Mexican Pacific League president Omar Canizales has requested a three-year ban from Caribbean winter baseball against former Hermosillo Tomateros players Darnell McDonald and Brandon Watson (pictured). Canizales recently filed his request with Caribbean Baseball Confederation president Juan Francisco Puello.McDonald and Watson were both starting outfielders for Hermosillo when they left the team without notice three weeks into the current season. McDonald was second in the Mex Pac with a .378 batting average after 19 games at the time, adding six homers and 20 RBIs over that span. Watson was batting .276 for the Naranjeros, and was leading the league with eight stolen bases.
The two abandoned the team hours after a 4-3 win over Mexicali in which McDonald had belted a homer. At the time, according to Puro Beisbol, Hermosillo manager Homar Rojas said he was not told McDonald and Watson were leaving, but it’s since been rumored the two players were demanding extra performance-based bonuses prior to their departure.
Last year, the Confederation granted Canizales’ request for a three-year banishment from Caribbean baseball of current Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Casey McGehee, who left the Culiacan Tomateros without notice in 2008.
