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New York Mets GM Jared Porter acknowledges sending explicit images to female reporter when he worked for Chicago Cubs
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The woman, a foreign correspondent who had moved to the United States to cover Major League Baseball, said at one point she ignored more than 60 messages from Porter before he sent the final lewd photo. The text relationship started casually before Porter, then the Chicago Cubs director of professional scouting, began complimenting her appearance, inviting her to meet him in various cities and asking why she was ignoring him. And the texts show she had stopped responding to Porter after he sent a photo of pants featuring a bulge in the groin area.
Porter continued texting her anyway, sending dozens of messages despite the lack of a response. On Aug. 11, 2016, a day after asking her to meet him at a hotel in Los Angeles, Porter sent the woman 17 pictures. The first 15 photos were of the hotel and its restaurants. The 16th was the same as an earlier photo of the bulge in the pants. The 17th was of a bare penis.
Reached by ESPN on Monday evening, Porter acknowledged texting with the woman. He initially said he had not sent any pictures of himself. When told the exchanges show he had sent selfies and other pictures, he said that "the more explicit ones are not of me. Those are like, kinda like joke-stock images."
After asking whether ESPN was planning to run a story, he asked for more time before later declining further comment.
On Tuesday morning, the Mets fired Porter, according to a tweet from owner Steve Cohen: "In my initial press conference I spoke about the importance of integrity and I meant it," Cohen tweeted. "There should be zero tolerance for this type of behavior."
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"My number one motivation is I want to prevent this from happening to someone else," she told ESPN through an interpreter. "Obviously, he's in a much greater position of power. I want to prevent that from happening again. The other thing is, I never really got the notion that he was truly sorry."
"I know in the U.S., there is a women's empowerment movement. But in [my home country], it's still far behind," the woman said. "Women get dragged through the mud if your name is associated with any type of sexual scandal. Women are the ones who get fingers pointed at them. I don't want to go through the victimization process again. I don't want other people to blame me."
Porter, 41, was hired as Mets GM on Dec. 13 to help lead new owner Steve Cohen's front office. Porter apologized to the woman in 2016 by text after she saw the naked picture and texted that his messages were "extremely inappropriate, very offensive, and getting out of line."
In a statement to ESPN on Monday night, Mets president Sandy Alderson said the organization would "review the facts" and follow up: "I have spoken directly with Jared Porter regarding events that took place in 2016 of which we were made aware tonight for the first time. Jared has acknowledged to me his serious error in judgment, has taken responsibility for his conduct, has expressed remorse and has previously apologized for his actions. The Mets take these matters seriously, expect professional and ethical behavior from all of our employees, and certainly do not condone the conduct described in your story. We will follow up as we review the facts regarding this serious issue."
Three other people interviewed by ESPN said they saw or were told of the texts at the time. The messages provide a portrait of an executive on the move, a reporter working with a limited grasp of the English language and American customs, and how seemingly friendly banter ended in a lewd, unsolicited photo.
The woman met Porter in an elevator at Yankee Stadium on June 26, 2016. She said they talked briefly -- the only time they ever spoke, she told ESPN -- about international baseball prospects and exchanged business cards.
Porter began texting her the afternoon they met and, before the day was over, had asked her three times to get a drink. The woman said she agreed to meet Porter because she thought he was volunteering himself as a source and expected they would discuss baseball. Porter asked in a text if she had a boyfriend; the woman said that at the time, she believed he was simply being friendly, as she did not think someone she barely knew would be so forward. That night, after she said she couldn't meet with him but would the next day, Porter sent an unsolicited selfie.
"Like?" he asked.
She did not respond.
"If I had a better understanding -- not just of the language, but the culture -- I definitely would've realized sooner what was going on," the woman told ESPN.
Jared Porter's texts started casually but soon progressed to selfies and romantic overtures. Source: ESPN
Porter texted again the next day, according to the messages, and attempts by both to set up a meeting fell through. On July 19, 2016, he reached out to her again, inquiring as to her whereabouts and asking: "Why aren't we hanging out??" Porter asked whether the woman remembered what he looked like and said: "You're so pretty. Do you have a boyfriend yet?" He sent a selfie and said: "It can be me!"
The woman responded with text shorthand indicating laughter and added: "let's meet." Porter asked her for a picture. In her home country, the woman told ESPN, "It's very common for friends of the opposite sex to send each other photos. I didn't think much of it."
After she sent a selfie, Porter responded: "You're gorgeous. Want more of me?"
She said yes, explaining to ESPN: "I thought it would be awkward to say no. I didn't think of where it would progress."
