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The World Baseball Classic (WBC) is known for its rivalries, but a viral moment between MLB teammates got even spicier after Team USA and Mexico faced off in pool play Monday night in Houston.
Mexican Randy Arozarena stepped up to the plate to confront American star pitcher Paul Skenes, but not before extending his hand to greet his Seattle Mariners teammate Cal Raleigh, catching behind home plate.
That was until Raleigh looked up at Arozarena and refused to shake his hand.
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Randy Arozarena had a pretty strong reaction to his Seattle Mariners teammate Cal Raleigh’s reaction to a handshake during the World Baseball Classic. (Getty Images)
Raleigh appeared in the viral video to say something to his teammate, who leaned in to listen. But, whether or not it was a competitive issue for Raleigh, Arozarena seemed serious about the situation in his post-match comments.
After the United States beat Mexico 5-3 to remain undefeated in the WBC, Raleigh had no comment on what happened with Arozarena on the plate. But Arozarena had a lot to say about the situation.
Arozarena was asked in Spanish how he would respond to Raleigh’s handshake snobbery. His response was translated and, although some on social media called it potentially sarcastic, the majority thought he was quite serious.
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“How do you want me to respond to Cal Raleigh?” Arozarena asked the reporter. “What do you want me to say to him?”
“I would like to tell him in four languages, that’s what I would like. First, I would tell him in Spanish, look: all he has to do is thank God, he has such wonderful parents, right? That his parents are very well brought up. I saw them two days ago at the hotel, and they came to say hello to me, they gave me a hug. They said they were very proud of me and happy to see me again.
Randy Arozarena of the Mariners celebrates with Cal Raleigh after hitting a solo home run in the American League Championship Series against the Toronto Blue Jays at T-Mobile Park on October 15, 2025 in Seattle. (Daniel Shirey/MLBPhotos)
“The other thing I want to tell him, I’m going to tell him the Cuban way. What he needs to do is fuck himself. The Mexican way: he can fuck himself. And in English, I’m going to tell him in English. That ‘good to see you’ he gave me? He can shove it up his–.”
So, Arozarena claims that Raleigh told him “good to see you” at the plate, but he refused to shake his hand. However, this isn’t the first time we’ve seen this in the WBC.
In a previous match between Australia and Czechia at the Tokyo Dome, an awkward situation arose when the former’s catcher refused to shake the latter’s batter’s hand. Theories began to circulate, the two most popular being a simple competition in which players don’t want to fraternize with the “enemy”, and the recipient doesn’t risk getting pine tar on their hands.
Maybe that’s one of the reasons Raleigh did the same with his own teammate, but they’re going to have to return to spring training together, where it’s sure to be a hot topic among reporters and fans.
Randy Arozarena of the Mariners celebrates with Cal Raleigh after hitting a three-run home run against the St. Louis Cardinals at T-Mobile Park on September 9, 2025 in Seattle. (Alika Jenner/Getty Images)
In the meantime, the United States and Mexico could meet in Miami depending on how their final group matches go this week.
The U.S. team finishes its schedule against Italy on Tuesday night, where it hopes to clinch its spot in the quarterfinals with a victory. Mexico and Italy will finish their group play with a potentially crucial clash on Wednesday night.
