Please, not another Tom Hanks movie reference! I contemplated as to whether I should write the following column. It is not about the Dodgers, but it does reflect on how stupid some can be in a position at the highest level in a MLB organization. This issue is going to be heavily considered in the upcoming CBA negotiations, so it is important from a MLB standpoint.
The Seattle Mariners are now the only MLB team never to have competed in a World Series. They are also the team with the longest postseason drought in all of professional sports. Is it any wonder when they hire and continue to employ people like Kevin Mather? He is not just an executive with the Mariners, he is President and CEO. In other words, he is the Stan Kasten of the Seattle Mariners. In title only, certainly not in character or class.
In a video call with the Bellevue Breakfast Rotary Club on February 5, Mather absolutely obliterated his ability to being an effective executive for any organization, much less one with as much diversity as a ML sports franchise. You thought the relationship between ownership and MLBPA was bad before…you ain’t seen nothing yet.
Mather was a central figure in a storyline about inappropriate behavior towards women in the workplace in 2009-2010. The complaints led to $500K financial settlements. The three women involved left their positions with the organization, but the three executives kept their jobs, and two were later promoted. One of the three executives was Kevin Mather.
This is not a rehash of the harassment of the three women (which was bad enough), but to report on the continued stupidity of the Mariners and the February 5 video call. Who would have guessed that Kevin Mather would go on to embarrass himself, the Seattle Mariners organization and MLB all in one 45 minute video call.
First to the truly insensitive comments Mather made to a pair of international personnel with English as their second language. Mather disparaged former Japanese SP Hisashi Iwakuma (now a scout) because he needed an interpreter (how dare him), and ridiculed a top prospect, 20 year old Dominican OF, Julio Rodriguez, because of his poor English. Never mind the fact that JRod is proudly trying to communicate in English as a 20 year old with English as his second language. He should be commended and applauded for what he is trying to accomplish. However, Mather commented as follows:
Julio Rodríguez has got a personality bigger than all of you combined. He is loud, his English is not tremendous.
I do think he was trying to be respectful, but what did he really mean about personality bigger than all of you combined? And did he really need the second line? Is he expounding on his first line by saying he is egotistical and loud with poor English? Why not say he is a great young prospect with a lot of confidence? Why bring his English into the equation? It has no reflection on JRod as a player.
I have been on numerous Zoom Press Conferences with Spanish speaking players. Most know English well enough to communicate, but some are not comfortable. I have never heard Julio Urias speak without an interpreter, and he provides answers only in Spanish. I have never been offended. Because it is not a concern for me, I do not remember if Victor Gonzalez or Brusdar Graterol only communicate with the Press through an interpreter. Edwin Rios and Kike’ always communicated in English except when a Spanish speaking journalist questioned them in Spanish. Then they would always respond in Spanish. I cannot imagine any Dodger official being upset about their English communication skills.
Just how proud is JRod about his English?
Now who better represents the Seattle Mariners organization, JRod or Kevin Mather?
Specifically, Mather had this to say about Iwakuma:
“For instance, we just rehired Iwakuma; he was a pitcher with us for a number of years. Wonderful human being; his English was terrible,” Mather said. “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.
“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 got better when we told him that.”
I may be naïve, but I do not recall any questioning of either Kenta Maeda or Hyun-jin Ryu for always requiring an interpreter. Even when English is your first language, often times the speaker misspeaks or is misunderstood. Imagine non-English speaking people. From an organizational position, how might his comments affect players they may want to sign from the NPB or KBO?
But Mather’s stupidity did not stop with Iwakuma and Rodriguez. He went on to say that LHSP Marco Gonzalez was “boring”. What would he have considered Corey Seager, Gavin Lux, Cody Bellinger, AJ Pollock, and others on the Dodgers roster. I have heard journalists consider them boring, but never the team executive. Who denigrates his own players this way?
He said the following about Mitch Haniger.
