Mariners President Kevin Mather's Comments (Latest- Mather Resigns)

[homer]

I'd be willing to bet there were plenty of journalists that called out the stadium swindle. Here is one:

 

https://deadspin.com/mariners-demand-180-million-in-public-funds-or-they-wo-1827920723

[OldSchoolSnapper]

The toaster at work was a lot nicer than the one at my house because it was used by 500 people every day.

[JosephC]

I'd be willing to bet there were plenty of journalists that called out the stadium swindle. Here is one:

 

https://deadspin.com/mariners-demand-180-million-in-public-funds-or-they-wo-1827920723

 

I notice how you have to go to Deadspin for something like that, and not one of the major sport media outlets (ESPN, CBS Sports).

 

Kind of like the the Fiserv Forum rip-off. Bruce Murphy of Urban Milwaukee had some incredibly good articles on that swindle. Not one negative peep out of the Journal-Sentinel.

 

fieldofschemes.com ...one of the very best websites.

 

It's well worth reading their take on Mather's comments-

 

http://www.fieldofschemes.com/2021/02/22/17160/worlds-worst-mlb-exec-gripes-about-mariners-minor-league-stadium-amid-rants-about-foreign-players-not-speaking-good-english/

[Underachiever]

He may get the Donald Sterling treatment. "We are so mad at you, Donald, we are going to punish you by making you sell the Clippers. Just to show you how mad we are, here is $2 billion. I hope you think about what you did!"

[TURBO]

Can we avoid a cancel culture discussion? Thanks.

 

I'm curious, seriously, just curious as to why this term bothers you so much.

 

Is it a political issue. Do you consider cancel culture to be a political term that causes issues in discussion?

 

I wasn't aware that cancel culture was an offensive term, but I figured you were offended by the term when I used it a few weeks ago, and you removed my post.

 

Again, not trying to start anything, just want to understand why the term can't be used...

[homer]

Can we avoid a cancel culture discussion? Thanks.

 

I'm curious, seriously, just curious as to why this term bothers you so much.

 

Is it a political issue. Do you consider cancel culture to be a political term that causes issues in discussion?

 

I wasn't aware that cancel culture was an offensive term, but I figured you were offended by the term when I used it a few weeks ago, and you removed my post.

 

Again, not trying to start anything, just want to understand why the term can't be used...

 

 

It doesn't bother me. It's political/contentious.

[owbc]

JosephC, you're giving Mather too much credit for getting the stadium money. The Mariners' stadium is a public asset so the county was backed into a corner from the initial agreements when the stadium was built. He only got $135 million of the $180 million that was asked for...$5.4 million/year. Not saying it isn't a taxpayer scam because it is, but it's not like he did anything special to get a continuation of the current agreement at 75% of what was requested.

 

Mather will get fired, and yes, the reason will mostly be for speaking openly about practices that all 30 franchises are engaging in, thus damaging MLB's bargaining position in the upcoming CBA negotiations.

 

--

 

A take from a Mariners fan blog: https://www.lookoutlanding.com/platform/amp/2021/2/22/22294815/kevin-mather-trampled-the-seattle-mariners-seeds-of-hope-president-ceo-john-stanton-owner?utm_campaign=lookoutlanding&utm_content=chorus&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter&__twitter_impression=true

 

There’s little surprising in these statements, as it is what many assume to be believed by those at the top of the organizational ladder across the league, but none before Mather has had the incompetence to lay things out so plainly. No player has successfully won a grievance against a team for service time manipulation, in large part due to the narrow interpretation for the offense. The standard of proof falls just short of a taped confession the club intends to hold a player down for those reasons, and lo, Mather has given the MLB Players Union the closest thing to that they’ve had yet. It may not be enough still, but it is bulletin board material for every frustrated union member, every disaffected minor leaguer, and every baseball operations employee attempting to instill a culture of commitment to an organization, knowing every player they face has less reason to buy in and trust than they did the day before.

 

Plus this statement from the Mariners' subreddit:

 

This sub will not be organizing any group outings while he works for the team. We also advise everyone to not buy any tickets or watch the team. Further, we advise people to call their cable providers and ask to stop carrying team-owned ROOT sports. Finally, we advise people to return any purchased tickets for the upcoming season.

 

This will stay stickied and be our advice until Kevin Mather is no longer with the team.

[dlk9s]

Every time I hear someone run their mouth like this, I think of the few seconds from 1:13 to 1:19

 

[KeithStone53151]

Can we avoid a cancel culture discussion? Thanks.

 

I'm curious, seriously, just curious as to why this term bothers you so much.

 

Is it a political issue. Do you consider cancel culture to be a political term that causes issues in discussion?

 

I wasn't aware that cancel culture was an offensive term, but I figured you were offended by the term when I used it a few weeks ago, and you removed my post.

 

Again, not trying to start anything, just want to understand why the term can't be used...

 

 

It doesn't bother me. It's political/contentious.

 

He's right, it is political and I shouldn't have brought it up on this board.

