SEATTLE – Seattle Mariners general manager Jerry Dipoto and manager Scott Servais began to reconcile with the players directly named by former president and CEO Kevin Mather in a video posted online. Social and that led to his dismissal.
The message from the past two days to those affected was: they have every right to be offended.
“We are very open to the players and we ask them the same. If they want to be angry, they should be. They should be offended, ” Dipoto admitted on Tuesday. “But at the same time they are collectively motivated by what we want to do as a team.”
The video, released this weekend, shows Mather voicing his views on the team’s management strategy and making controversial comments about some players. In a virtual conference call, he spoke disparagingly about Japanese Hisashi Iwakuma, a former pitcher, and Dominican candidate Julio Rodríguez, for their command of the English language. He also admitted that the team was manipulating the service time of other young players.
Mather apologized on Sunday and abruptly resigned the next day, but not before shaking the foundations of the organization that began training in Arizona.
Dipoto and Servais are angry.
“I’m ashamed that this is the way they see us because for those who have been with me or with Scott or the team, it’s not how we do things,” Dipoto said. “It’s a shame to be cataloged or treated with the stigma we are in now, and we have to get rid of it. It is something that we will have to adopt and we have to take responsibility for it and find a way to grow and overcome it ”.
Seattle-based starting pitcher Marco Gonzales said Tuesday after the first full-team practice session that players are upset about the comments and annoyed by the distraction.
Gonzales indicated that players see Mather’s comments as the opinion of one person, “who is not close to us. He’s not throwing the ball here. He doesn’t hit here. “
Mather’s most inflammatory remark was about the English language of Iwakuma and Julio Rodríguez.
Servais mentioned his experiences in the winter competitions in the Dominican Republic and Venezuela, and the Mariners’ expedition to Japan to kick off the season two years ago.
‘That opened your eyes. Then you really understand what foreign players have to go through. Not just in communicating, but also in understanding how to play at the highest level, “said Servais.” No one appreciates that more than I do and it is something I take with great sensitivity. “
Mather also angered the players’ union by saying that neither Jarred Kelenic nor Logan Gilbert will be on the Major League team on day one as a way of maintaining control over the long term.
Those comments in particular drew backlash from the rest of the major leagues, and Dipoto noted that it’s a stigma the Mariners will have to accept.
“Every player should be aware of the news of the Mariners man,” said Gerrit Cole, one of eight players on the New York Yankees executive subcommittee, “unfortunately, and many clubs discuss that (the “manipulating the service time.) That’s how many clubs behave. This is a guy who talks about players making money. The product is the people he talks so badly about.
Both Servais and Dipoto assured that the decisions on the roster had not been made and that the plans for Kelenic and Gilbert were revealed and communicated to both players.
“All of our players know their direction, what their development plan is like, and we share it very directly,” said Dipoto.