Mariners' Marco Gonzales Shades Kevin Mather with 'Very Boring' Twitter Bio
February 23, 2021
Seattle Mariners pitcher Marco Gonzales is leaning into comments that led to the resignation of team CEO and president Kevin Mather.
Gonzales, who Mather said was "very boring" during a Rotary Club meeting in February, updated his Twitter bio to reflect the departed executive's opinion of him.
ESPN's Jeff Passan summarized the incident, which occurred Feb. 5:
"Mather disparaged a Japanese player [Hisashi Iwakuma] for not learning English, belittled a star prospect from the Dominican Republic [Julio Rodriguez] for his language skills and derided another top prospect [Jarred Kelenic] while admitting to manipulating his service time. He called his team's best pitcher [Marco Gonzales] 'very boring' and embellished the pitcher's actions in a clubhouse incident, told another falsehood about a well-respected veteran [Mitch Haniger] and complained that the franchise's best player over the past decade [Kyle Seager] was 'overpaid.'"
MLB, the Major League Baseball Players Association and the Mariners issued statements, while reporters and members of the organization came to the defense of Rodriguez, a 20-year-old outfielder who was ranked as the team's No. 2 prospect in 2020.
Austin Shenton @Austin_Shenton@J_RODshow helped my Mom pass her Spanish assignment when she was doing chemotherapy and every time we talk, he asks how she is doing. Also, when he asks, it’s in perfectly spoken English. I’m grateful to have someone like him representing our organization. 🤘🏼 https://t.co/AwHd73l2oJ
Rodriguez, like Gonzales, took to Twitter to respond to Mather's comments.
Mather, who had been with the Mariners since 1996 and has previously been accused of harassment by female employees, said his comments came amid a "lapse in judgement" and he would "do whatever it takes to repair the damage I have caused to the Seattle Mariners organization" (h/t Tim Booth of the Associated Press).