Mariners announce Kevin Mather has resigned as team’s CEO, president
PEORIA, Ariz. — Less than 24 hours after a video of an early February speech/q&a given to the Bellevue Breakfast Rotary Club went viral, featuring an array of controversial and incendiary comments about players in the organization he represents, and less than 12 hours after offering an apology, and promising to make amends to everyone he insulted or offended — a proposition that seemed unlikely and impossible — Kevin Mather resigned his position as the team’s Chief Executive Officer and president effective immediately.
The Mariners announced Mather’s resignation in a statement from team chairman and managing partner John Stanton released to the media at 1 p.m. Monday afternoon.
It read:
“Like all of you, I was extremely disappointed when I learned of Kevin Mather’s recent comments.
“His comments were inappropriate and do not represent our organization’s feelings about our players, staff, and fans.
“There is no excuse for what was said, and I won’t try to make one. I offer my sincere apology on behalf of the club and my partners to our players and fans. We must be, and do, better.
“We have a lot of work to do to make amends, and that work is already underway.
“Kevin Mather has resigned his position effective immediately. I want to thank Kevin for his 25 years of service to our franchise.
“I will serve as acting President and CEO until a successor can be chosen.
“Everyone at the Seattle Mariners remains committed to our mission of winning on the field and serving our fans and communities off the field. We will demonstrate that commitment through our actions.”
The statement was lacking in much detail about an emotional and closely-watched situation that took far longer to be resolved. Stanton held a video press conference that was supposed to start at 2 p.m., but technical difficulties pushed it back by 15 minutes.
Once it finally got started, it seemed clear that Stanton had been blindsided by Mather’s obtuse and objectionable oversharing of information, some of it that was construed as offensive by many fans and some of the team’s own players.
“I first learned that the comments existed from a tweet yesterday late morning, and then got a hold of the Youtube link, and read a transcript,” Stanton said. “I was terribly concerned about that. I talked to Kevin.
And then I talked to a number of other people in our organization, including most of my partners in much of management. I came in this morning and Kevin was prepared to resign. And I accepted his resignation.”