In a Zoom call with rotary group on Feb. 5, Mariners president Kevin Mather made some insensitive comments on former pitcher Hisashi Iwakuma and prospect outfielder Julio Rodriguez's English among other things.
The Zoom call was uploaded to YouTube Sunday and has since been deleted but was re-uploaded along with a transcription and can be found here.
While talking about how the Mariners helped its international players learn English, Mather brought up Iwakuma, a former All-Star in 2013 with the team, and discussed how he didn't care for paying an interpreter.
“It frustrates me," he said.