Porter sent three pictures, including the first of several that would show a man lying on a bed with a bulge in his pants. The woman said she initially was confused.
"Like?" Porter wrote.
She laughed again and texted yes, though she told ESPN that she didn't realize the intention of the photo taken on the bed. "You are not married?" she asked.
Once she recognized the sexual nature of the bed picture, she resolved to cut off communication, she said.
Porter would send 62 unanswered texts -- including seven photos -- between July 19 and Aug. 10, the day before a final flurry from Los Angeles that included the nude photo.
His first unanswered text, on July 19, said he was not married. He followed up:
"Which picture do you like the most?"
"Want to see more....?"
"?"
"?"
About five hours later: "Helllloooooo beautiful."
About 90 minutes after that: "Is it too much for you?"
About two hours later: "Where did you go?"
Almost three hours later, at 2:03 a.m.: "I'm bored."
One text sent to the woman included an image featuring a man's groin, to which Porter added a mesage: "Am I annoying you?" Source: ESPN
The pattern of unsolicited messages without response continued for weeks as the two separately crisscrossed the country watching baseball in different venues, with Porter sending photos from hotels. The day after the woman stopped returning his texts, Porter wrote: "Mad at me?" Later that day, he sent three more pictures. The first was of a World Series ring he had won during his 12 years with the Boston Red Sox, with whom he had gone from intern to pro scouting director and won three championships. The other two were bed pictures of a man's clothed groin, to which he added a message: "Am I annoying you?"
Porter sent seven more messages that day, including one that said the Cubs had made a trade and another that said: "You're hard to get."
At 2:44 a.m. the next day, Porter texted: "I want to see you." Seven hours later, he wrote: "Do you want to see me?" Three hours after that, he said: "I'm sorry." At 10:59 p.m.: "I thought we could have some fun."
On July 23, his fourth consecutive day of texting without a response, Porter wrote: ":-( I'm a nice guy you know." Later that day, he said: "Was it the pictures that made you mad?" That night, he sent another selfie.
Porter continued to text the woman sporadically, asking on Aug. 8: "Are you ok?" The next day, both were at Wrigley Field. "I think I just saw you," Porter wrote. "You're so beautiful."
The woman told ESPN she felt panicky and hid from him.
A day later, Porter texted: "I'll be in LA this weekend at the best hotel in America, can you meet me there?" The day after that, Aug. 11, Porter sent the woman a message at 5:35 p.m. that said: "You're missing out." He followed with the 17 pictures, including the one of the naked penis.
Porter's texts culminated on Aug. 11, 2016, when the woman received a photo of a bare penis, which has been obscured for publication. Source: ESPN
About two hours after sending the photos, Porter sent more messages, the first five of which read:
"?"
"Are you there?"
"?"
"Mad at me?"
":-("
The woman said she did not know how to respond.
"Being alone in a different country made it tougher," she told ESPN. "I didn't know who to trust and rely on."
She had shown the sexually explicit image to a player from her home country and an interpreter, who helped craft the response she sent to Porter: "This is extremely inappropriate, very offensive, and getting out of line. Could you please stop sending offensive photos or msg."
Porter responded in a series of messages: "Oh I'm sorry."
"I will stop."
"I really apologize."
"Please let me know if you ever need anything work wise."
The next day, he texted again: "I'm sorry." A day later, he shared a photo from Dodger Stadium. It was the last message, the woman said, that Porter sent.
She considered alerting the Cubs but said she was concerned about possible repercussions. That summer, she said, she had developed a serious sleeping problem and was wracked with anxiety about whether she had made the wrong decision in coming to the U.S. Eventually, the woman said, she told her bosses, who referred her to a lawyer and connected her with a Cubs employee from her home country.
The woman and the employee met during the 2016 postseason in Chicago. The woman did not want to identify the employee publicly because she feared retribution. The employee, she said, told her Porter wanted to apologize in person. She said she did not want to see him. The employee, she said, encouraged her to use the situation to her advantage. She said he pressed her numerous times on whether she planned to file a lawsuit against Porter.
In an interview on Monday, the employee confirmed he knows Porter and the woman and that he had discussed the situation with both. When asked by ESPN if he told the woman to use the situation to her advantage, the employee said: "I was just listening to both. I didn't want to ruin anything. I didn't want to be on one side."
Following the Cubs' victory over the Cleveland Indians for their first World Series championship in 108 years, Porter left the organization to join the Arizona Diamondbacks as an assistant general manager.
