Mariners CEO Mather resigns after video comments
Seattle Mariners CEO Kevin Mather resigned Monday after video surfaced over the weekend of him expressing his views of the club’s organizational strategy and opinions about some players.
Mariners chairman John Stanton said Mather’s comments were inappropriate and do not represent the views of the franchise.
Mather’s resignation is effective immediately. Stanton will take on the roles of CEO and team president on an interim basis.
“There is no excuse for what was said, and I won’t try to make one,” Stanton said in a statement. “I offer my sincere apology on behalf of the club and my partners to our players and fans. We must be, and do, better.”
Mather issued an apology late Sunday for his comments, which were made Feb. 5 to the Bellevue, Wash., Breakfast Rotary Club and were posted online over the weekend.
The video posted by the Rotary group was 46 minutes long and touched on areas of the Mariners’ organizational situation going into the 2021 season — many of which Seattle’s front office would rather not be made public.
Mather’s departure seemed inevitable as the firestorm grew over his statements, including comments on the manipulation of service time for some top prospects — Jarred Kelenic and Logan Gilbert — and insensitive comments about international players’ understanding of English.
Mather said Kelenic and Gilbert would not start the season with the Mariners so the club could have longer control before the promising young stars reached free agency. He said another top prospect, Julio Rodriguez, didn’t have “tremendous” English and he complained about the cost associated with having an interpreter for Japanese pitcher Hisashi Iwakuma.