Mariners CEO Kevin Mather, sent in for comments, issues a statement

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Kevin Mather has been the Seattle Mariners team president since 2014. (AP)

The Mariners became one of the main focuses of the baseball world on Sunday when a speech by team president and general manager Kevin Mather came to light at the Feb. 5 Bellevue Breakfast Rotary Club.

The BBRC posted the zoom images of the event on YouTube and shared them on Saturday night on Twitter. The video was withdrawn on Sunday afternoon, but not before copies and transcripts were shared online, including Lookout Landing.

The 45-minute video showed Mather making an initial statement of about 20 minutes and then asking questions from the Zoom audience for the rest of the recording, which ended abruptly. Throughout the program, Mather addressed various issues in a way that provoked the reaction of fans, players, agents and members of the national media.

On Sunday night, the sailors released the following statement from Mather:

I want to apologize to all members of the Seattle Mariners organization, especially our players and our fans. There is no excuse for my behavior and I take full responsibility for my terrible flaw in the trial.

My comments were mine. They do not reflect the views and leadership strategy of Mariners baseball that is responsible for decisions about the development and status of players at all levels of the organization.

Today I have been on the phone most of the day apologizing to the many people I have insulted, hurt or disappointed in speaking at a recent online event.

I agree to rectify the things I have said have been personally harmful and I will do whatever is necessary to repair the damage I have caused to the Seattle Mariners organization.

During the visit with the BBRC, Mather’s initial statement included a summary of how the 2020 pandemic, reduced by the pandemic, affected baseball economically, stating that the sailors performed better than most, but that it was still ” a year down “for the club.

“We were at the end of our rebuilding cycle, so our payroll was as low as it would get,” Mather said. “We also have a TV deal with ROOT Sports, and we’re well above our weight in the TV deal. We had 60 games and, per game, we got a lot more than we probably deserved compared to other TV markets. “A similar economic year, but we did better than most.”

Mather continued to promote the Mariners ’plan to bring in as many young players as they could to their alternate spot at Tacoma last season. In total, 15 potential participants were invited to participate. Since there was no minor league season, this and a small pitching field held in North Carolina were the only ways to get work done to the possible ones. What they would not achieve, however, was the opportunity to join the big club in the league, as Mather revealed in the speech.

“As devastating as 2020 was the development of the players and our improvement, we took risks and incorporated our high-end prospects, we really knew them. They received high-end instruction in Tacoma, ”he said. “The risk was that if our major league team had had a COVID outbreak or injury and we had to call in people from the taxi squad, we would be a little scarce. Because there was no chance of going to see these young players at T-Mobile Park.We wouldn’t put them on the 40-man list, nor would we start the service clock.There were all sorts of reasons why, if we had an injury problem or a COVID outbreak, it’s possible that you would have seen my big belly on the left field. You would not have seen our potential customers playing at T-Mobile Park. “

This, along with comments predicting the MLB debuts of major possible Jarred Kelenic and Logan Gilbert in April, was interpreted as a manipulation of service time, which will surely be a central issue in the upcoming collective bargaining agreements. Between MLB and the MLB Players Association. . These aspects of Mather’s speech caught the attention of at least one player.

Mather garnered praise from several players during the conversation, but in some cases gave ideas that worried those involved.

“Kyle Seager, this is probably his last season as a Mariner,” Mather said of Seattle’s third baseman, who is entering the final year of his contract. “He will do it, and I already told him that it will be a Sailors’ Hall of Fame when he finishes playing. Last year it seemed to find the Font de la Joventut, it had a fantastic year and we expect the same in 2021 ”.

Julie Seager, Kyle’s wife, seemed to be responding to her Twitter account.

Julio Rodríguez’s main prospect took this statement into account very quickly:

“Julio Rodriguez has a bigger personality than everyone else,” Mather said. “She is OK. His English is not tremendous. Everyone says he will be here in 2021. It won’t be until 2022 or 2023. A fantastic kid. We are very big on social media. He loves to go out in front. He loves sailors. And between him and Kelenic, we think we have an away field that will be as good as any other baseball field for the next six or seven years. He is the real business. He’s been taller than Kelenic. “

Notably, Rodriguez is incredibly proud of his English and the Dominican Republic native has come to host “Vibin ‘with JRod,” an interview program on the Mariners’ YouTube channel this winter. Conduct all interviews in English, including this one, thankfully, as the interviewer does not speak Spanish.

Rodriguez wasn’t the only person who treated Mather’s Englishman, who said he “frustrates me” when he started talking about Hisashi Iwakuma, a former All-Star on the team who recently returned to the franchise as a special tasks coach. Mather continued: “For example, we just hired Iwakuma, he was a pitcher with us for several years. Wonderful human being, his English was terrible. I wanted to get back into the game, it came to us, frankly we want it as our Asian explorer, performer, of what’s going on with the Japanese league. Arrive at spring workouts. And I will say that I am tired of paying your interpreter. When he was a player, we paid Iwakuma X, but we also had to pay $ 75,000 a year to have a performer with him. His English suddenly improved, his English improved when we told him that. ”

In addition to previous comments, Mather discussed a six-year contract offer that was rejected by Kelenic, described as “embarrassing” the fact that spring training was not delayed a month and said the torrent Luis Torrens went be repeatedly “Towers.” He also said Torrens along with prospect Cal Raleigh would likely be behind the plate for the Mariners for the next six years, which would probably be disturbing news for Tom Murphy, who only on Saturday expressed his gratitude for the sailors taking out the best after coming from the Rocky Mountains.

Discussing a potential signing of James Paxton or Taijuan Walker (both players were still free agents when the speech occurred) is great information that was certainly appreciated by the intended audience. Admitting that the sailors “had taken the position that there are still 180 free agents on February 5 unsigned and sooner or later these players will return the hat and come with the hat in hand, in search of a contract “. are words no player would appreciate, though.

Participating in events such as the Rotary Breakfast is not uncommon for Mariners executives or office members. It is an opportunity to connect with the community and thus generate goodwill and interest. While extra information or inside information is often shared at these events, a little information can go a long way. In the case of the February 5 speech, Mather not only by his own admission needed to apologize to numerous people, but he overstepped the bounds of what would be beneficial to the organization. Due to the reaction seen on Sunday online, a lot of damage has been done.

The sailors are expected to issue a statement Monday morning.

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