The woman said she remained in touch with the Cubs employee and saw him at spring training in 2017, when she said she was still considering filing a lawsuit. The employee became angry, she said, and they haven't spoken since. The employee denied getting angry, adding that "whenever I was talking to her, I was basically listening to her."
The woman declined to pursue legal action and told ESPN she has no plans to do so.
The Cubs released a statement to ESPN late Monday, saying, "This story came to our attention tonight and we are not aware of this incident ever being reported to the organization."
"Had we been notified, we would have taken swift action as the alleged behavior is in violation of our code of conduct," the team said. "While these two individuals are no longer with the organization, we take issues of sexual harassment seriously and plan to investigate the matter."
Over the course of the 2017 season, the woman said, she turned down opportunities to travel to Arizona to cover the Diamondbacks because she was afraid of running into Porter. She said she did not see him again until the postseason, when he was standing near the batting cage at the Diamondbacks' stadium. She said she immediately left the area and hid.
"While I was hiding, I was frustrated," she told ESPN in 2017. "Why do I have to hide?"
When the Mets sought a GM to work alongside -- and perhaps potentially take over from -- team president Sandy Alderson, Porter emerged as a finalist and beat out former colleague and Red Sox assistant GM Zack Scott. Zoom via AP
Porter's success in baseball continued. His name was frequently mentioned when GM jobs opened. He interviewed for the Los Angeles Angels' job this winter and was a finalist behind Perry Minasian. When the Mets sought a GM to work alongside -- and perhaps potentially take over from -- team president Alderson, Porter emerged as a finalist and beat out former colleague and Red Sox assistant GM Zack Scott, who later joined the Mets in the same role.
The woman, meanwhile, returned to her home country and left the journalism industry altogether. She now works in finance.
While she said the fallout of the texts from Porter wasn't the sole reason for leaving the industry, it caused her to think about her future -- and how remaining around baseball long term was simply untenable.
"It would be a lie to say similar occurrences hadn't happened to me in [my home country]," she said. "It's a male-dominated industry. But it was a tipping point for me. I started to ask myself, 'Why do I have to put myself through these situations to earn a living?'"
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- Mina Kimes
- Jeff Passan
The woman, a foreign correspondent who had moved to the United States to cover Major League Baseball, said at one point she ignored more than 60 messages from Porter before he sent the final lewd photo. The text relationship started casually before Porter, then the Chicago Cubs director of professional scouting, began complimenting her appearance, inviting her to meet him in various cities and asking why she was ignoring him. And the texts show she had stopped responding to Porter after he sent a photo of pants featuring a bulge in the groin area.
Porter continued texting her anyway, sending dozens of messages despite the lack of a response. On Aug. 11, 2016, a day after asking her to meet him at a hotel in Los Angeles, Porter sent the woman 17 pictures. The first 15 photos were of the hotel and its restaurants. The 16th was the same as an earlier photo of the bulge in the pants. The 17th was of a bare penis.
Reached by ESPN on Monday evening, Porter acknowledged texting with the woman. He initially said he had not sent any pictures of himself. When told the exchanges show he had sent selfies and other pictures, he said that "the more explicit ones are not of me. Those are like, kinda like joke-stock images."
After asking whether ESPN was planning to run a story, he asked for more time before later declining further comment.
On Tuesday morning, the Mets fired Porter, according to a tweet from owner Steve Cohen: "In my initial press conference I spoke about the importance of integrity and I meant it," Cohen tweeted. "There should be zero tolerance for this type of behavior."
EDITOR'S PICKS
- Mets fire GM Porter; Cohen cites 'zero tolerance'
- Francisco Lindor trade starts a new era for Mets -- but there's still room for one more big move
"My number one motivation is I want to prevent this from happening to someone else," she told ESPN through an interpreter. "Obviously, he's in a much greater position of power. I want to prevent that from happening again. The other thing is, I never really got the notion that he was truly sorry."
"I know in the U.S., there is a women's empowerment movement. But in [my home country], it's still far behind," the woman said. "Women get dragged through the mud if your name is associated with any type of sexual scandal. Women are the ones who get fingers pointed at them. I don't want to go through the victimization process again. I don't want other people to blame me."
Porter, 41, was hired as Mets GM on Dec. 13 to help lead new owner Steve Cohen's front office. Porter apologized to the woman in 2016 by text after she saw the naked picture and texted that his messages were "extremely inappropriate, very offensive, and getting out of line."
