Lorena Martin
Lorena Martin joined the Mariners before the 2018 season. (Seattle Mariners Photo)

Lorena Martin, the first Director of High Performance with the Seattle Mariners, is out after just one season with the Major League Baseball team, and she’s not leaving on friendly terms.

In a post on her Instagram account on Monday afternoon, Martin said the Mariners organization “has major issues” and that things she witnessed and heard left her shocked. The Seattle Times first reported the news, saying that MLB sources first mentioned last week that Martin had been fired. In a statement Monday, the Mariners confirmed that Martin was let go on Oct. 10, and called her allegations of racism “outrageous and false.”

On social media, Martin had a lot to say, in a text-only post that scorched General Manager Jerry Dipoto, Manager Scott Servais and Director of Player Development Andy McKay. Martin said Latino players were referred to within the organization as “lazy, dumb and stupid” and that Dipoto’s “poor leadership” would continue to keep the Mariners from making the playoffs.

(via @lorenahighperformance)

Martin shared her thoughts on Twitter, too.

The Mariners provided a statement to GeekWire on Monday.

Lorena Martin was relieved of her duties with the Mariners on Oct. 10, 2018.

While it is our policy to not comment on personnel issues, we do feel it is important to respond to the outrageous, false claims made by her today on social media. And to note that Martin did not make any of these false allegations until after she was relieved of her duties.

The Mariners categorically deny that any member of our management or coaching staff made racist remarks regarding any of our players or staff. Additionally, we have not terminated (or threatened to terminate) any trainers during the off-season.

Martin was featured as a GeekWire Geek of the Week a year ago after being hired in the offseason after she spent a year with the Los Angeles Lakers as Director of Sports Performance Analytics. Her position was viewed as another way professional athletes are embracing data and analytics in the quest to perform — and recover — at a higher level.

With the Mariners, she was put in charge of all aspects of physical and mental training for the team’s players, incorporating data from various trainers, coaches and physicians to improve performance.

“My passion for statistics derived from my desire to just want to answer a simple question: ‘What are the variables that professional athletes must have in order to become a world class athlete in their sport?’” Martin told GeekWire. “I found that I could answer my questions through research, measurement, statistics, and analytics.”

The Times cited sources in saying that the “Mariners were trying to avoid paying the remaining two years on Martin’s three-year contract with the team for various reasons and that she had hired an attorney.”

Like what you're reading? Subscribe to GeekWire's free newsletters to catch every headline

Job Listings on GeekWork

Find more jobs on GeekWork. Employers, post a job here.