Randy Arozarena returned to Mariners camp Saturday morning with a lot of questions waiting for him in the wake of his viral handshake incident with Seattle teammate Cal Raleigh at the World Baseball Classic.
Arozarena offered Raleigh a polite handshake early on in Team USA’s 5-3 win over Mexico at the WBC but Raleigh turned him down, leading to a very awkward moment that was caught on camera. The Mariners outfielder later fired back at Raleigh in an expletive-filled postgame interview in which he appeared to be seriously upset over the snub and told Raleigh he can “go f--- himself.”
On Saturday, as Arozarena finally rejoined the Mariners following Mexico’s WBC elimination, he issued a blunt statement through the organization on the recent drama surrounding him and Raleigh:
“We didn’t get the results we wanted with Team Mexico, but I’m glad to be back in camp with my teammates. The WBC is behind us now, and I don’t want anything to take away from the Mariners. I’m focused on the season and helping this team compete for a World Series,” the statement, which was translated via a team interpreter, read.
Randy Arozarena released the following statement through the Mariners:
— Ryan Divish (@RyanDivish) March 14, 2026
“We didn’t get the results we wanted with Team Mexico, but I’m glad to be back in camp with my teammates. The WBC is behind us now, and I don’t want anything to take away from the Mariners. I’m focused on…
Arozarena is not expected to take questions today.
Prior to his return to the Mariners, Arozarena privately vented to his Team Mexico teammates about the incident, according to Bob Nightengale.
What Cal Raleigh said about refusing to shake Randy Arozarena’s hand during Team USA-Mexico
Raleigh defended his actions after Team USA’s win against Mexico, explaining that he was simply trying to be “focused and locked in” for his national team in that moment. The Mariners catcher insisted there was no bad blood between him and Arozarena and brushed off Arozarena’s fiery rant.
“There's no beef. I love Randy. Like I said, when we're back in Seattle, he's my brother. He's family,” Raleigh said.
Raleigh also declined to fist bump Canada captain and Mariners teammate Josh Naylor during Team USA’s quarterfinal win over Canada on Friday night, though Naylor admitted he may have been trolling Raleigh.
Baseball fans divided over Raleigh’s refusal to fraternize with Team USA’s opponents will keep their eyes peeled on what the star catcher chooses to do when he faces Julio Rodríguez at the plate in the United States’ WBC semifinal against the Dominican Republic in Miami.
So far, Raleigh has gone 0-for-9 in his at-bats during Team USA’s tournament run. He’s also 0-for-2 in dapping up his Mariners teammates—and chances feel pretty high that he’ll be 0-for-3 come Sunday night.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Randy Arozarena Issues Blunt Statement on Handshake Incident With Cal Raleigh at WBC.