In a statement to ESPN on Monday night, Mets president Sandy Alderson said the organization would "review the facts" and follow up: "I have spoken directly with Jared Porter regarding events that took place in 2016 of which we were made aware tonight for the first time. Jared has acknowledged to me his serious error in judgment, has taken responsibility for his conduct, has expressed remorse and has previously apologized for his actions. The Mets take these matters seriously, expect professional and ethical behavior from all of our employees, and certainly do not condone the conduct described in your story. We will follow up as we review the facts regarding this serious issue."
Three other people interviewed by ESPN said they saw or were told of the texts at the time. The messages provide a portrait of an executive on the move, a reporter working with a limited grasp of the English language and American customs, and how seemingly friendly banter ended in a lewd, unsolicited photo.
The woman met Porter in an elevator at Yankee Stadium on June 26, 2016. She said they talked briefly -- the only time they ever spoke, she told ESPN -- about international baseball prospects and exchanged business cards.
Porter began texting her the afternoon they met and, before the day was over, had asked her three times to get a drink. The woman said she agreed to meet Porter because she thought he was volunteering himself as a source and expected they would discuss baseball. Porter asked in a text if she had a boyfriend; the woman said that at the time, she believed he was simply being friendly, as she did not think someone she barely knew would be so forward. That night, after she said she couldn't meet with him but would the next day, Porter sent an unsolicited selfie.
"Like?" he asked.
She did not respond.
"If I had a better understanding -- not just of the language, but the culture -- I definitely would've realized sooner what was going on," the woman told ESPN.
Jared Porter's texts started casually but soon progressed to selfies and romantic overtures. Source: ESPN
Porter texted again the next day, according to the messages, and attempts by both to set up a meeting fell through. On July 19, 2016, he reached out to her again, inquiring as to her whereabouts and asking: "Why aren't we hanging out??" Porter asked whether the woman remembered what he looked like and said: "You're so pretty. Do you have a boyfriend yet?" He sent a selfie and said: "It can be me!"
The woman responded with text shorthand indicating laughter and added: "let's meet." Porter asked her for a picture. In her home country, the woman told ESPN, "It's very common for friends of the opposite sex to send each other photos. I didn't think much of it."
After she sent a selfie, Porter responded: "You're gorgeous. Want more of me?"
She said yes, explaining to ESPN: "I thought it would be awkward to say no. I didn't think of where it would progress."
Porter sent three pictures, including the first of several that would show a man lying on a bed with a bulge in his pants. The woman said she initially was confused.
"Like?" Porter wrote.
She laughed again and texted yes, though she told ESPN that she didn't realize the intention of the photo taken on the bed. "You are not married?" she asked.
Once she recognized the sexual nature of the bed picture, she resolved to cut off communication, she said.
Porter would send 62 unanswered texts -- including seven photos -- between July 19 and Aug. 10, the day before a final flurry from Los Angeles that included the nude photo.
His first unanswered text, on July 19, said he was not married. He followed up:
"Which picture do you like the most?"
"Want to see more....?"
"?"
"?"
About five hours later: "Helllloooooo beautiful."
About 90 minutes after that: "Is it too much for you?"
About two hours later: "Where did you go?"
Almost three hours later, at 2:03 a.m.: "I'm bored."
One text sent to the woman included an image featuring a man's groin, to which Porter added a mesage: "Am I annoying you?" Source: ESPN
The pattern of unsolicited messages without response continued for weeks as the two separately crisscrossed the country watching baseball in different venues, with Porter sending photos from hotels. The day after the woman stopped returning his texts, Porter wrote: "Mad at me?" Later that day, he sent three more pictures. The first was of a World Series ring he had won during his 12 years with the Boston Red Sox, with whom he had gone from intern to pro scouting director and won three championships. The other two were bed pictures of a man's clothed groin, to which he added a message: "Am I annoying you?"
Porter sent seven more messages that day, including one that said the Cubs had made a trade and another that said: "You're hard to get."
At 2:44 a.m. the next day, Porter texted: "I want to see you." Seven hours later, he wrote: "Do you want to see me?" Three hours after that, he said: "I'm sorry." At 10:59 p.m.: "I thought we could have some fun."
On July 23, his fourth consecutive day of texting without a response, Porter wrote: ":-( I'm a nice guy you know." Later that day, he said: "Was it the pictures that made you mad?" That night, he sent another selfie.
Porter continued to text the woman sporadically, asking on Aug. 8: "Are you ok?" The next day, both were at Wrigley Field. "I think I just saw you," Porter wrote. "You're so beautiful."
The woman told ESPN she felt panicky and hid from him.
