Seattle Mariners general manager Jerry Dipoto and manager Scott Servais do harm reduction with players directly named or referenced by former team president and CEO Kevin Mather in an online video that led to his resignation.
The message from the past two days to those affected was: you have every right to be upset.
“We are very open with our players and urge them to be the same. And if they want to be angry, they should be honest. They should be insulted,” Dipoto said on Tuesday. “But at the same time they are collectively driven towards what we are trying to do here as a team.”
In the video posted this weekend, Mather expressed his views on the club’s organizational strategy and made controversial comments about players for the Bellevue, Washington, Rotary Club on Feb. 5. He took insensitive photos with a former All-Star from Japan and a topper. prospect from the Dominican Republic for their English skills. He also admitted that the team could be manipulating service time for some of its young players.
Mather apologized on Sunday and abruptly resigned the next day, but not before poking fun at the organization when they started full-squad workouts in Arizona.
Dipoto and Servais are both angry.
“I’m ashamed that this is the way we are viewed because for those of you who have been with me, Scott or this team, this is not how we are wired,” Dipoto said. “It’s embarrassing to be categorized or deal with the stigma we’re stuck with now, and we have to throw it off. It’s up to us to bear and we have to be accountable for that now, and then find a way to grow beyond it. “
Mather’s most inflammatory remarks were about the English skills of former All-Star pitcher Hisashi Iwakuma and top players Julio Rodriguez and drew the strongest reactions from Dipoto and Servais.
Servais was referring to his winter baseball experiences in the Dominican Republic and Venezuela and the Mariners’ season opening to Japan two years ago.
“It’s an eye-opener. You really appreciate what foreign players have to go through. Not just communicate, but then try to figure out how to play the game at the highest level,” said Servais. “So nobody appreciates it more than I do and it is a subject that I am very sensitive to.”
Mather undermined strategy on the baseball side by admitting that the team may have manipulated service time for top players Jarred Kelenic and Logan Gilbert. Mather also revealed information about contract negotiations with Kelenic and pitcher James Paxton, calling veteran Kyle Seager “ overpaid. ”
Mather angered the MLB Players Association by saying that neither Kelenic nor Gilbert would be with the Major League club on opening day as a way to maintain club control longer.
But Servais and Dipoto said no roster decisions have been made and plans for Kelenic and Gilbert have been set out and communicated to both.
“All of our players are aware of what their path is, what their development plan is like, and we are very direct in the way we share it,” said Dipoto.
Servais said he met several players mentioned directly by Mather.
“I would say the temperature was very high with some of the guys who were definitely called their names for a number of different reasons,” Servais said. “It was not surprising at all. But I feel very good in this group and I am proud of the way they have handled things so far. We could talk about this all day and our players will keep things good way. “