SEATTLE -- A day after former Mariners executive Dr. Lorena Martin accused the club of racism, Major League Baseball said Tuesday it would investigate the charges.
"MLB is aware of the allegations made by a former employee of the Seattle Mariners regarding the conduct of club employees," the Commissioner's Office said in a statement. "Consistent with our policies, we are investigating the allegations."
The Mariners, who issued two statements on Monday denying Martin's claims on social media and in an interview with the Tacoma News Tribune, said they were glad MLB was getting involved.
"The Mariners welcome a Major League Baseball investigation and look forward to fully cooperating," Mariners vice president of communications Tim Hevly said. "We have nothing to hide and are confident the investigation will support that."
Martin was dismissed on Oct. 10, shortly after the end of her first season overseeing the organization's medical, strength and conditioning, nutrition and mental-skills departments in a newly created position by general manager Jerry Dipoto.
Martin accused the Mariners of breach of contract on Twitter and unleashed a barrage of social media comments that included charging Dipoto, manager Scott Servais and director of player development Andy McKay of calling Latin players "lazy, dumb and stupid." She also said Dipoto's leadership is to blame for the team not making the postseason.
She expanded on those charges in an interview with the Tacoma News Tribune, prompting the Mariners to issue a second statement.
"It is our general policy to not comment on confidential personnel issues," the statement said. "However, Lorena Martin has elected to publicly comment on her personnel matters, and we cannot allow the false and ludicrous allegations in the story posted tonight on the Tacoma News Tribune's website to go unchallenged.
"The claims by Lorena Martin are fabricated, including her statements about reports to Human Resources and specific allegations about people named in the story.
"We are still trying to sort through all the statements that are being made publicly by Ms. Martin, and we will continue to defend ourselves against false accusations."
Among Martin's social media comments was that "It's come to the point where I have to speak out because they are firing innocent trainers for trying to do the right thing and because of their color/race."
The Mariners didn't renew the contracts of two trainers who were hired by Martin to work at their Dominican Republic training facility, but a source indicated that was because neither trainer was certified.
Dipoto spoke highly of Martin when he gave her a three-year contract in October 2017, saying that she was a perfect fit to oversee the organization's medical, strength and conditioning, nutrition and mental-skills departments.
"We have spent nearly a year working on creating this position and structure, as well as identifying the best person for this role," Dipoto said at that time. "Lorena's background, skill set and previous experience make her a perfect match for what we envisioned."
Martin had no background in baseball when she was hired, but she had grown up in Florida as a tennis player and consulted with tennis and golf players while compiling an extensive academic background in exercise physiology, statistical analysis and psychology, as well as spending a year working with the Lakers in the NBA.