to Mexico before coming to the United States to play baseball, allegedly physically attacked his ex-father-in-law while trying to forcibly take his daughter, local media reported.
Yucatán state prosecutors would only confirm Tuesday that Arozarena was detained “for problems relating to his ex-partner.”
A month ago, he was playing the Dodgers in the World Series and two weeks ago, Arozarena won the postseason Babe Ruth Award as Most Valuable Player.
Arozarena has not been formally charged but remained in custody on Wednesday.
“We are aware of reports that Randy Arozarena was detained in Mexico,” the Rays said in a brief statement. “We are gathering more information on this situation, and we have no further comment at this time.”
Arozarena has made no public comment and it was not clear if he had a lawyer.
Major League Baseball is likely to investigate under its joint domestic violence policy with the players’ association.
“We are aware and looking into it,” the commissioner’s office said in a statement.
Arozarena hit .377 with 10 homers and 14 RBIs in 20 postseason games for the AL champion Rays, which advanced to the World Series, but lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Local media reported that Arozarena married a Colombian woman on Nov. 7 in Conkal. It was the second wedding of a Major League player in Yucatan. The first was in 1981 when Fernando “Toro” Valenzuela married Linda Margarita Burgos Metri in Mérida.
