Cal Raleigh's drama with Randy Arozarena spilled over into Mariners season

What's going on with the Seattle Mariners and Cal Raleigh? Yes, it's early in the season and we're prone to overreact some. The Mariners 3-4 record is no reason to panic, especially after taking two out of three games against the New York Yankees early this week. It's normal for contenders to get off to slow starts, only to right the ship shortly thereafter. Not everyone can hit the ground running, but what's Raleigh's excuse?

The AL MVP runner-up played in the World Baseball Classic for Team USA and has plenty of meaningful baseball under his belt through early April. Yet, the WBC wasn't all sunshine and rainbows for Raleigh or Team USA, which lost to Venezuela in the final. A tiff with his Mariners teammate didn't help Raleigh's case, who is hitting under the Mendoza line through seven games. Raleigh has just four hits in 25 at-bats, giving some credence to a WBC hangover argument.

Inside Cal Raleigh's WBC hangover: The Randy Arozarena beef

Raleigh and Arozarena were supposedly friends prior to the World Baseball Classic. Arozarena even knew Raleigh's parents, acknowledging the Raleighs as great people before taking a bat to their son's reputation following Mexico's group stage loss to Team USA. By now, you know that story, especially if you're reading a follow-up piece. Raleigh refused to shake Arozarena's hand during the Mexican star's first at-bat. Arozarena took offense, lighting Raleigh up postgame.

Both players have since claimed there's no bad blood, but timing is everything. Raleigh quickly pivoted his own approach, refusing to dap up any opposing players – even those who are his Mariners teammates – after Arozarena's confrontation. Randy had little to say until he reported back to Mariners spring training. There, Arozarena released a PR-approved statement, where he exclaimed he and Raleigh 'are brothers' and that he apologized to Cal for the incident. Okay then.

“I understand that with Opening Day a few days away, I don’t want it to be a distraction,” Arozarena said, via the team. “Cal 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’s family, and we are both focused on helping the Mariners win the World Series.”

Why Mariners fans are asking tough questions of Cal Raleigh this early

The two players have seemed cordial enough on the surface. They haven't been actively beefing, at the very least. And as poor as Raleigh's numbers have been, they mirror his poor start to last season, when he hit .125 through the Mariners first seven games.

“We faced some really tough pitching, and no question about it, we’ve faced some tough starters with the Yankees and they’ve kept us a little quiet,” Mariners manager Dan Wilson told The Seattle Times. “But again, seeing some of the at-bats later in the ballgame today and the way the guys have continued to make their adjustments, you know, I think we’ve got good things to come for sure.” 

But, again, the fact that we even have to discuss Raleigh's struggles and how they correspond to Arozarena speaks to how silly it was to begin with. Raleigh wanted – no, needed – to be seen as the big, tough leader of Team USA's pitching staff, and he was willing to anger a teammate in the process. That's not what good leaders do, and as important as the WBC is to the growth of the sport overall, Raleigh's first priority was to be ready for the Mariners season, since they pay him.

Instead, he caused an internal rift that had to be addressed in a lacking PR statement, and failed cash in on the one advantage the WBC should offer, and that's a fast start.

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