Former New York Mets general manager Brodie Van Wagenen made the highly-criticized December 2018 trade with the Seattle Mariners, which brought an aging Robinson Cano and reliever Edwin Diaz to Flushing in exchange for a package that included prized outfield prospect Jarred Kelenic.
The hype for the 21-year-old Kelenic, the lefty-swinging, Wisconsin-born slugger, has only grown in the last two years, but he has yet to play with the Seattle major league club. Kevin Mather, the now former Mariners president and chief executive officer, recently explained why Kelenic wouldn’t begin the 2021 season playing left field for the Mariners, and in doing so, exposed one of baseball’s dirty little secrets.
During Mather’s now infamous remarks to a Washington state Rotary Club February 5 — in which the executive made a slew of inappropriate and offensive comments about numerous Mariners players and prospects and team personnel, resulting in Mather’s resignation Monday — he indicated that the club was manipulating Kelenic’s service time in order to keep him under team control for longer.
“Quite frankly, we think he’s gonna be a superstar,” Mather said of Kelenic during the Rotary Club video call, which was posted over the weekend. “We control his major league career for six years. And after six years, he’ll be a free agent. We would like him to get a few more (at-) bats in the minor leagues, probably Triple-A Tacoma, for a month and then he will likely be in left field at T-Mobile Park for the next six or seven years.”
Mather also told the Rotary Club members that Seattle had made a six-year contract offer to Kelenic, “with options to go farther,” but that the jewel prospect had rejected the deal. Mather said Kelenic had told the team, “he’s going to bet on himself.”
The Mariners did not call up Kelenic from the club’s alternate site during the 2020 pandemic-shortened MLB season — the ‘20 minor league season was cancelled altogether — and if Kelenic is elevated to the majors in May, that would further push back the start time of his major league service.
“The whole service time comments, it paints the sport in a bad light,” one industry source said of Mather’s comments. “If a player is ready to play, a team should bring him up.” Once a prospect makes his major league debut, the clock starts on salary arbitration, and by stalling that process as long as possible, a team can continue to exert control over the player on their terms.
The MLB Players Association issued a strong rebuke of Mather’s comments, saying those kind of remarks represent “an unfiltered look into Club thinking. It is offensive, and it is not surprising that fans and others around the game are offended as well. Players remain committed to confronting these issues at the bargaining table and elsewhere.”
The players’ union and the owners are set to begin contentious collective-bargaining agreement negotiations after this season, when the current CBA expires.
Last year, the Chicago Cubs reportedly won an arbitration battle against their star third baseman, Kris Bryant, in another high-profile case involving manipulation of service time. During 2015 spring training, the Cubs had demoted Bryant, and he didn’t make his major league debut until April 17 that season. Bryant recorded the final out of the 2016 World Series, when the Cubs beat the Cleveland Indians and ended a 108-year title drought.
Bryant eventually filed a grievance, arguing the team had manipulated his service time in 2015. After losing in arbitration, Bryant remains under contract with the Cubs through the 2021 season.
Mariners chairman John Stanton issued a statement after Mather resigned.
"His comments were inappropriate and do not represent our organization's feelings about our players, staff, and fans," Stanton said. "There is no excuse for what was said, and I won't try to make one. I offer my sincere apology on behalf of the club and my partners to our players and fans. We must be, and do, better. We have a lot of work to do to make amends, and that work is already underway."
Mather had been accused of inappropriate workplace conduct prior to this latest controversy. According to the Seattle Times, when Mather was a Mariners executive vice president in 2009 and 2010, Seattle attorney Robin Phillips brought complaints against Mather on behalf of two women who worked as executive assistants for the team. The Seattle Times reported that the cases were settled out of court.
Phillips also represents Lorena Martin, a former Mariners high performance director who filed a wrongful-termination lawsuit in 2018. Martin alleged she made complaints to Mather, minority owner Buck Ferguson and Stanton about a hostile work environment, but she was instead terminated from her position. The case was ultimately handled by an arbitrator, and the Seattle Times reported Monday that the case “was resolved,” according to Phillips. Martin declined comment.
"about" - Google News
February 23, 2021 at 09:55AM
https://ift.tt/3kcTLre
Kevin Mather’s Remarks About Mariners Prospect Jarred Kelenic Spotlight Lingering Problem In Baseball - Forbes
"about" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2MjBJUT
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Kevin Mather’s Remarks About Mariners Prospect Jarred Kelenic Spotlight Lingering Problem In Baseball - Forbes"
Post a Comment