By Paul L. Taylor Posted on

Mariners’ Randy Arozarena needs to bring an end to WBC drama

Randy Arozarena is back in Mariners camp, but in reality this situation won’t be fully resolved until Cal Raleigh also returns to Peoria.

You keep reminding yourself it’s just spring training, but it’s still been a rough four-plus weeks since the Seattle Mariners arrived in Peoria. They have the worst record and run differential of all 30 Major League teams, and the rotation has some uncertainty with Bryce Miller unlikely to be ready for the start of the regular season.

Additionally, there was the incident at the World Baseball Classic last Monday during the game between Team USA and Team Mexico. Cal Raleigh refused to shake Randy Arozarena’s hand at the plate and then all hell broke out, with the situation still seemingly lingering around like a bad taste in your mouth.

There has been plenty of debate about who is to blame for what happened and how it has been handled since, with Raleigh, Arozarena and even Team USA having fingers pointed at them. What we do know though, is that it is the mercurial Arozarena who has continued to give life to this totally unnecessary drama.

Randy Arozarena releases statement but doesn’t mention Cal Raleigh

As such, when Arozarena returned to Peoria early on Saturday morning there was plenty of anticipation about what he would say regarding what happened. However, he had no interest in speaking to the media, instead deciding to release a statement through the team.

As per Ryan Divish of The Seattle Times, the statement said: “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.”

Understandably, a lot of people picked up on the fact Arozarena did not directly mention the incident involving Raleigh at WBC. As much as you can make the case that the 2021 AL Rookie of the Year is just being professional and focused on the Mariners’ main goal this coming season, this is one of those occasions when what happened with a teammmate does need to be addressed.

Raleigh has a sterling reputation around baseball as someone who makes time for you no matter what your status is, someone who has worked hard on improving the culture from top to bottom throughout the Mariners organization. Arozarena, on the other hand, has received plenty of criticism over the years — not always deserved mind — for his on-field antics, whether it be showboating, a lack of effort on defense, or questionable base-running decisions.

Mariners need a fully focused Randy Arozarena in 2026

Let’s be clear in stressing that Arozarena is an extremely talented and fun-loving player who can undoubtedly help the Mariners in their quest to claim that first World Series berth and championship in franchise history. However, he effectively needs to get out of his own way and be more consistent and rational in how he conducts himself.

All indications are that Arozarena knew ahead of time not to try and shake Raleigh’s hand, so why intentionally antagonize the situation? The two-time All-Star went off during postgame interviews about a lack of respect, when the reality is it was he who showed this by making his Mariners teammate look bad in front of an international audience.

Raleigh has of course been all class about this situation since, reaching out to Arozarena while also advising the media that he has no beef with him. And why would he, given that we’re talking about a player who has remained humble throughout his journey to becoming the best catcher in Major League Baseball, even after joining a very short list of individuals to hit 60 home runs in a season.

We like the take of The Seattle Times columnist Matt Calkins, who says it’s Team USA who is to blame by putting Raleigh in such an awkward spot in the first place. Putting country above teammates and friendships just sounds ridiculous, when it’s to such an extent that you can’t even shake someone’s hand.

Josh Naylor brings much-needed humor to the situation

It’s unsurprising that it would be Josh Naylor who brought some levity to the whole situation by offering Raleigh a fist bump during the WBC quarterfinal game between Team Canada and Team USA. The two had texted about it beforehand and Naylor decided this was an ideal way to bring humor to something which really should never have gotten to this point.

We wouldn’t go as far as to call Arozarena the antithesis of Naylor when it comes to what they both bring to the Mariners clubhouse as teammates. At the same time, Arozarena needs to dispel any concerns about his potential ability to negatively impact team chemistry, once Raleigh returns to Peoria.

Sure there are numerous examples over the years of teammates not getting on, but still being able to win consistently on the field. However, the Mariners would still prefer for the team chemistry in Seattle to be in a more positive place, especially with Jerry Dipoto and Justin Hollander so focused these days on bringing in high-quality character guys such as Naylor and Brendan Donovan.

As a final thing for Arozarena to consider — while again not saying he will be an issue — is that if there is any continued fallout, who do you think the Mariners are ultimately going to side with in all of this? Raleigh is under contract through 2030 ,while he will become a free agent after this season with the likelihood that he’s going to be on a new team next year regardless.

Photos court​‌esy of Tim Rogers Photography

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