The World Baseball Classic is over.<\/p>\n
Somewhat mercifully for the Mariners.<\/p>\n
Not just because Seattle\u2019s 17 participants were the most of any MLB organization, and its roster can finally reunite barely a week before opening day. Not just because they have precious little time to prepare in Peoria, Arizona, for the most anticipated M\u2019s season in recent memory. Not just because Seattle fans can finally, fully focus on a possible run to the franchise\u2019s first pennant.<\/p>\n
But also because the Mariners\u2019 WBC experience had as many failed handshakes as highlights.<\/p>\n
The former was Seattle\u2019s silliest, most needlessly spicy story of the spring. After superstar catcher Cal Raleigh declined to shake hands with teammate-turned-opponent Randy Arozarena during a WBC game between USA and Mexico, Arozarena said in a Spanish-language interview that Raleigh should \u201c(expletive) off\u201d and \u201cgo to hell.\u201d<\/p>\n
What followed was a textbook tap dance in damage control. Raleigh emphasized in an interview that \u201cthere\u2019s no beef\u201d and \u201cI love Randy.\u201d Arozarena released a statement saying \u201cI\u2019m focused on the season and helping this team compete for a World Series.\u201d<\/p>\n
Likewise, an MLB season that could end in the World Series should be the focus for Mariners fans.<\/p>\n
And though the WBC is great for baseball and the international growth of the game, it also amounts to celebrated scrimmages. It\u2019s spring training \u2013 albeit with a bat-flipping, stadium-shaking intensity and national pride.<\/p>\n
So statistics should be taken with tiny grains of salt.<\/p>\n
Still, statistically? Seattle\u2019s headliners largely scuffled. In three games, Raleigh failed to put a ball in play, going 0-for-9 with four walks and five strikeouts. The Dodgers\u2019 Will Smith served as Team USA\u2019s starting catcher in the semifinal and championship games, surprisingly unseating the 2025 AL MVP runner-up.<\/p>\n
Mariners center fielder Julio Rodr\u00edguez recorded three hits with a homer and three RBIs in the Dominican Republic\u2019s debut against Nicaragua \u2026 after which he went 0-for-12 in his next four games. That included a particularly scary sequence in Sunday\u2019s semifinal loss to Team USA, when Paul Skenes\u2019 98-mph fastball clattered off Rodr\u00edguez\u2019s wrist.<\/p>\n
The Mariners\u2019 other position players \u2013 Arozarena (2-for-13 with five strikeouts in four games), Canada captain Josh Naylor (4-for-20 with zero extra-base hits and two RBIs in five games) and Italy designated hitter Dominic Canzone (3-for-16 with one homer in four games) \u2013 similarly sputtered. And though Italy\u2019s Miles Mastrobuoni went 2-for-3 with an RBI in two games, he exited the tournament early because of a calf injury.<\/p>\n
Seattle\u2019s bullpen pieces \u2013 Mexico\u2019s Andr\u00e9s Mu\u00f1oz (two hits, two walks and one earned run in two innings), USA\u2019s Gabe Speier (two earned runs, two homers and a 7.71 ERA in three games) and Venezuela\u2019s Eduard Bazardo (two hits and one earned run in 31\/3 innings) \u2013 teetered at times, as well.<\/p>\n
Plus, Rodr\u00edguez made minor waves when he told FOX\u2019s \u201cFoul Territory\u201d: \u201cI love the Mariners. They know I give my best every single time I step on the field, but winning a World Baseball Classic would be top of the list (of career accomplishments, ahead of winning a World Series).\u201d<\/p>\n
The tournament also produced some local positives, such as prospect Michael Arroyo\u2019s four hits and .500 on-base percentage in four games with Colombia, and Rodr\u00edguez\u2019s home-run robbery of Team USA captain Aaron Judge. But the Mariners\u2019 misses outnumbered their hits.<\/p>\n
None of which should worry Mariners fans.<\/p>\n
After all, Raleigh \u2013 an incomparable catcher and clubhouse leader \u2013 is so much more than a controversial moment or a three-game slump. The Mariners, en masse, are more than this microscopic sample size, as evidenced by the banner about to hang above T-Mobile Park. MLB players and teams are judged by six-month marathons for a reason.<\/p>\n
Rodr\u00edguez\u2019s investment in the Mariners is also beyond dispute, as is his rightful pride in the Dominican Republic. And if Raleigh\u2019s and Arozarena\u2019s doomed handshake divides the clubhouse, then this group was bound to crumble in the season to come.<\/p>\n
The Mariners\u2019 primary pieces exited the WBC without injuries, and that\u2019s what matters most.<\/p>\n
To be clear: Seattle enters the season with several genuine concerns \u2013 such as the status of starting shortstop J.P. Crawford, whose ailing shoulder has yet to bounce back. Or the readiness of starting pitcher Bryce Miller, who tweaked an oblique in February. Or the challenge to flourish as a favorite in the American League, after seasons spent chasing the Houston Astros\u2019 shadow.<\/p>\n
But a rejected handshake? A supposed spat between teammates? A tepid tournament for Raleigh, Rodr\u00edguez and Arozarena?<\/p>\n
Those don\u2019t qualify as genuine concerns.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The World Baseball Classic is over. Somewhat mercifully for the Mariners. Not just because Seattle\u2019s 17 participants were…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":532246,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[363,99],"class_list":["post-532245","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-mlb","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/532245","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=532245"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/532245\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/532246"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=532245"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=532245"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=532245"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}