A day later, Porter texted: "I'll be in LA this weekend at the best hotel in America, can you meet me there?" The day after that, Aug. 11, Porter sent the woman a message at 5:35 p.m. that said: "You're missing out." He followed with the 17 pictures, including the one of the naked penis.
Porter's texts culminated on Aug. 11, 2016, when the woman received a photo of a bare penis, which has been obscured for publication. Source: ESPN
About two hours after sending the photos, Porter sent more messages, the first five of which read:
"?"
"Are you there?"
"?"
"Mad at me?"
":-("
The woman said she did not know how to respond.
"Being alone in a different country made it tougher," she told ESPN. "I didn't know who to trust and rely on."
She had shown the sexually explicit image to a player from her home country and an interpreter, who helped craft the response she sent to Porter: "This is extremely inappropriate, very offensive, and getting out of line. Could you please stop sending offensive photos or msg."
Porter responded in a series of messages: "Oh I'm sorry."
"I will stop."
"I really apologize."
"Please let me know if you ever need anything work wise."
The next day, he texted again: "I'm sorry." A day later, he shared a photo from Dodger Stadium. It was the last message, the woman said, that Porter sent.
She considered alerting the Cubs but said she was concerned about possible repercussions. That summer, she said, she had developed a serious sleeping problem and was wracked with anxiety about whether she had made the wrong decision in coming to the U.S. Eventually, the woman said, she told her bosses, who referred her to a lawyer and connected her with a Cubs employee from her home country.
The woman and the employee met during the 2016 postseason in Chicago. The woman did not want to identify the employee publicly because she feared retribution. The employee, she said, told her Porter wanted to apologize in person. She said she did not want to see him. The employee, she said, encouraged her to use the situation to her advantage. She said he pressed her numerous times on whether she planned to file a lawsuit against Porter.
In an interview on Monday, the employee confirmed he knows Porter and the woman and that he had discussed the situation with both. When asked by ESPN if he told the woman to use the situation to her advantage, the employee said: "I was just listening to both. I didn't want to ruin anything. I didn't want to be on one side."
Following the Cubs' victory over the Cleveland Indians for their first World Series championship in 108 years, Porter left the organization to join the Arizona Diamondbacks as an assistant general manager.
The woman said she remained in touch with the Cubs employee and saw him at spring training in 2017, when she said she was still considering filing a lawsuit. The employee became angry, she said, and they haven't spoken since. The employee denied getting angry, adding that "whenever I was talking to her, I was basically listening to her."
The woman declined to pursue legal action and told ESPN she has no plans to do so.
The Cubs released a statement to ESPN late Monday, saying, "This story came to our attention tonight and we are not aware of this incident ever being reported to the organization."
"Had we been notified, we would have taken swift action as the alleged behavior is in violation of our code of conduct," the team said. "While these two individuals are no longer with the organization, we take issues of sexual harassment seriously and plan to investigate the matter."
Over the course of the 2017 season, the woman said, she turned down opportunities to travel to Arizona to cover the Diamondbacks because she was afraid of running into Porter. She said she did not see him again until the postseason, when he was standing near the batting cage at the Diamondbacks' stadium. She said she immediately left the area and hid.
"While I was hiding, I was frustrated," she told ESPN in 2017. "Why do I have to hide?"
When the Mets sought a GM to work alongside -- and perhaps potentially take over from -- team president Sandy Alderson, Porter emerged as a finalist and beat out former colleague and Red Sox assistant GM Zack Scott. Zoom via AP
Porter's success in baseball continued. His name was frequently mentioned when GM jobs opened. He interviewed for the Los Angeles Angels' job this winter and was a finalist behind Perry Minasian. When the Mets sought a GM to work alongside -- and perhaps potentially take over from -- team president Alderson, Porter emerged as a finalist and beat out former colleague and Red Sox assistant GM Zack Scott, who later joined the Mets in the same role.
The woman, meanwhile, returned to her home country and left the journalism industry altogether. She now works in finance.
While she said the fallout of the texts from Porter wasn't the sole reason for leaving the industry, it caused her to think about her future -- and how remaining around baseball long term was simply untenable.
"It would be a lie to say similar occurrences hadn't happened to me in [my home country]," she said. "It's a male-dominated industry. But it was a tipping point for me. I started to ask myself, 'Why do I have to put myself through these situations to earn a living?'"
WTF?Q??Q
This is the most Mets like F*CK UP EVER
yo that in itself is a you could be fired offence
that is a HUGE screw up!
Was that even an ACCIDENT?
