JUPITER, Fla. -- St. Louis Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina blasted Major League Baseball's security arrangements for the families of players at the World Baseball Classic in Mexico.
"MLB,,, its a shame that you are more interested in making money and not in the security of our family," Molina said via his Instagram account. "Its a shame that the players have to be worried about the safety of our family when you were supposed to have security for them,, Horrible organization for the this event, no security for the players family,,, its a shame MLB."
The account, which includes personal photos of Molina in off-the-field situations, also expressed the same sentiments in Spanish in a post from late Saturday night. Molina's Puerto Rico team defeated Mexico 9-4 Saturday to advance to the second round of the WBC in San Diego. During the game, players spilled out of the Puerto Rican team's dugout to observe a commotion in the stands. Chicago Cubs second baseman Javier Baez later described to reporters a "brawl," in the family section of the Estadio de Beisbol Charros de Jalisco.
"All I heard was [Puerto Rico manager] Edwin [Rodriguez] saying, 'Go back to the dugout,'" Baez told reporters. "I thought it was my team, and when I saw the brawl was in the family section, I saw my family and everybody's family trying to separate and try to be safe. Well, I got a little bit desperate, yes, because I hadn't seen what happened, but everything was under control. My family said that everything was OK."
An MLB official wrote in an email to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, "At last night's game, an unfortunate incident resulted from the conduct of a fan in the stands at Estadio de Beisbol Charros de Jalisco. Security staff responded quickly and relocated families to a new area. We will make all efforts to prevent another such situation."
In an exclusive interview with ESPNDeportes' Marly Rivera Sunday, Molina did not back down from his criticism of MLB.
"Of course, especially in a country that's not your own, you try to concentrate on the game, but when you see that a brother of a teammate is fighting, literally fighting, throwing punches, you're obviously going to go defend him, especially when you know there's no provided security," Molina told Rivera. "Security should be provided by MLB. There is no one to help us. It's a shame that this happened, but we're going to defend our families even if we have to go up to the stands to do it. I honestly think MLB needs to do a better job."
Molina also criticized the staging of the event in Guadalajara.
"Security here has not been good. Also, the organization of the event as a whole has not been ideal," Molina said. "We don't have good food. The first day, we didn't have good transportation. It has been mediocre organization of the event. You come here with love and excitement with your family to play and this is nothing against the Mexican fan base. I have nothing against them. I come here happy, but I think since we are professional baseball players, we deserve more attention."