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Seattle Mariners

Mariners chairman John Stanton discusses change in leadership structure in wake of Kevin Mather’s resignation

Seattle Mariners general manager Jerry Dipoto, second from left, manager Scott Servais, right, and team president and CEO Kevin Mather, second from right, watch from the stands during baseball practice in Seattle, in this July 2020 photo.  (Associated Press)
By Ryan Divish Seattle Times

PEORIA, Ariz. – John Stanton stood with his arms crossed, peering through the chain-link fence as players took a spirited round of batting practice, smacking balls all over Field 2 of the Mariners’ spring training complex.

Although windswept, this day was still preferable to the last time he was in Arizona when as the managing partner of the Mariners, he had to deliver an in-person apology to the assembled players, many of them directly mentioned in less-than-pleasing undertones by now former president Kevin Mather in a Zoom call to the Bellevue Breakfast Rotary Club.

But on this Wednesday morning, now almost two weeks later, most of the players were oblivious to his presence. Most quickly moved on from Mather and resumed their focus on their career. The daily routine of baseball will do that.

Stanton doesn’t have that luxury. He’s had to deal with the continued fallout from Mather’s comments, serving as the interim president and CEO, while also figuring out a leadership strategy.

In his first media interview since announcing that Mather had resigned his position, Stanton outlined a new leadership structure for the organization and Mather’s future presence in the organization, which will be nonexistent.

Stanton confirmed that Mather will no longer have an ownership stake in the Mariners. He was given it as part of his promotion to the role of president and CEO.

Stanton wouldn’t confirm if Mather is being offered a severance package or would be compensated for the ownership stake or if it was forfeited.

“We’re in the process of working that through, but Kevin will not be a partner moving forward,” Stanton said.

Besides moving on from Mather, the Mariners will no longer have someone in that such a powerful and all-encompassing role where everyone reported to them and they reported to Stanton.

“I’ve decided to split the roles,” he said.

Instead of having a president and chief executive officer that oversees all aspects of the organization, including baseball operations, the new structure will separate the responsibilities between the baseball and business side.

“We’ll have one person running the team and one person running the front office,” Stanton said to simplify. “Each of them will report up to us. I talked to a number of people in baseball and including the commissioner (Rob Manfred), who said, frankly, if my partners and I are willing to commit to this it’s a better structure for a lot of reasons.”

Whomever they hire to fill Mather’s role will be responsible for the Mariners’ front office and aspects not related to baseball, including sales, marketing, communications, ballpark operations and anything else business-related. That person who becomes president will report directly to Stanton and the Mariners ownership group.

Meanwhile, all baseball operations will fall under the direction and decision-making of general manager Jerry Dipoto, who will report directly to Stanton and the ownership group. In the previous structure, Dipoto still had to report to Mather on numerous matters, including payroll and operating costs.

“Jerry’s always had responsibility for baseball operations and he’s always made the baseball decisions,” Stanton said. “I don’t think it’s particularly new for him because the big decisions end up being important to ownership. When there is a big issue, he’s always involved me and some of my partners. This is not new. We feel great about the leadership that Jerry’s shown, and I feel good about the relationship that I have with Jerry.”

Stanton expects both aspects to coexist without friction.

“I expect the new person to be a close teammate with me and Jerry and the others in the organization,” he said.

This sort of split has become common for most organizations, looking to separate the entities for a variety for reasons. It’s something the Mariners considered when Chuck Armstrong retired in 2014, but they ultimately remained with the same structure and promoted Mather to the position.

“That’s the way most teams do it,” Stanton said. “I looked for advice and I wanted to find out what the best approach. This is what I repeatedly heard. I think this has the virtue of giving us a broader potential candidates for the president.”

The Cubs, Diamondbacks, Cardinals and Red Sox all have similar leadership structures.

Most teams with split leadership roles give the title of president to each person. Will Dipoto get a title bump from vice president and general manager to president of baseball operations? How does this affect his current situation where he is operating in the final year of his contract with no club option for 2022?

“I will continue to talk with Jerry,” Stanton said. “And I will probably talk to Jerry about his role and position before I talk with you about it.”

The search for Mather’s replacement will be led by Jeff Raikes, who will run a search committee comprised of people in the organization and outside of it.

Raikes is part of the Mariners ownership group and currently serves as the chair of the Stanford University Board of Trustees. He has roots in Microsoft and served as CEO of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

“He’s been involved in searches in that context and in the private sector context,” Stanton said. “I’m excited for him to be able to do that.”