“Mitch Haniger was an All-Star in 2018, was off to a great start in 2019, had a devastating injury, has been out for 19 and 20.”
“He’s healthy, he’s in the best shape of his life, he’ll be in right field and I have no doubt an All-Star in 2021. Mitch Haniger has a little bit of a chip on his shoulder as we talk about our prospects and these young kids. He’s mentioned more than once, what about me?”
He started off great. Why did he feel a need to add the last two sentences? What was his purpose?
Mather told his audience that their 3B Kyle Seager is overpaid. First of all, he is not overpaid. A very commonly used calculation to determine the financial value of a player is fWAR. For many years, Fangraphs has identified a fair value of salary per 1 WAR. Currently that value rests at a little more than $8MM per each WAR. Since Seager signed his 7 year $100MM contract, for the last six years, his fWAR was 18.4 with a fValue of $147.7MM for six of the seven years. He has already justified his contract without the 7th year. If he has a 1.8 or greater fWAR, he will justify his $14.285MM AAV, and with a 2.1 fWAR, he will justify his actual $18MM salary. He should be able to cover that easily. But if he truly believed it, why would he comment on a player being overpaid on a Rotary Club video conference?
I do not recall any executive indicating that the player is underpaid during his pre-arbitration or early arbitration years. For 2011-2013, Seager was paid $1,408,700, and generated a fWAR of 8.6 or fValue of $60.4MM. Explain to me again how overpaid Kyle Seager is?
Mather went on to say how unappreciative (my interpretation) that top OF prospect, Jarred Kelenic, was in turning down a long term deal before he reached MLB, similar to the deal that signed Evan White signed. Evan White was a top 60 prospect when he was offered a 6 year $24MM deal, and he accepted, even after MLBPA advised him not to. He quickly became a favorite of Mather’s. Mather went on to say, that had Kelenic accepted the contract, Jarred would have made the 2021 MLB roster out of ST. Now both he and Logan Gilbert (SP) will be held out long enough in April to gain an extra year of control. Most teams do this, but no team comes right out and tells everyone that is what they are going to do, and yet Mather felt no problem making such a claim. After this incident, I would not be at all surprised to see both Kelenic and Gilbert on the opening day roster.
The man is just STUPID. The MLBPA has been all over the owners for service time manipulation, and the owners have always defended their reasons for promoting their players when they did. It was never stated that it was due to gain an extra year (wink wink), but everyone knew what was happening. But now a President and CEO of a ML team has come right out and said so. Josh Donaldson thanked Mather for telling everyone what they already knew.
Mather resigned his position with the Mariners on February 21, and issued the following apology:
“I want to apologize to every member of the Seattle Mariners organization, especially our players and to our fans. There is no excuse for my behavior, and I take full responsibility for my terrible lapse in judgment,” Mather’s statement said. “My comments were my own. They do not reflect the views and strategy of the Mariners baseball leadership who are responsible for decisions about the development and status of the players at all levels of the organization.”
“I’ve been on the phone most of the day today apologizing to the many people I have insulted, hurt, or disappointed in speaking at a recent online event,” he added. “I am committed to make amends for the things I said that were personally hurtful and I will do whatever it takes to repair the damage I have caused to the Seattle Mariners organization.”
Of course Mather represents the views and strategies of the Mariners baseball leadership. Would anyone believe that what Stan Kasten says is not reflective of the Dodgers organization? It isn’t only Mather who will be held accountable, but the Mariners organization has a lot of damage control.
The MLBPA issued the following statement:
“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.”
“It is offensive, and it is not surprising that fans and others around the game are offended as well. Players remain committed to confronting these issues at the bargaining table and elsewhere. “
Mather must have p***** off a lot of owners with his statement, giving MLBPA all the ammunition they need to favorably negotiate (MLBPA) service time manipulation.
Statement from MLB:
“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.”
