Gonzales, Mariners troll ex-CEO on Twitter for calling pitcher 'boring'

Seattle Mariners left-hander Marco Gonzales fired back at the team's now-former president and CEO Kevin Mather on Tuesday, and he got a little help from an unlikely source.

Mather resigned Monday, less than 24 hours after a video surfaced of him making critical comments about various Mariners players. Gonzales was one of Mather's many targets during the video conference with the Bellevue Breakfast Rotary Club, describing the team's ace as "very boring."

By Tuesday afternoon, Gonzales, named the Mariners' Opening Day starter on Sunday, updated his Twitter bio appropriately.

But Gonzales wasn't the only member of the organization throwing some high heat at Mather. The Mariners' Twitter account backed up the left-hander with an eye-catching tweet later Tuesday.

After the team's Tuesday workout, Gonzales hinted that the departed executive's remarks have motivated Mariners players and brought the team closer together.

"Sometimes a common goal can unite you, sometimes a common enemy can do the same if not greater," the 29-year-old said, according to Shannon Drayer of ESPN 710 Seattle. "I think that's the boat we are in now.

"I think bigger picture, we view this as an isolated incident. His (Mather's) views are his own," Gonzales added. "Certainly the relevance he has to this team and this group, he's not close to us. ... Although some of his words were hurtful, personal, certainly to me, I think we're a lot stronger than that. It's going to take a lot more to break this group up."