Arozarena Apologizes to Raleigh After WBC Snub

Incident at World Baseball Classic

Randy Arozarena has apologized to Seattle Mariners teammate Cal Raleigh after Arozarena cursed out the catcher for not returning a handshake at the World Baseball Classic. The incident between the two took place on March 9 when Arozarena reached down to greet Raleigh in his catcher’s squat at home plate, and Raleigh declined to offer his hand back in a game in which the Americans beat Mexico 5-3. Arozarena, speaking to Mexican journalist Luis Gilbert in Spanish, said Raleigh “has to thank God that he has nice parents, well educated,” and added 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.

Apology and Reconciliation Between Teammates

“I understand that with Opening Day a few days away, I don’t want it to be a distraction. Cal and I have talked, and I apologized for what I said after the game,” Arozarena said in a statement issued by the Mariners. “Nothing in the WBC takes away from the fact that we are brothers and teammates. He’s family, and we are both focused on helping the Mariners win the World Series.” Soon after, Raleigh called Arozarena a baseball “brother,” while explaining there was no tension between the teammates. “I love Randy, I do,” Raleigh said. “I hate that this is a thing. There’s no beef when we get back to Seattle. He’s my brother. We’re family.” On Saturday night after their spring training game, Raleigh reiterated his feelings. “We talked it out, and everything went great,” Raleigh said, according to MLB.com. “Randy knows that I love him, and he’s a brother, and it’s in the past, and none of us are carrying this forward. We’re in a good spot.”

Mariners Season Outlook

The Mariners open the season Thursday against the Cleveland Guardians. Seattle is coming off a season in which it won the franchise’s first AL West title since 2001. Raleigh helped lead the way by becoming the seventh different player in major league history to hit 60 homers in a season.