[KeithStone53151]

Kevin Mather is an excellent baseball executive. His organization recently swindled a bunch of dumb, dumb, dumb Seattle politicians out of another 135 million for stadium upgrades. Mission accomplished. And then, to show some good will after the free handout, the Mariners cut the payroll from 150 million to 100 million and will probably be down around 70 million this season. And after all that, people will now be offended over these comments, LOL

 

I'm much more annoyed with them going from 150 to 100 than from 100 to 70. As much as the $2.9 billion number is more or less garbage, I doubt the owners did anything but lose money last year. And with fans in the stands uncertain at best currently, I can understand cutting payroll a bit this year. But, he doesn't really have an excuse to go from 150 to 100 when revenue was exploding. With Mark A, I trust he will go for it and make a big payroll boost if the situation calls for it...he's proven it. The Mariners don't really seem that way at all. So them dropping payroll is more or less just a money grab.

[CheezWizHed]

Didn't the Mariners just bring up a ton of top prospects though in a rebuild campaign? Seems like our payroll tanked when we were rolling up JJ/Hart/Braun/Fielder/Weeks, then invested in their prime years. Obviously, I have no idea what they are doing, but I'm just saying that their might've been more to it. Easy to be an arm-chair GM from a distance.

[GreatNWwi]

"We brought 18, 19, 20 year old kids who never would have seen T-Mobile Park or Cheney Stadium if not for COVID."

 

Doesn't sound like he was unwilling to start the clock on regular prospects just the ones noted in the above quote.

 

"Because there was no chance you were going to see these young players at T-Mobile Park. We weren’t going to put them on the 40-man roster, we weren’t going to start the service time clock."

[KeithStone53151]

"We brought 18, 19, 20 year old kids who never would have seen T-Mobile Park or Cheney Stadium if not for COVID."

 

Doesn't sound like he was unwilling to start the clock on regular prospects just the ones noted in the above quote.

 

"Because there was no chance you were going to see these young players at T-Mobile Park. We weren’t going to put them on the 40-man roster, we weren’t going to start the service time clock."

 

There's a big $$ difference in starting the clock early on your 18th best prospect than there is on a top 20 prospect in all of baseball.

[Simba2020]

Seattle is obviously going through a full rebuild right now. Teams that do that will always slash payroll. You hope the prospects turn out and then spending will increase when the team is on the right course. Seattle has had a history of spending money, perhaps not even wisely, so you would expect them to do so in the future. I remember when Crane bought the Astros. Their payroll was slashed several years in a row. They were horrible but fans were outraged at how cheap the new owner was. Never made sense to spend a bunch of money when the team overall is horrible. Houston got good and their payroll rose accordingly.

[GreatNWwi]

"We brought 18, 19, 20 year old kids who never would have seen T-Mobile Park or Cheney Stadium if not for COVID."

 

Doesn't sound like he was unwilling to start the clock on regular prospects just the ones noted in the above quote.

 

"Because there was no chance you were going to see these young players at T-Mobile Park. We weren’t going to put them on the 40-man roster, we weren’t going to start the service time clock."

 

There's a big $$ difference in starting the clock early on your 18th best prospect than there is on a top 20 prospect in all of baseball.

 

The two I assume you are referring to are 20 and 21 year old prospects. There is no smoking gun that show he was talking about either of them. He even pointed out that the players he was talking about had no chance of seeing AAA or the bigs if not for Covid.

[owbc]

Seattle is obviously going through a full rebuild right now. Teams that do that will always slash payroll. You hope the prospects turn out and then spending will increase when the team is on the right course. Seattle has had a history of spending money, perhaps not even wisely, so you would expect them to do so in the future. I remember when Crane bought the Astros. Their payroll was slashed several years in a row. They were horrible but fans were outraged at how cheap the new owner was. Never made sense to spend a bunch of money when the team overall is horrible. Houston got good and their payroll rose accordingly.

 

I have seen few if any complaints from Mariners fans about payroll or the state of the rebuild. The fanbase had bought into it and was quite happy with the state of the rebuild as of last week. It was quite an impressive achievement when you consider the playoff drought--although Seattle has won 85+ games in 3 of the last 6 full seasons so it's not like they have been a complete disaster.

[brooks_quichenick]

 

looks like this moron has resigned. good riddance

[Simba2020]

Seattle is obviously going through a full rebuild right now. Teams that do that will always slash payroll. You hope the prospects turn out and then spending will increase when the team is on the right course. Seattle has had a history of spending money, perhaps not even wisely, so you would expect them to do so in the future. I remember when Crane bought the Astros. Their payroll was slashed several years in a row. They were horrible but fans were outraged at how cheap the new owner was. Never made sense to spend a bunch of money when the team overall is horrible. Houston got good and their payroll rose accordingly.

 

I have seen few if any complaints from Mariners fans about payroll or the state of the rebuild. The fanbase had bought into it and was quite happy with the state of the rebuild as of last week. It was quite an impressive achievement when you consider the playoff drought--although Seattle has won 85+ games in 3 of the last 6 full seasons so it's not like they have been a complete disaster.

I would be pretty excited if I was a Mariners fan too. The Cano traded really helped them out and I'm looking forward to watching the progress of Rodriguez amongst others.