Fox Sports
During the MLB season, Randy Arozarena and Cal Raleigh are teammates who lead one of the most potent offenses in baseball for the Seattle Mariners. However, that’s not the case at the World Baseball Classic, where Raleigh represents Team USA and Arozarena players for Team Mexico.
Raleigh made that distinction extremely clear on Monday night when the two teams played one another in a Pool B showdown in Houston.
During Arozarena’s first at-bat of the game, he walked up to the plate and began talking to his Mariners teammate before extending his hand for a handshake. Raleigh did not reciprocate.
Many believed that Raleigh was either messing with his club teammate or didn’t want to get pine tar from Arozarena’s batting gloves on his hand.
However, it turns out he was dead serious about the two being competitors.
Randy Arozarena Didn’t Find Cal Raleigh’s Handshake Snub Amusing
After the game, which Team USA won 5-3 to take control of the lead in the pool, members of the media asked Arozarena about the incident.
Rather than take the diplomatic route, Arozarena went off on Raleigh, expressing extreme frustration over what had taken place.
😳⚾ Momento tenso en el diamante.
Randy Arozarena se molestó con Cal Raleigh después de que el receptor lo dejara con la mano extendida durante el partido, generando un momento de tensión en el terreno. pic.twitter.com/4ingcRwt1e
— Séptima Entrada (@septimaentrada_) March 10, 2026
The ‘good to see you’ he said to me, he can shove it up his a—,” Arozarena said in Spanish.
Arozarena also stated that Raleigh should “f— off” and “go to hell.”
Perhaps Arozarena was joking. But given the lack of a smile, it sure didn’t seem like he was very happy with how things went down.
Given the fact that they’re going to have to share a clubhouse again in two weeks, and that they’re both integral to Seattle’s success, the Mariners might want to get this smoothed out as quickly as possible.