SEATTLE – Seattle Mariners general manager Jerry Dipoto and manager Scott Servais set about reconciling with players who were mentioned directly by former president and CEO Kevin Mather in a video that goes be posted on social media and that led to his resignation.
The message in the last two days to those affected has been: they have every right to feel offended.
“We are very open with the players and we ask them the same thing. If they want to be angry, they should be. They should feel insulted,” Dipoto admitted on Tuesday. “But at the same time, they are collectively motivated by what we want to do as a team.”
The video, which was released over the weekend, shows Mather expressing his opinion on the team’s management strategy and making controversial comments about some players. In a virtual conference, he spoke contemptuously of the Japanese Hisashi Iwakuma, 1 ex-launcher, and the Dominican prospect Julio Rodriguez, for his command of the English language. He also admitted that the team manipulated the service time of other young players.
Mather apologized Sunday and abruptly resigned the next day, but not without first shaking the foundations of the organization that began its training in Arizona.
Dipoto and Servais are angry.
“I’m ashamed that this is the way they see us, because for those who have been with me or with Scott or the team, it’s not how we do things,” Dipoto assured. “It’s a shame they catalog you or deal with the stigma we’re in now and we have to get rid of it. It’s something we have to take on and we have to take responsibility for that and find a way to grow and overcome it “.
Seattle opening pitcher Marc Gonzales has indicated, after the first training session with the full team on Tuesday, that the players are upset about the comments and irritated by the distraction.
Gonzales indicated that the players see Mather’s comments as the opinion of a single person, “who is not close to us. He is not here throwing the ball. He is not here batting.”
Mather’s most incendiary comment was on the English language of Iwakuma and Julio Rodriguez.
Servais mentioned his experiences in the winter leagues of the Dominican Republic and Venezuela, and the Mariners’ expedition to Japan to start the season two years ago.
“That opened your eyes. That’s when you really understand what foreign players have to go through. Not just communicating, but understanding how to play at the highest level,” Servais said. “No one values this more than me and it’s something I take with a lot of sensitivity. “
Mather also angered the players’ union by saying that neither Jarred Kelenic nor Logan Gilbert will be on the Major League team on the first day as a way to maintain control in the long run.
These comments in particular generated reactions in the rest of the Major Leagues, and Dipoto stressed that it is a stigma that the Mariners will have to assimilate.
“Every player needs to be aware of the type of Mariners with the news,” said New York Yankees ace Gerrit Cole, one of eight players on the union’s executive subcommittee. “There are a lot of clubs that discuss this (manipulating service time), unfortunately, and that’s how a lot of clubs act. This is a guy talking about players who make money. The product is the people he talks about so badly. something that infuriates “.
Both Servais and Dipoto assured that no decisions have been made about the roster and that the plans for Kelenic and Gilbert were exposed and communicated to both players.
“All of our players know what their address is, what their development plan is, and we’re very direct to share it,” Dipoto said.