PEORIA, Ariz. — Randy Arozarena arrived to the Mariners' spring training complex early Saturday morning, ready to return to work. With the Mariners having a later “show and go” start to their morning following a night game, the clubhouse was largely empty as he unpacked his gear. As teammates rolled in, he offered hugs and fist bumps and, yes, even handshakes to them. There were no signs of ...

Mexico's Randy Arozarena at the plate during the a World Baseball Classic game against the United States at Daikin Park on March 9, 2026, in Houston.

Kenneth Richmond/Getty Images North America/TNS

PEORIA, Ariz. — Randy Arozarena arrived to the Mariners' spring training complex early Saturday morning, ready to return to work.

With the Mariners having a later “show and go” start to their morning following a night game, the clubhouse was largely empty as he unpacked his gear. As teammates rolled in, he offered hugs and fist bumps and, yes, even handshakes to them.

There were no signs of animosity and no discussions of the controversy created with teammate Cal Raleigh during the World Baseball Classic.

Similar to his decision not to speak to the media in Houston following his critical comments about Raleigh after a heated World Baseball Classic Game pool play game, Arozarena declined interview requests from the local media, knowing that he’d be asked about the situation with Raleigh. He has no interest in speaking about it.

Instead, he released the following statement through the team:

“We didn’t get the results we wanted with Team Mexico, but I’m glad to be back in camp with my teammates. The WBC is behind us now, and I don’t want anything to take away from the Mariners. I’m focused on the season and helping this team compete for a World Series.”

The brevity and lack of an apology in the statement wasn’t surprising. Arozarena isn’t a verbose.

It’s unclear whether Arozarena believes he did anything wrong in harshly criticizing Raleigh for not shaking in his hand prior to the first at-bat of the game. Multiple sources have said that Raleigh told Arozarena not to try and shake his hand before the at-bat since it was against a philosophy that Team USA was trying to adhere to for the WBC.

Trying to bring levity and a bit of humor to the situation, Josh Naylor texted Raleigh that he was going to try and shake his hand before his first at-bat. Raleigh replied: “Please don’t.” But Naylor did it anyway, holding his hand up for a moment. Raleigh followed the policy and Naylor dug into the box. He later joked about it with reporters postgame.

Manager Dan Wilson, who is trying to hard to not allow this story to linger, saw the video of Naylor’s postgame interview.

Did he expect Naylor to do something like that?

“Of course,” Wilson said with a smile “Teammates.”

Wilson talked with Arozarena briefly after he arrived.

“It’s good to see him,” Wilson said. “It’s good having him back and he’s getting right to work and getting in the cage.”

While Wilson has talked with Arozarena multiple times, he was asked if there should be some public clarification or comments.

“Our goal here is to win a World Series, and putting that behind us is a big part of that goal,” Wilson said. “And I think that’s what we’re looking to do. And so I think our focus now really becomes March 26 and getting started on the season. And that’s how we’re looking at it.”