And do NOT forget
these white boys were out here trying to DEFEND that stalker FREAK on social media
saying WHY she waited 5 years?
These incel cuck weirdos were getting MAD at ESPN and Passan for NOT reporting the story SOONER
IGNORING THE FACT Passan did NOT work at ESPN at the time
and the woman SPECIFICALLY ASKED them NOT to report it cause she would be targeted.
Recap of Sandy Alderson’s press conference on the firing of Jared Porter
The club president answered questions about his former general manager.
www.amazinavenue.com
One unfortunate, and likely unintentional, aspect of the press conference was that Alderson revealed the country of origin for the reporter who was the recipient of Porter’s harassment, a detail which had been left out to protect her identity thus far.
Recap of Sandy Alderson’s press conference on the firing of Jared Porter
113
The club president answered questions about his former general manager.
By Brian Salvatore Jan 19, 2021, 6:42pm EST
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The timeline, according to Alderson, started with a 5:30pm phone call yesterday from Porter, where he made Alderson aware of the ESPN piece that was to go live later that evening. Porter explained the situation, admitted fault, expressed remorse, but Alderson felt that the gravity of the situation was not clear until reading the ESPN article and ‘seeing the video,’ which refers to the narrated slideshow video that was part of ESPN’s coverage.
Alderson spoke to someone at ESPN at 10pm, and had to craft a statement before the piece went live, and so had 15 minutes to put something together so the Mets would be represented in the piece. After both he and Cohen read the piece, they spoke on the phone this morning, came to the same conclusion about Porter’s future with the team, and Alderson made the phone call shortly thereafter to let Porter know their decision.
Alderson noted that this was carried out just about as quickly as possible, and was clear that this would have eliminated Porter from consideration for the GM position had the team known ahead of time. “Suffice it to say, if we had known about it in advance, it would’ve been a disqualification.”
One unfortunate, and likely unintentional, aspect of the press conference was that Alderson revealed the country of origin for the reporter who was the recipient of Porter’s harassment, a detail which had been left out to protect her identity thus far.
Alderson expressed utter shock at the allegations, saying that there was not a single voice from all of the folks consulted about Porter’s hire, from other clubs to references to former coworkers, that expressed even the slightest hint of Porter’s unfitness for the job. The team also conducted a routine background check, and asked Porter point blank if there was anything else they should know, to which he replied no.
It was noted that Alderson has not heard from any players, but knew that one anonymous player spoke out. Alderson said that he wished the player had the confidence to give a quote with attribution, because the player was right to call for the firing.
Of all of the questions asked on the call, the most important and direct, both in asking and in the answer, came from Hannah Keyser of Yahoo Sports. Keyser asked if anyone that Alderson and co. spoke to in Porter’s vetting was a women. Alderson’s initial, stark, answer was simply “no.” He followed it up by saying that the lack of women was “one of the unfortunate circumstances that exists in the game today,“ noting that there are very few women in senior management positions anywhere in baseball. Keyser capped off her time with a simple, and direct, “That is something to consider going forward.”
A theme that continued throughout the call was the idea that Alderson felt that, even under an “FBI-level” background check, there is always a risk with every hire that there is something hiding in someone’s past. Alderson frequently came back to the idea of this firing being a result of the team’s commitment to character, integrity, and transparency. Alderson expressed, at multiple points, a need for greater diversity across baseball, and specifically in the Mets organization.
The call also revealed some of the practical details of the Mets’ front office structure at the moment, which sees a ‘core group’ consisting of assistant general manager Zack Scott, senior vice president John Ricco, head of amateur and international scouting Tommy Tanous, head of pro scouting and Sandy’s son Bryn Alderson, recent analytics hire Ben Zauzmer, research and development director Joe Lefkowitz, and senior director of baseball operations Ian Levin.
When asked about replacing Porter, Alderson cited the less than one day since the story broke, and said that an outside hire was not going to happen this late into the offseason. When pressed, he said that it might make sense for assistant GM Scott to step into the role, or for Scott and Alderson to both share responsibility. He spoke of an update in ‘a day or two.’
When speaking specifically of what a Porter-less front office means to the Mets, Alderson pointed to ‘smaller moves to fill out our 25 and 40-man rosters” as perhaps being a casualty of Porter’s dismissal, due to his contacts in the game. Alderson indicated that free agent signings and larger trades, like the one for Francisco Lindor, had more of his mark on them, whereas yesterday’s trade for Joey Lucchesi was something that came more from Porter.
