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

The “what did you say?” moments

I don’t know where Kevin Mather learned this, but he certainly knows how to piss off people. One of the first things I immediately caught was when he called Kyle Seager “overpaid.”

Like why? Why was that necessary? In what world is that a good thing to say publicly?

Kyle Seager has been the heart and soul of the Seattle Mariners this decade and you want to call him overpaid? It’s funny because Mather even acknowledged that Seager would be a Mariners Hall of Fame member, and appreciated his tremendous attitude and dedication to Seattle.

The aftermath:

Oh, and by the way, Kevin Mather felt like commenting on Julio Rodriguez‘s English. Out of all things, you wanted to critique his English?

Mather was asked about J-Rod and one of the first things he said was his “English isn’t tremendous.” He didn’t even mention how good J-Rod is on the field. Mather also said he has a big personality, he is loud, and he is friends with Kelenic.

Again, why? Here’s Julio’s response:

It’s definitely a little unsettling that the Mariners President is talking about one of the brightest prospects in this way. Another hot topic Mariners fans are digging into is his comment on Hisashi Iwakuma. Apparently paying $75,000 for an interpreter is too much.

“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 suddenly got better, his English got better when we told him that!”

Just prior to that, he also said Iwakuma is a “wonderful human being, his English was terrible.” Like why is that necessary? Is that the first thing that popped up in his mind? Hisashi Iwakuma could be a Mariners Hall of Famer and that’s what you have to say? I don’t get it.

One last thing, which I also thought was sort of funny was when he was talking about the pandemic. “We talked to the national health officials. I’m not supposed to say his name, but the commissioner talked to Dr. Fauci.”

Mather literally said, I’m not supposed to say his name, and proceeds to name Dr. Fauci. I chuckled.