Seattle Mariners president Kevin Mather went off-script during a Rotary Club appearance and gave one of the most revealing and damaging talks from a team executive in recent memory. He openly admitted the team intentionally manipulated player service time, laid out contract details that were never public, criticized players’ English skills, bragged about being cheap with team spending, and casually discussed not letting employees park near the stadium so he could charge fans more.
Mather confirmed they held back top prospects like Jarred Kelenic and Logan Gilbert not based on performance, but purely to delay their MLB service clocks. He admitted they wouldn’t call up Julio Rodríguez before 2022 despite others projecting him ready in 2021. For pitchers like Sam Delaplane, Mather mapped out the debut year regardless of how they perform. He also described how Kelenic turned down a long-term contract after union input and said the front office viewed Kyle Seeger as overpaid in what’s likely his final Mariners season. Seeger’s wife responded with a tweet suggesting they were already planning to leave Seattle.
He didn’t stop at service time. Mather complained about paying for former player Hisashi Iwakuma’s interpreter and implied his English only improved when Mariners stopped covering the cost, a comment viewed as dismissive and borderline xenophobic. He also criticized Julio Rodríguez for his limited English even though that had nothing to do with the question asked. Mather recounted tension between former pitcher Mike Leake and team leader Marco Gonzales, pushing a story of culture-building through locker room confrontation. And when asked about operational challenges, he said the neighborhood isn’t great but he’s fine with it because he profits from charging $30 to $50 for parking while making employees walk in from far worse areas.
The union and agents likely took notes. Mather later issued a written apology, but the damage was done. His words exposed the Mariners’ internal logic, revealed a business-first mindset, and painted a picture of ownership more focused on margins than performance.