M’s CEO out after video emerges

In one 45-minute conversation, Kevin Mather undermined the Seattle Mariners far beyond being the organization with the longest playoff drought in baseball.

He took insensitive shots at a former All-Star from Japan and a top prospect from the Dominican Republic for their English skills. He admitted to the team possibly manipulating service time for some of its top prospects.

All this from a top executive who once was accused of harassing a female employee and kept his job despite a settlement.

The latest transgression by Mather ended up costing him his position as president and CEO of the Mariners. Mather resigned Monday after video surfaced over the weekend of him expressing his views of the club’s organizational strategy and making insensitive remarks about players during a recent online event.

Mariners Chairman John Stanton announced the decision and said Mather resigned before a decision had to be made whether he’d be fired.

But the choice seemed predetermined as the firestorm over Mather’s comments raged since they were first posted to Twitter on Sunday — which is how Stanton first learned of their existence.

“There were a number of comments made by Kevin that, as I’ve said, didn’t reflect the Mariners, don’t reflect what I believe, what our ownership believes, and were inappropriate,” Stanton said.

Mather, with the team since 1996 and promoted to CEO and team president in 2017, apologized late Sunday after his comments from Feb. 5 made to the Bellevue, Wash., Breakfast Rotary Club were posted online. They were revealing and unfiltered. They were also a stain to a franchise that hasn’t seen the postseason since 2001, has seen fan interest dwindle significantly during a two-decade swoon, and are in the midst of a rebuild.

Mather’s most inflammatory comments were references to top prospect Julio Rodriguez and former star pitcher Hisashi Iwakuma and their grasp of English. Mather said Rodriguez, a 20year-old from the Dominican Republic, didn’t have “tremendous” English.

Mather also complained about the cost associated with having an interpreter for Iwakuma, a former All-Star who pitched a no-hitter for the Mariners and is a current special assistant for the club.

“Wonderful human being — his English was terrible. He wanted to get back into the game, he came to us, we quite frankly want him as our Asian scout/interpreter, what’s going on with the Japanese league. He’s coming to spring training,” Mather said. “And I’m going to say, I’m tired of paying his interpreter. When he was a player, we’d pay Iwakuma ‘X,’ but we’d also have to pay $75,000 a year to have an interpreter with him. His English suddenly got better.”

Stanton said he had talked several times with Commissioner Rob Manfred and MLB released a statement condemning Mather’s comments.

“We condemn Kevin Mather’s offensive and disrespectful comments about several players. We are proud of the international players who have made baseball better through their outstanding examples of courage and determination, and our global game is far better because of their contributions. His misguided remarks do not represent the values of our game and have no place in our sport,” MLB said.

Mather also drew the ire of the players’ union after saying the club would not have top prospects Jarred Kelenic or Logan Gilbert on the major league roster to start the season as a way to manipulate their service time.

“The club’s video presentation is a highly disturbing yet critically important window into how players are genuinely viewed by management. Not just because of what was said, but also because it represents an unfiltered look into club thinking,” the union statement read.

“It is offensive, and it is not surprising that fans and others around the game are offended as well.”

SCOTTSDA LE, A RIZ . » In December 2018, Daniel Murphy signed a two-year, $24 million free-agent deal to become the Rockies’ first baseman.

That didn’t go so well. Now the Rockies — who did not sign a single bigleague free agent this offseason — are trying the economy approach. They signed veterans C.J. Cron, 31, and Greg Bird, 28, to minor league deals in hopes they can play their way onto the team during spring training.

More than once, manager Bud Black has praised Colorado’s decision to sign Cron, who has shown power in his right-handed bat throughout his career.

Cron hit 30 home runs with Tampa in 2018 and 25 with Minnesota in ’19, despite being slowed by a right thumb injury much of the season. Last year with Detroit, however, was a lost season. He hit four home runs in 52 plate appearances before he injured his left knee fielding a grounder and had seasonending surgery to repair his knee cap.

“The Rockies gave me a chance to be an everyday player and I’m super pumped for the opportunity,” Cron said. “The knee is good. I have been clear for a month-and-ahalf now. Up until then it was all rehab, but since then it’s been normal offseason workouts. I’m 100% ready to go.”

This will be the first time Cron, who broke into the majors with the Angels, has played in the National League, meaning he’ll have to prove he’s more than a designated hitter if he’s going to win the job.

“When you’re a young player and you come up playing behind a guy named Albert Pujols, the opportunity isn’t quite going to be there on the defensive side of the ball,” Cron said. “Albert’s a great guy. He helped me a lot, but he played first base, and it’s as simple as that. I’ve been playing OK defense over there for a little while now.”

With the Twins, Cron played first in 117 games and was not used as a DH. In his 17 games with the Tiger last season, Cron played first in 13 games. So he’s not a novice with a first baseman’s glove.

Cardinals’ culture. Former Rockies third baseman Nolan Arenado is quickly adapting to his new team. In an interview with the St. Louis PostDispatch, Arenado spoke about how it felt like he was joining a winning culture in St. Louis after being traded to the Cardinals.

“I want to be a part of a group like this,” Arenado told the Post-Dispatch. “The expectations are high. The fans’ expectations are to get there, to the playoffs. It seems like here, ‘We’re the Cardinals. We should always be there.’ I like that. That’s a cool feeling to be a part of.”

He added: “It’s the culture. You can tell there are certain things that they do every day or guys do every day that’s different. I didn’t know. I know people work hard where I’ve been before. But the way they go about it here is a little different.

“There are a lot of coaches around. There are a lot of trainers around. It’s a different vibe than what I’ve ever seen.”