The similarity between the situation with Porter and Carlos Beltran, each being hired in the autumn and not making it to spring training, was addressed. Alderson pointed out the failure of two different front offices and two different vetting processes, but did not see too many similarities outside of the end results.
Alderson was unaware if Major League Baseball would open an investigation into Porter, but believed that they might.
Sparked by a question by Marc Carig of the Athletic, Alderson stated that he felt that society in general, more than baseball in particular, was at fault for the treatment of women. When Justin Toscano of the Bergen Record asked what the message is for women who feel discouraged about this situation and those like it, Alderson said that while the incident itself is discouraging, the response to this by the Mets - referring to their swift action - should be encouraging.
Steve Cohen, according to Alderson, wants to take a zero tolerance approach with situations such as this. There was a little pushback on this, pointing to Point72’s alleged history of gender discrimination, to which Alderson could simply point to the status quo he is attempting to set at the Mets.
The overall tenor of the conversation was that Alderson and Cohen were blindsided by this news, and felt the need to move swiftly and decisively. The team seems, at least from Alderson’s statements, interested in creating a more fair and diverse organization, and wants to improve in areas where it is clearly lacking. That is all a wonderful sentiment, but it all rings hollow if more actions are not taken. Hopefully, today’s press conference was the start of a new approach, and not simply the end of the Porter saga.
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The club president answered questions about his former general manager.
By Brian Salvatore Jan 19, 2021, 6:42pm EST
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The timeline, according to Alderson, started with a 5:30pm phone call yesterday from Porter, where he made Alderson aware of the ESPN piece that was to go live later that evening. Porter explained the situation, admitted fault, expressed remorse, but Alderson felt that the gravity of the situation was not clear until reading the ESPN article and ‘seeing the video,’ which refers to the narrated slideshow video that was part of ESPN’s coverage.
Alderson spoke to someone at ESPN at 10pm, and had to craft a statement before the piece went live, and so had 15 minutes to put something together so the Mets would be represented in the piece. After both he and Cohen read the piece, they spoke on the phone this morning, came to the same conclusion about Porter’s future with the team, and Alderson made the phone call shortly thereafter to let Porter know their decision.
Alderson noted that this was carried out just about as quickly as possible, and was clear that this would have eliminated Porter from consideration for the GM position had the team known ahead of time. “Suffice it to say, if we had known about it in advance, it would’ve been a disqualification.”
One unfortunate, and likely unintentional, aspect of the press conference was that Alderson revealed the country of origin for the reporter who was the recipient of Porter’s harassment, a detail which had been left out to protect her identity thus far.
Alderson expressed utter shock at the allegations, saying that there was not a single voice from all of the folks consulted about Porter’s hire, from other clubs to references to former coworkers, that expressed even the slightest hint of Porter’s unfitness for the job. The team also conducted a routine background check, and asked Porter point blank if there was anything else they should know, to which he replied no.
Alderson mentioned a ‘400 employee Zoom call’ earlier today, where the organization split people up into small groups to discuss this situation. Alderson continued to emphasize the importance in creating a culture both from the top down and the bottom up, and that he felt it was important to get the opinions of many, many voices within the organization, to make sure that the Mets were representing all of them, as they all represent the Mets to others.
It was noted that Alderson has not heard from any players, but knew that one anonymous player spoke out. Alderson said that he wished the player had the confidence to give a quote with attribution, because the player was right to call for the firing.
Of all of the questions asked on the call, the most important and direct, both in asking and in the answer, came from Hannah Keyser of Yahoo Sports. Keyser asked if anyone that Alderson and co. spoke to in Porter’s vetting was a women. Alderson’s initial, stark, answer was simply “no.” He followed it up by saying that the lack of women was “one of the unfortunate circumstances that exists in the game today,“ noting that there are very few women in senior management positions anywhere in baseball. Keyser capped off her time with a simple, and direct, “That is something to consider going forward.”
A theme that continued throughout the call was the idea that Alderson felt that, even under an “FBI-level” background check, there is always a risk with every hire that there is something hiding in someone’s past. Alderson frequently came back to the idea of this firing being a result of the team’s commitment to character, integrity, and transparency. Alderson expressed, at multiple points, a need for greater diversity across baseball, and specifically in the Mets organization.
The call also revealed some of the practical details of the Mets’ front office structure at the moment, which sees a ‘core group’ consisting of assistant general manager Zack Scott, senior vice president John Ricco, head of amateur and international scouting Tommy Tanous, head of pro scouting and Sandy’s son Bryn Alderson, recent analytics hire Ben Zauzmer, research and development director Joe Lefkowitz, and senior director of baseball operations Ian Levin.
