Oh boy. The Seattle Mariners clubhouse is about to get awkward.
Randy Arozarena and Cal Raleigh are teammates in Seattle. They share a locker room for 162 games. They're supposed to have each other's backs. But after what just went down in the World Baseball Classic, someone's going to have to play peacemaker real quick.
Here's what happened: Arozarena (Mexico) and Raleigh (USA) faced off in WBC pool play. Before an at-bat, Arozarena extended his hand for a friendly handshake. Raleigh, stone-faced, refused.
The handshake snub went viral. But that was just the beginning.
After the game, Arozarena went scorched earth on his own teammate, launching into a profanity-filled tirade that's already making waves across baseball. We won't repeat the exact words here, but let's just say Arozarena made it very clear he felt disrespected.
"This is about respect," Arozarena said. "We're teammates, but that doesn't mean you disrespect me on the field when I'm representing my country. I'll never forget that."
Now look, international competition brings out emotions. Players representing their countries take it seriously — maybe more seriously than their MLB teams. But here's the problem: these guys have to share a clubhouse starting next month.
How does Seattle's front office handle this? Do they let the players work it out themselves? Do they mediate? Do they pretend it never happened and hope it blows over?
