All is good between Cal Raleigh and Randy Arozarena.
The Mariners teammates got into a mini-spat after the United States’ 5-3 win over Mexico on Monday, during which Raleigh, the Americans’ catcher, refused a handshake from Arozarena as the latter walked to the plate for his first at-bat.
Arozarena, playing for Mexico, said postgame that Raleigh simply told him, “Good to see you.”
That, apparently, didn’t go over well.
“The ‘good to see you’ he said to me, he can shove it up his ass,” Arozarena said in Spanish after the game.
Now, Raleigh is squashing any issues between the two Seattle stars.
“I hate that this is a thing,” Raleigh said, according to MLB.com. “I really don’t think this is a big deal, a big story. It shouldn’t be a thing. I love Randy. I have all the respect for him and Team Mexico.
Raleigh added that he had already talked to Arozarena about the incident.
“I reached out to Randy and told him, essentially, ‘I’m sorry if you felt disrespected,’ or whatever it may be,” Raleigh said. “But we’re just playing the game. I think he would want the same if I was his teammate and we were playing somebody in a playoff game. Or he’d want that same kind of energy from me. So I think that’s kind of how I see it. And I reached out and put it to bed.”
Raleigh and Arozarena have been teammates in Seattle since July 2024, when the latter was dealt from the Rays before the trade deadline.
The pair will look to help the Mariners get back to the postseason after the team fell in a seven-game American League Championship Series to the Blue Jays.
Before that, Raleigh and Team USA will try to move to 4-0 in the WBC on Tuesday night when it faces Italy, which is 2-0 in the tournament.
Mexico, which fell to 2-1 with the loss, will play Italy on Wednesday as it aims to move on to the quarterfinals.