Cal Raleigh addresses WBC controversy with Randy Arozarena: 'There's no beef'

Ryan Divish, The Seattle Times on Mar 10, 2026

Published in Baseball

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PEORIA, Ariz. — When Cal Raleigh said he planned to FaceTime with people at the Mariners complex while being away with Team USA at the World Baseball Classic, this isn’t what he had in mind.

On Tuesday afternoon, Raleigh reached out over FaceTime to address the controversy after he refused to shake hands with Randy Arozarena during Team USA’s 5-3 victory over Team Mexico in Monday night’s World Baseball Classic game in Houston.

“Just thinking about it, I hate that this is a thing,” he said, sitting in the clubhouse at Daikin Park. “I really don’t think this is a big deal, a big story. It shouldn’t be a thing. You know, I love Randy. I have all the respect for him and Team Mexico. I already reached out to him personally to talk with him. And obviously, when we’re back in Seattle, we’re family, we’re brothers, and I’ll do anything for him. I’ll do anything for our team to win. To me, it shouldn’t be that big of a deal.

“But these games do matter. I think they’re important to each individual’s country. Emotions are running high. They’re not just exhibition games. These are super important. I have a responsibility to my teammates and my country to be locked in and focused each game and do everything I can to win. I’m here to win the World Baseball Classic for my country. I’m not too worried about this.”

What was the conversation like with Arozarena?

“I reached out to Randy and I told him, essentially, sorry if you felt disrespected or whatever it may be,” Raleigh said. “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. He’d want that same kind of energy for me. That’s kind of how I see it, and I reached out and put it to bed. You know, I think we’re, I love Randy. Like I said, I got no beef at all.”

In an Spanish-language interview Monday night, Arozarena lobbed profanity-laced comments about Raleigh, saying he should “(expletive) off” and “go to hell,” but it was unclear if the comments were serious or intended as playful banter.

Raleigh obviously saw Arozarena’s comments postgame, but didn’t really say much about what was said.

“Emotions are running high,” he said. “There’s no beef here. There’s no story to me. I’m not taking this as a big deal, and I don’t think he is either.”

Raleigh isn’t the first catcher not to shake hands with a hitter in the WBC. It has happened on multiple occasions. Is it gamesmanship? Is it sending a message or a team thing? Raleigh wasn’t really pushing the reasons as to why he didn’t do it.

“Like I said, I don’t think it’s a big deal,” he said. “I think people are making it out to be a bigger deal than it is. But guys are proud to put on their country’s uniform. And I’m proud to put on USA. I have a responsibility to my teammates and the country to be focused and locked in. There’s no harm or no bad blood. there’s nothing behind it. It doesn’t matter who’s on the other side. It could be Mexico, it could be the Czech Republic or Japan or the DR (Dominican Republic), I’m out there to win, and I’m out there to play hard and be focused, and I have no bad blood, no beef with anyone.”

Once the WBC ends, Raleigh believes he and Arozarena have the same goal in common — reaching a World Series.

“There’s no beef,” he said. “I love Randy. When we’re back in Seattle, he’s my brother, he’s family. We’re all in it together, just like I’m here right now with Team USA. It is what it is. I got no hard feelings toward him.”