HOUSTON (AP) — Cal Raleigh insisted Tuesday he has no beef with Randy Arozarena even though his Seattle teammate lashed out with a vulgar rant after Raleigh left him hanging for a handshake at the World Baseball Classic.
The kerfuffle went viral when Arozarena, a two-time All-Star outfielder playing for Mexico, cursed out Raleigh to a reporter after the Team USA catcher did not accept a handshake before an at-bat in the United States’ 5-3 win.
Speaking
to Mexican journalist Luis Gilbert in Spanish, Arozarena said Raleigh “has to thank God that he has nice parents, well educated,” and said he recently hugged them during a friendly greeting at the team hotel.
He then used profane Cuban and Mexican slang to insult Raleigh before pivoting to English and saying Raleigh could shove his “good to see you” in his rear. Arozarena was born in Cuba but defected to Mexico to pursue an MLB career.
Arozarena had reached down to greet Raleigh in his catcher's squat at home plate, and Raleigh declined to offer his hand back. Raleigh appeared to say something to Arozarena during the exchange at the plate that could have set off the Mexican star.
Arozarena appeared to be visibly upset at Raleigh, though it wasn’t totally clear if he was just having fun at his teammates’ expense. The pair have been teammates since Arozarena was traded from Tampa Bay to Seattle during the 2024 season.
Raleigh called Arozarena a baseball “brother” while explaining there was no tension between the teammates.
“Emotions are running high," Raleigh told reporters. "There’s no beef here. Like I said, there’s no story to me. I’m not taking this as a big deal, and I don’t think he is either.”
Mariners manager Dan Wilson told reporters he planned to speak to both of his players at Tuesday.
“These guys are incredible athletes because of their competitiveness, and that’s where they’re at, and that’s why they’ve gotten to the level that they’ve gotten,” Wilson said. “But I also know that our team loves each other deeply. And that’s one of the key ingredients we have in that clubhouse, is how much they love each other, and so I don’t anticipate this being any bit of an issue.”
Wilson doesn't expect whatever happened between the two to linger into the regular season. The Mariners went 90-72 in 2025 and won the franchise’s first AL West title since 2001 in large part behind Raleigh, who became the seventh player in major league history to hit 60 homers in a season.
“Competitiveness is competitiveness,” Wilson said. “It doesn’t matter. Sometimes, it’s a backyard game. Whatever. These guys are competitive. But like I said, I think the love that they have for each other will shine.”
Aaron Judge hit a two-run homer and Roman Anthony added a three-run drive in a big third inning to lead the United States to the win. The U.S. improved to 3-0 and will meet Italy (2-0) on Tuesday night, seeking to secure a spot in the quarterfinals in Houston this weekend.
Jarren Duran homered twice for Mexico (2-1), which will face Italy on Wednesday night in the last game of Group B play.
“I hate that this is a thing. I really don’t think this is a big deal, a big story," Raleigh said. "It shouldn’t be a thing. I love Randy. I have all the respect for him and Team Mexico.”
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