Megan Turner
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Seattle Mariners president and CEO Kevin Mather issued an apology Sunday night after a video of controversial remarks he made to the Bellevue Breakfast Rotary Club earlier this month surfaced on YouTube — he resigned Monday.
The comments were recorded on a video conference that was uploaded to YouTube and gained attention on social media over the weekend.
Mather made remarks criticizing his own players’ English skills, called a player overpaid, got the name of one of the team’s prospects wrong, trashed the facilities of their own Class-A affiliate, and admitted to manipulating the service time of the team’s prospects, according to Yahoo Sports.
He apologized on Sunday night and reiterated his comments were his own and do not reflect the organization, but resigned on Monday.
“Kevin Mather has resigned his position effective immediately,” a statement from Mariners chairman and managing partner John Stanton reads. “I want to thank Kevin for his 25 years of service to our franchise.”
The Major League Baseball Players Association released a statement Monday afternoon condemning Mather’s remarks as well.
“The club’s video presentation is a highly disturbing yet critically important window into how players are genuinely viewed by management,” the statement reads. “Not just because of what was said, but also because it represents an unfiltered look into club thinking.”
Stanton will serve as acting president and CEO until a successor can be chosen, he said in the statement.
Sounds like he was liquored up…
That’s not that bad. I thought he called someone a faggot or something. Nothing burger.
Geez, he didn’t even say, “These words are not truly reflective of who I am as a person.” He actually owned up to it. Good on him.
Lol fucking snowflake culture again
Help me out here. Which one of those statements was so offensive that he needed to resign?
I’m at a loss myself. Can’t figure this world out anymore
Here is the statement that would have gotten him a “Person of the Year Award” in Seattle.
“Spanish is a beautiful language and should be included as an official language of the United States, All MLB players should only speak Spanish while on the field, in our training facilities, and at all public events.”
We don’t like paying extra for an interpreter. Ok
We held this guy back because it makes us more money/costs us less money over time. Ok
This guy doesn’t speak very good English. Ok
Mather probably doesn’t speak very good Spanish or Japanese either. Nor do I.
Hmmm. A company in business makes business decisions. How dare they talk about such things. I’m clutching my pearls right now.