Cal Raleigh snubbed another Mariners teammate at the WBC and the media still doesn’t get it
Cal Raleigh denied Josh Naylor a fist bump at the plate during Friday’s quarterfinal against Canada. It was the second Mariners teammate he has snubbed in this tournament after the Randy Arozarena moment against Mexico went viral last week.
The media treated both like breaking news. The players treated it like what it actually was, which is two guys having fun competing against each other.
Josh Naylor vs. Cal Raleigh
Here is what actually happened with Cal Raleigh and Josh Naylor… lol
He texted Cal Raleigh before the game and told him he was going to try to shake his hand at the plate. Raleigh responded with “please don’t.”
So yeah, it was a joke. They planned the whole thing. Josh Naylor walked up there, offered the fist bump, and Cal Raleigh stonewalled him exactly as discussed.
That is not beef. That is two teammates who know each other well enough to set up a bit before a World Baseball Classic quarterfinal game.
Josh Naylor on getting denied by Cal Raleigh
The media ran with the drama angle anyway because that is what the media does.
If you do a quick Google search on the topic, every headline is overly dramatic about Cal Raleigh snubbing another teammate. The horror. I will say, the Arozarena situation had more layers to it on the surface because Randy came out swinging in the post-game presser. I still don’t even know how Randy was feeling after he said this…
“The other thing I want to say to him, I’ll tell it to him Cuban-style. What he needs to do is go f— himself. Mexican-style: he can go to hell. And in English, I’m gonna say it to him in English. That ‘good to see you’ he gave me? He can shove it up his a–.”
That quote made every headline in America. I do know that Cal Raleigh said afterward saying they were good friends, would continue to be good friends, and that it was not a big deal at all.
Cal Raleigh refuses to shake hands with Randy Arozarena >>
Mariners manager Dan Wilson said the same because it was not a big deal. Arozarena was trolling. He was being competitive and theatrical and having fun with it.
Anyone who actually watched the interaction could see that. The players are playing a tournament. They are trash talking. They are competing. That is the whole point.
The difference between what the players understand and what the media manufactures is enormous here. Cal Raleigh is not creating enemies in his clubhouse. He is locked in on winning a World Baseball Classic and refuses to break that focus even for a fist bump with a guy he genuinely likes.
Honestly, that is admirable.
Naylor texted him ahead of time to set it up. That is hilarious. This is the stuff that makes a tournament like this great and it would be nice if it could just be appreciated as such without every outlet rushing to write a story about Mariners clubhouse chemistry.
Julio Rodriguez bats for the Dominican Republic in Sunday’s semifinal. He is also a Mariners teammate. The bit continues.
Raleigh is 0-for-9 with five strikeouts in three WBC games but has four walks, four runs scored, and an RBI. He led the majors with 60 home runs in 2025 and has not hit one yet in this tournament. Team USA needs him to break through against a DR lineup that just mercy-ruled Korea. Sunday night in Miami is the stage to do it.
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