Seattle Mariners Chairman and Managing Partner John Stanton statement:
Why he wasn’t dismissed on February 5 is a question that HAS to be answered by John Stanton. How many buy that Stanton was not made aware of the Video Call comments immediately. Why did it take publicly breaking the story for Stanton to respond. If he was not aware of the comments, I think it speaks volumes about how poor the communication is operating in the Mariners organization. Nobody speaks as Mather did without it getting back to the “boss”. Stanton left a lot of doubters after his 02-22-2021 press conference. The Mariners have a long way to go to reclaim their respectability.
Discussion (39)
Disagree, not disagreeable
I’m guessing Kim Ng won’t offer Mather a job.
Mather and Biden sound like clones…or at least family
I think we should treat each other kindly and with love, and if you don’t I’ll beat the hell outta’ you!
😉
A lot of guys being picked off of the waiver wire so far. And a lot of guys getting DFA’d. I believe that people today are way to sensitive. You see it all the time. My thing is that I am pretty blunt. I believe in freedom of speech and will usually say what is on my mind. I do try to consider who I am talking to at the time. But there are times when emotions get the better of me and I just let it all go. But I do not say much on social media. It comes back at you from people you do not even know. I have been put in Facebook jail maybe 4 times for things they deemed inappropriate. But I am not a public figure. Someone in that position should measure their words carefully because it is really easy to dig a hole you cannot climb out of,
Freedom of speech as long as you agree with me!
That roster prediction on the Dodgers home page doesn’t have Tony Gonsolin making the roster. I guarantee Doc is going to need Gonsolin for the bullpen.
Carry an extra pitcher or release Joe Kelly.
There is racism, but many people play the race card on everything. I was recently called a racist on Facebook. I have very rarely been called that and never by a person of color, but my response was as follows:
Real racism is the province of a small cohort of uncomplicated knuckle-draggers whose presence is overstated by the ax-grinding, “identity politics” crowd. That’s racism on the Right. For this context, that’s all I will address. Calling someone Racist is a powerful, compelling descriptor, but I believe the use of it derails conversations by inviting frustrating, unhelpful digressions about the inner workings of people’s hearts — by insisting on it. In my opinion, calling someone a racist is tantamount to a drive-by shooting. The term is used as a crutch for a weak argument, obfuscates the truth, and ends the ability to reach any common ground. It immediately puts the other side on the defensive and prevents any commonality. People of all colors can say things that others deem racist, but in many cases, it is simply an opinion.
Saying something someone else deems racist, does not make a person a racist. One side has now moved religious and political disagreements down to a level when it is good versus evil. They are good and the rest of us are evil. If someone called me racist, I would not even respond, except to maybe say “I am sorry you feel that way.” It does no good to deny it. They said it, you are evil and they feel good that they are good. I think politicians should learn a new word – society is not better for overuse of it.”
Nice post, Jeff! I agree. My clinical diagnosis is ‘idiot!’ And while I do follow DodgerPatch’s argument about virtue signaling and teachable moments, I think the question is, do we want to leave this guy in a responsible position? He’s done a lot of damage already. My impression is that this is more than ‘foot in mouth disease.’ I can sympathize with the idea that we should be compassionate and give people second chances. I’m not here to judge him, but I think he’s made a mess, and it’s best for baseball and the people that he insulted that we just move on. And the biggest idiot, in my opinion, is the guy who promoted him.
I’ve said this before, but some of the GMs/CEOs are just not very bright. Amazing they reach the levels they do. His words obviously hurt baseball moving forward. Probably adds fuel to the fire as we approach baseball Armageddon. Words matter. Actions matter.
But whether others say it or not, probably describes how some franchises approach this.
Hey, Clueless in Seattle works, Jeff. Makes for a good headline.
Mather’s comments were stupid and insensitive especially for a man in his position. I also think dodgerpatch makes some excellent points like “We draw energy from being outraged – all the time”.
