Mariners players responses to Kevin Mather were fantastic

There were some alarming things Kevin Mather said, especially towards Mariners players. It left many fans worried about how players would react, and whether it affected their views on the overall organization.

Luckily, some of the players have taken Mather’s statements rather well and even joked around (except for one in recent developments). I am not saying Mather’s statements weren’t awful (they most definitely were), but what I am saying is player reactions could have been a lot worse (e.g. I want to be traded).

Marco Gonzales’ response

It’s interesting because Marco was praised for his leadership during Kevin Mather’s talk, but he was also called “very boring.” To be quite fair, there are a couple of ways it could be interpreted.

1. Marco is a boring person (probably the way most people saw it)
2. Marco’s pitching is boring (like he doesn’t throw 100mph)

Regardless, those words shouldn’t have come out of Kevin Mather’s mouth.

In response, our ace had a little fun with it. He updated his Twitter bio to “Very boring.” 

Now that is funny! And I am glad Marco did it. He also told reporters this:

I am sure deep down Marco Gonzales was a little shook but the way he responded says a lot about who he is, and where he is. Marco could have easily cussed out the whole organization or demand a trade, but he didn’t.

Julio Rodriguez’ response

Mather’s take on Julio Rodriguez was one of the most shocking things said during the video. For some reason, instead of praising J-Rod, he decided to comment on his English. I don’t remember Mather even discussing J-Rod’s on-field talent and potential.

As a young, active on Twitter, hilarious character, Julio had to pull out a meme.

https://twitter.com/J_RODshow/status/1363597321217314818?s=20

He also posted this a few minutes before the classic Michael Jordan meme.

https://twitter.com/J_RODshow/status/1363596424957419524?s=20

To say the least, the Mariners dodged a huge bullet. Like Marco, Rodriguez had a little fun with Mather’s lame comment and he’s going to turn into motivation. Maybe Marco is right, the bad guys can be better motivation than a common goal.

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Jarred Kelenic’s response

So, Jarred Kelenic might be the exception to the awesome responses to Kevin Mather (from a fan perspective).

Fans have just generally been a little worried about Jarred Kelenic since he has been posting things like I’ve “Been ready” on Twitter. To some, even myself, it seemed like Kelenic was running out of patience which isn’t a good sign for Seattle.

To make things worse, Mather practically admits to practicing service-time manipulation, and Kelenic is one of those big names involved. But, some of his recent responses have been a little more assuring for fans that Kelenic wants to be a Mariners star or so we thought.

https://twitter.com/JKelenic_1019/status/1364409063329599490?s=20

In recent developments, Kelenic’s agent went to the reporters. Bob Nightengale of USA Today wrote about the conversation with Brodie Scoffield, who represents Kelenic.

“It was communicated to Jarred that he had signed that contract, he would have debuted last year… It was made crystal clear to Jarred – then and now – that his decision not to call him up is based on service time.”

It is weird because Kelenic tweeted out last night that he loves Seattle, to reassure fans. I’m getting mixed signals so we will see how this plays out…

We still haven’t heard from…

Kyle Seager and Hisashi Iwakuma were also commented on by Kevin Mather, and fans were in disbelief in what Mather had to say about them. I am assuming many of you read Julie Seager’s tweet right after the video went viral.

We still haven’t heard from the Seager family and we are hoping that they still have faith in the Mariners organization. *fingers crossed

We also have not heard from Hisashi Iwakuma yet, after Kevin Mather’s comments on his English as well. Iwakuma recently returned as a Special Assignment Coach so it will be interesting to hear from him in the future.

Manager Scott Servais and General Manager Jerry Dipoto

Scott Servais and Jerry Dipoto might have one of the hardest jobs during this time, outside of the PR and Communications department. Scott and Jerry have done a great job of building relationships with players, or so it seems.

Now, they must lead the team out of this shocking and dark time. Here’s what Servais had to say:

I don’t know about you, but this is so Servais-esque. I can picture him literally saying this in my mind, and it’s great. The team needs leaders, and Servais knows that.

Here’s what Jerry Dipoto had to say:

I love the last part from Dipoto. “This is our stigma now.” One of the first principles of leadership is ownership. Jerry is a part of the Mariners organization, and he can’t hide from Mather’s words even though he is technically in a different department.

Dipoto owned up to the mistake and says we just have to deal with it. That’s leadership 101 to me.

Updated 2/24/20 5:45pm PST

Hisashi Iwakuma did in fact respond via Instagram. He doesn’t seem too concerned with Mather’s words and wanted to make it clear that he is not currently using an interpreter, hence making Mather’s statement rather irrelevant.