During the World Baseball Classic, Seattle Mariners teammates Cal Raleigh and Randy Arozarena got into a bit of drama. However, Raleigh has now confirmed there will be no beef entering the regular season.
As Arozarena stepped to the plate for Team Mexico, Team USA’s Raleigh refused to shake his hand. That ticked off the Mariners outfielder. But the catcher and Arozrena have talked things through. They’re now just focused on Mariners success, via Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times.
“We talked it out. Randy knows that I love him and he’s a brother,” Raleigh said. “It’s in the past and none of us are carrying this forward. We’re in a good spot. We talked it out. We’re both sorry, and we both got in a good place, and we’re both happy to be here too.”
During the WBC, Raleigh kept his allegiances strictly to Team USA. For as friendly as him and Arozarena are outside of the tournament, the catcher only had gold on his mind. Arozarena wanted to win as well, of course. But he ultimately was able to see past country lines and competition and was just paying his respect.
For any drama that stirred up though, the Mariners need the beef to truly be dead. Raleigh and Arozarena are both crucial members of any offensive success Seattle finds. There is sure to be heated moments throughout the year a everyone on the Mariners are competitors looking for the best out of themselves. But to have team animosity before the year even begins could spell doom.
Both Raleigh and Arozarena claim that not to the case, and that their WBC skirmish is now in the past.