Somewhere amongst that flurry of activity, a long-awaited conversation was had between Randy Arozarena and Cal Raleigh.<\/p>\n
About about two hours before the Mariners\u2019 Cactus League game against the Chicago Cubs on Saturday night, Arozarena put out a statement via the team that addressed the WBC incident between him and teammate Cal Raleigh<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cI understand that with Opening Day a few days away, I don\u2019t want it to be a distraction,\u201d Arozarena said<\/a>. \u201cCal and I have talked and I apologized for what I said after the game. Nothing in the WBC takes away from the fact that we are brothers and teammates. He\u2019s family, and we are both focused on helping the Mariners win the World Series.\u201d<\/p>\n The statement echoes much of the sentiment of Raleigh\u2019s comments to members of the Seattle media the morning after he refused Arozarena\u2019s handshake in the March 9 WBC game between the United States and Mexico, which prompted postgame comments from Arozarena that spurred unwanted attention on the Mariners.<\/p>\n \u201cI love Randy,\u201d Raleigh said back on March 10<\/a>. \u201cI have all the respect for him and Team Mexico. I already reached out to him personally to talk with him. And obviously, when we\u2019re back in Seattle, we\u2019re family, we\u2019re brothers, and I\u2019ll do anything for him. I\u2019ll do anything for our team to win.\u201d<\/p>\n Neither player would want anything within their control to put achieving the Mariners\u2019 lofty goals they have set this season in jeopardy. It is likely those words alone from Arozarena would have helped close the door on the incident. The fact he said he apologized to Raleigh for his comments at the WBC in Houston hopefully helps lock that door and put the focus back on what happens on the field, as has been the case with the players in Peoria all along.<\/p>\n That atmosphere very well may have helped facilitate the reconciliation, according to Raleigh.<\/p>\n \u201cWe talked it out and everything went great,\u201d Raleigh said after the Mariners\u2019 7-1 loss to the Cubs on Saturday night. \u201cRandy knows that I love him and he\u2019s a brother and it\u2019s in the past and none of us are carrying this forward.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re both sorry and we both got in a good place and we\u2019re both happy to be here too. I mean, it was really good walking in the door and seeing everybody. As fun as that was (at the WBC), it was nice to feel back here. I feel like the family\u2019s all back together in a way.\u201d<\/p>\n An unpleasant sidenote to the WBC should be left at the WBC, and by the looks of things, it was. An important conversation was had, and it appears there is one focus moving forward.<\/p>\n \u201cI think it doesn\u2019t surprise me,\u201d Mariners manager Dan Wilson said. \u201cThat\u2019s what we\u2019ve talked about in that clubhouse. It\u2019s a special group. They love each other. And yeah, it\u2019s time. I think we\u2019re all ready to get back to Seattle and get this thing started.\u201d<\/p>\n More on the Seattle Mariners<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0Seattle Mariners\u2019 Cole Young blasts 478-foot moonshot home run<\/a>
\u2022\u00a0Seattle Mariners release their first commercial for 2026 season<\/a>
\u2022\u00a03 standouts from Seattle Mariners\u2019 Spring Breakout game<\/a>
\u2022\u00a0Gilbert\u2019s final spring start features surprises from Raleigh<\/a>
\u2022\u00a0Callis: Seattle Mariners have MLB\u2019s best pitching prospect duo<\/a><\/p>\n
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