TJ Cotterill

The News Tribune

SEATTLE — Seattle Mariners general manager Jerry Dipoto on Thursday again strongly denied the allegations of racism and gender discrimination from a former member of his baseball operations staff.

It was part of his response to a question during the Mariners’ annual pre-spring training luncheon in front of media at T-Mobile Park. Seattle’s director of player development, Andy McKay, also responded for the first time publicly since Dr. Lorena Martin, the Mariners’ former director of high performance, leveled accusations on her social media, specifically against Dipoto, McKay and manager Scott Servais.

MLB began an investigation and that remains ongoing. Two of the Mariners’ former trainers who worked at their Dominican Republic complex also alleged racial discrimination in response to Martin’s accusations.

“At the end of the day we believe that justice will prevail,” Dipoto said. “I’ve been at this now for 30 years. I know a lot of people in the game. I’m not sexist nor am I a racist. The accusations that have been made are untrue, and I believe that will wash out as this unfolds.”

Martin filed a lawsuit in King County Superior Court after first publishing a string of accusations to her social media saying Dipoto, Servais and McKay had called Latino players “LAZY, DUMB, and STUPID, especially the DOMINICANS,” she wrote.

This was shortly after the Mariners alleged they had put Martin on administrative leave on Oct. 10 while they conducted an internal, independent investigation over “overwhelming and accumulating” complaints against Martin, according to a document crafted by the Mariners in an attempt to privately settle in arbitration the remaining two years, $600,000 that was remaining on her three-year contract.

As for McKay, Martin had told The News Tribune shortly after her posts that McKay said during a January 2018 meeting that Dominican players are “just plain stupid.” He denied that Thursday.

“The accusations are serious, but they are completely false,” McKay said. “I never said anything like that. I’ve never thought that, I’ve never felt it. It didn’t happen. Fortunately I have a track record with people I’ve worked with, not just here, but in Colorado and in Sacramento to say it’s not very believable.

“This is the first time I’ve addressed it and I’m grateful for the Mariners. They’ve supported me and Major League Baseball is doing an investigation that is very thorough and very complete. At the end of it I feel very good about where my name will stand.”

Lorena Martin, when contacted by The News Tribune for her response, said in a statement that she, too, was looking forward to the truth coming out.

“I am not surprised by their comments. For these men not only are their jobs on the line but their careers are in jeopardy,” Martin said. “But I still believe and have faith that the truth will come out and that I along with others in the organization will be vindicated.”

McKay was also asked if he’s had to make any amends with players or staff, specifically Latino ones, over Martin’s accusations.

“Honestly, I’ve never had that conversation,” he said. “I had literally hundreds of text messages. And in terms of the players, I don’t feel like I need to address it and I haven’t sensed I need to address it. I know who I am and what I believe and I know what I did not say and I think the overwhelming number of people who are around me feel the exact same way.

“I have no issues bringing it up and addressing it to somebody if they were uncomfortable or if I felt they were uncomfortable. But that hasn’t happened to this point because it’s false. It never happened.”

Servais addressed the accusations against him during the MLB winter meetings in Las Vegas last month.

“I’ve been in the game a long time,” Servais told reporters. “This will be 31 years as a player, in the front office and working with players and doing a number of different things. My name means a lot to me and the relationships I’ve built. I think that’s all that needs to be said at this point. MLB is doing an investigation. Some of the things that came out — I’m very confident the truth will come out.”

A year earlier, the Mariners introduced Martin at their pre=spring training luncheon and had her answer questions in front of the media. Dipoto had trumpeted how they spent a year creating her position and finding the right person, ultimately hiring Martin from the Los Angeles Lakers.

Regardless of what comes of MLB’s investigation and the court battle, the Mariners are now without their unique position of high performance director and it will remain unfilled. Dipoto was asked Thursday how much responsibility he takes for that.

“All of it,” Dipoto said. “I hired her.

“I’m embarrassed for how it unfolded. But we’re not going to stop the programs. The programs have logic. They make all the sense in the world and in many ways what we’ve been able to develop at the minor league levels from high performance and a data-gathering perspective has been wildly successful.

“I think this is a chance for us to grow forward. We all make mistakes and this is one of them for me. It’s about learning from it and moving on in a productive way.”