Mariners CEO Kevin Mather leaked video: The interesting, the bad and the ugly

The not so bad stuff

At the start of the video, you just feel like it is another press conference with normal information. How will the Mariners be this year? What is the timeline of the prospects? Will fans sit in the stadium? Stuff like that.

Mather said, “we’re on the verge of something special.” The Mariners have a loaded farm system that should make the team successful for years to come. The division is also in our favor because the AL West is starting its decline.

The Mariners President also talked about some of the players he’s excited about, including Mitch Haniger, Luis Torrens (Mather did not pronounce his last name correctly), and many others.

We also learned that he hopes to have fans back at T-Mobile Park, and told us they are projecting to have 9,870 fans to start the season.

Mather also shared an anecdote about Marco Gonzales‘ leadership, which makes me even more of a Marco fan. Back in 2019, Mike Leake (who Mather did not name) told a coach “don’t tell me how to throw my bullpens yet.”

After the meeting, Marco and a few other bullpen guys pushed Leake against the locker and said “listen, if you want to be a dick, be a dick, but do it quietly.” So yeah, Marco is a legend.

He also told the club that we will most certainly see Jarred Kelenic, Logan Gilbert, and Taylor Trammell in Seattle this season. With all that being said, you might be asking where is the controversy?

Where are all the bad things that Twitter is talking about? To me, Mather was not explicitly racist and he didn’t brag about signing players at a bargain like some are saying, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t stir the pot. It’s more about his choice of words which could be perceived as racist, and he was extremely blunt.

Let’s dig into it.