Seattle Mariners CEO Kevin Mather resigns following controversial comments

Kevin Mather, whose startling comments about service-time suppression, foreign-born players' English skills and the inner workings of the Seattle Mariners roiled the baseball industry, resigned as the team's president and CEO on Monday, according to club chairman John Stanton.

Mather, 58, made the comments during a Feb. 5 virtual meeting with the Bellevue (Washington) Breakfast Rotary Club, and they were unearthed from YouTube by a Mariners fan Sunday. 

By day's end, top Mariners prospect Julio Rodriguez tweeted his dissatisfaction with a comment criticizing his bilingual acumen, and the flap also resurfaced complaints of harassment Mather faced as club executive vice president in 2009 and 2010. 

Come Monday, his seven-year reign as club president was over.

"His comments were inappropriate and do not represent our organizations' feelings about our players, staff and fans," Stanton said in a statement. "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 can, and must, do better." 

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Stanton, who took control of the Mariners in 2016, said he will serve as acting president and CEO until a successor is chosen.

Stanton said in a video call with news media that Mather submitted his resignation Monday morning, and while he did not specify whether a severance package was agred upon, did confirm that Mather retains his small ownership stake in the franchise.

Mathr's resignation ends a brief but turbulent news cycle after his unusually candid remarks surfaced. Most notably, he admitted the club did and will suppress the service time of young players – a long-utilized but never officially acknowledged maneuver among major league teams – such as outfielder Jarred Kelenic and pitcher Logan Gilbert.

"There was no chance you were going to see them at T-Mobile Park," he said of a gaggle of elite prospects who were in the club's player pool during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season.

The Major League Baseball Players' Assn. issued a statement terming Mather's comments "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...

"Players remain committed to confronting these issues at the bargaining table and elsewhere." 

Indeed, Mather's comments provided an unexpected backdrop to what were already expected to be contentious negotiations over a new collective bargaining agreement; the current deal expires Dec. 1, and players are expected to seek significant changes to the way they are paid, with an eye toward countering the service-time suppression methods Mather outlined.

"I'm glad it's out there in the public now," said Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo, "and people can see how it is.''

Stanton said Mather would not have been in position to determine whether Kelenic or any player would make the opening-day roster, that those decisions rest with general manager Jerry Dipoto and manager Scott Servais. The context of Mather's comments, however, seemed to suggest his information was coming from conversations with people with direct knowledge of such decisions.

Mather worked for the Mariners in various roles since 1996, joining the club from the Minnesota Twins. The Mariners have not made the playoffs since 2001, the longest playoff drought in major North American sports.

His departure leaves Stanton in the position of mending fences, beginning with a Tuesday flight from Seattle to Phoenix, where he plans to meet, at the least, with Kelenic, Rodriguez and veteran Kyle Seager, who Mather said was "probably overpaid" as he rambled on about the franchise.

Stanton also spoke twice Monday with MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred, who also had details of a conversation with Mather disseminated to the Rotary virtual gathering.

"Kevin’s comments did not reflect the values of this organization," Stanton said. "In terms of building trust going forward, you build trust over time, by communicating honestly, consistently and doing it in a way that’s able to meet both the players and the fans (expectations). 

"The entire commentary reflected a number of views that were not consistent with the Mariners organization."