Clueless in Seattle is true. The Mariners have been a dumpster fire with the exception of 1995 to 2003, when the had a great collection of player like Griffey, Martinez, Randy Johnson, Buhner, Wilson and others. And as these players aged there was practically no movement in their minor leagues and they ended up with few prospects. Griffey and Pinella saw the handwriting on the wall and bailed. They have never recovered and having inept GM’s like Jack Zduriencik didn’t help. They were owned by Nintendo from 92 to 2016 where the when they went from good to hopeless. I was in the owner of Ninetendo’s suite behind home plate at Safeco. The story was, since he didn’t like to fly, the owner had never been there. Never attended a game.
Jerry Dipoto, one of the latest young slick “genius” GM’s has done little more that set the record for trades since he took over in 2015. He’s in his 3rd rebuild in 6 years. We Dodger fans sometimes forget how lucky we are.
That needs to get changed in the new CBA negotiations! Ridiculous!
Interesting article Jeff.
Kevin Mather harmed the Seattle franchise with his insensitive and controversial statements. As President of the organization he needs to exercise much better judgement, and he also appears to have a history of questionable actions in the past. His resignation was required due to his poor decisions and damage done to the Mariner franchise.
I also appreciate the comments made by dodgerpatch. We are quick to overreact with outrage when we disagree with another’s opinions or statements. Mr. Mather and other executives would be better served to limit any public interaction, and when necessary stick with scripted comments. Andrew Friedman makes very limited public comments, and when he does every answer is diplomatic.
In terms of the allegations of “service time manipulation” by Mather, I think those allegations are overblown, especially related to Kelenic. Jarred Kelenic is 21, the #4 rated MLB prospect, and was paid a signing bonus of $4.5 million in 2018. He has only played 21 games in AA where he hit .253. He has never played a game in AAA. It appears that he played at the alternate site in 2020 for the Mariners, but there is no info on his performance. Since he has only played 21 games above A ball, it is perfectly reasonable to start him in AA or AAA this year. Mather said that Kelenic would probably start in AAA ball and possibly be called up in a month. In the transcript I saw, Mather did not say if Kelenic had signed an extension he would have certainly been in MLB. And in any case, how Kelenic performs in spring training this year will have an impact on where he starts the season. But based on Kelenic’s performance to date, it is perfectly reasonable for him to start the season in the minor leagues.
The Jays have sent 1B Ryan Noda to the Dodgers to complete the Stripling trade. Noda, 25 has spent 3 years in the Jays organization none above class A. He has 40 homers over those 3 seasons including 33 in the last 2. His BA is .272, and his OPS a pretty decent .422 and a OPS of .900. He strikes out a lot, but also walks a lot too. Probably ticketed for AA Tulsa.
Mlb.com article has Beaty making the OD roster, citing his ability to play OF.
I don’t know.
Taylor & Lux will basically share 2b, leaving Barnes, Rios & McKinstry the other bench guys.
The final spot will go to one of:
1. Beaty–known commodity; decent stick
2. A 9th reliever–especially early on
3. Neuse–RH bat is tempting
4. Raley/Reks/Peters–longshots
5. New Addition–athletic OF would be nice
There’s no way Walter O’Malley would’ve made it as an owner in our current culture. To say we are hypervigilant in looking for things to be offended over is an understatement. We draw energy from being outraged – all the time. It’s like an adrenaline drug and, long term, a culture can’t survive off of it.
I’m annoyed by the whole incident for a different reason. People can be wrong. People are allowed to say stupid things. Smart people are allowed to disagree with them and correct them in an open way without an extreme emotional overreaction – and without the offender having his life destroyed. In an ideal world, perhaps those blunt people who say off-the-cuff things that are often stupid reflect somewhat on what they said. Perhaps they understand that they were wrong. It becomes, as a former President once said, a “teachable moment.” That’s how a healthy society evolves. A society that lives in constant moral panic and fear over any violation of the new social justice religious rules is repressive and retrograde.
” I do think he was trying to be respectful, but what did he really mean about personality bigger than all of you combined?”
I don’t know, and I think trying to parse through the mangled sentence of some buffoon talking buffoonishly in an attempt to decipher the hidden racial undertones is just a waste of mental energy. Unfortunately, this is what we do now. He was just stupid. He absolutely chose the wrong venue to make off-the-cuff statements. He probably needs to go just because the contract comments have now poisoned the whole relationship between the union and the owners and have given the union leverage in the perpetual owner/player adversarial relationship. I don’t want to waste my energy with performative outrage, though, and I had to stop reading a Fangraphs column because it became an exercise in virtue signaling. Mather is just an idiot.
This cancel culture isn’t exactly new, by-the-way, and, although the power has shifted more to one side, it’s been in practice by both political sides.
This reminded me of a couple of things when I was young in the 80s. Al Campanis was fired for saying things that were arguably more egregious. On the one hand, it’s a pity that a person’s baseball life, his whole legacy, is ruined by a single comment in a single interview by a question that took him by surprise. It’s also, in my mind, a pity that it wasn’t used as an opportunity for that “teachable moment.”
I don’t think Al Campanis was malicious, or a racist in the traditional ugly sense. He didn’t hold people of other races in contempt. He did certainly have bias and assumptions that, when applied to baseball’s prevailing culture, was and/or is an impediment to the advancement of black or Hispanic former players to executive positions. That incident could’ve created the opportunity for an open discussion without angry retribution. Black players, coaches and front office people could’ve shared their experiences with the road blocks they’ve encountered. There could’ve been reconciliation and more constructive change. Campanis, maybe like George Wallace, could’ve changed his opinion and actually admitted he was wrong, not out of coercion, but sincerely. Progress. Instead, he died most likely a broken man, and the racial tension can just got kicked down the road, making it worse.
There was another incident that happened about the same time. The Pistons and Celtics were in the middle of a playoff series, and a reporter asked Isiah Thomas a question about Larry Bird. I don’t remember the exact phrasing, but I remember he was asked if he thought Larry Bird was overrated because he was a white player that played in a league of predominantly black players. I personally liked Thomas. He was a thoughtful, almost quiet personality, and it took him a few moments to think about the question and offer a response. He agreed. He believed Bird got favorable press because he was white.
People wouldn’t bat an eye now, but that spurred a lot controversy in 1988 or so. He was forced to offer an apology. That made me angry. That was his opinion. He wasn’t trying to be offensive. He was being honest. Although I disagreed with him about Bird, I believed he was entitled to his opinion. Again, it could’ve presented the opportunity for a more thoughtful discussion on the subject.
I suppose you can make the same argument with Kaepernick, but I think his is a slightly different case.
A culture that is driven by fragile people’s capacity to be offended is not progressive, it’s regressive.
Excellent article Jeff. Took me right back to when Al Campanis basically ruined his reputation and his career. Sometimes you have to wonder why people who are supposedly intelligent absolutely torpedo themselves either on social media or TV.
When I worked in the oil fields back at age 21 I gave two weeks notice to quit to move from that state (Wyoming back to California) and during those 14 days another worker got fired for lying on his application and they gave him two weeks pay. I got my two weeks pay but I was on the job those two weeks. Since then I’ve kept my departing to myself hoping that I get fired. That’s not really true as I have worked for some who I had great respect for.
Sadly I’ve stated things that were taken wrongly hurting feelings and having to explain my meaning through my lens which were spoken by me as a compliment. Also sometimes words evolve to meaning the opposite of their original meaning. I claim to being a fan of baseball but do not claim to being a baseball fanatic.
Nice read, AC. Thanks. Sounds like Mather could give the Angel owner a good run for his money as an effective executive. If Seattle does not want or appreciate Kyle Seager, I would love the Dodgers to have him.
There are only two things wrong with Kevin Mather:
1. Everything he says; and
2. Everything he does.
I bet Iwakuma and Rodriguez’s English is far better than Mathers Japanese or Spanish.
As Forrest’s mom said. Stupid is as stupid does! Just makes you appreciate what we have with the Dodgers!