When asked about replacing Porter, Alderson cited the less than one day since the story broke, and said that an outside hire was not going to happen this late into the offseason. When pressed, he said that it might make sense for assistant GM Scott to step into the role, or for Scott and Alderson to both share responsibility. He spoke of an update in ‘a day or two.’
When speaking specifically of what a Porter-less front office means to the Mets, Alderson pointed to ‘smaller moves to fill out our 25 and 40-man rosters” as perhaps being a casualty of Porter’s dismissal, due to his contacts in the game. Alderson indicated that free agent signings and larger trades, like the one for Francisco Lindor, had more of his mark on them, whereas yesterday’s trade for Joey Lucchesi was something that came more from Porter.
The similarity between the situation with Porter and Carlos Beltran, each being hired in the autumn and not making it to spring training, was addressed. Alderson pointed out the failure of two different front offices and two different vetting processes, but did not see too many similarities outside of the end results.
Alderson was unaware if Major League Baseball would open an investigation into Porter, but believed that they might.
Sparked by a question by Marc Carig of the Athletic, Alderson stated that he felt that society in general, more than baseball in particular, was at fault for the treatment of women. When Justin Toscano of the Bergen Record asked what the message is for women who feel discouraged about this situation and those like it, Alderson said that while the incident itself is discouraging, the response to this by the Mets - referring to their swift action - should be encouraging.
Steve Cohen, according to Alderson, wants to take a zero tolerance approach with situations such as this. There was a little pushback on this, pointing to Point72’s alleged history of gender discrimination, to which Alderson could simply point to the status quo he is attempting to set at the Mets.
The overall tenor of the conversation was that Alderson and Cohen were blindsided by this news, and felt the need to move swiftly and decisively. The team seems, at least from Alderson’s statements, interested in creating a more fair and diverse organization, and wants to improve in areas where it is clearly lacking. That is all a wonderful sentiment, but it all rings hollow if more actions are not taken. Hopefully, today’s press conference was the start of a new approach, and not simply the end of the Porter saga.
Sandy Alderson's post-Jared Porter presser showed more Mets' problems, including a statement sent before reading ESPN's report
The Mets' initial reaction to ESPN's Jared Porter story was awful. Team president Sandy Alderson said they wrote it before reading the story.
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Sandy Alderson’s post-Jared Porter presser showed more Mets’ problems, including a statement sent before reading ESPN’s report
ESPNMLBBy Andrew Bucholtz on 01/19/2021
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On Tuesday, the New York Mets fired newly-hired general manager Jared Porter for cause following an ESPN report from Jeff Passan and Mina Kimes Monday night about Porter’s past explicit texts to a female journalist in 2016 while he was working for the Chicago Cubs. That report indicated that Porter sent more than 60 texts to the journalist without a response, including repeated requests to meet him at a hotel and finishing with a photo of an erect penis. And on Tuesday, Mets’ president Sandy Alderson and (new) owner Steve Cohen both “independently decided” (according to Alderson’s remarks in a press conference Tuesday afternoon, as relayed by Ken Davidoff of The New York Post) to fire Porter for cause, meaning he won’t be paid for the four-year contract he had signed on for. But that press conference from Alderson contained an incredible amount of mammoth missteps, and it didn’t exactly provide much faith that the Mets’ organization has actually turned a page from all of its recent media–related embarrassments.
The biggest, and possibly most consequential, error here came from Alderson stating a crucial detail relating to the female journalist’s identity, which was deliberately not included in the ESPN story to prevent reprisals against her. Multiple reporters on the call tweeted about Alderson improperly providing this information. Granted, this was on a media conference call rather than in a publicly-available statement, so there’s still a chance that the information won’t actually get out to anyone who would use it improperly (and it’s not included in the Alderson video clip from that press conference that’s been made public at the top of the MLB.com story on this), but that’s still an incredibly problematic move. ESPN has that information and chose to omit it from their public report for obvious reasons; while the Mets obviously have that information too, they should not be relaying that to even a group of journalists who were not the ones who reported this story.
Another key element here that doesn’t look good came from Alderson’s remarks on the statement the Mets sent out last night when this story broke. Here is that statement, via Tim Britton of The Athletic:
The timing here is quite important. Britton tweeted that statement at 11:26 p.m. Eastern, and appears to have been the first one to do so. Passan tweeted ESPN’s story on this at 11:04 p.m. Eastern:
If that statement was to ESPN in response to general questions about Porter’s behavior before they actually published their story, that would be perhaps more understandable (and the “your story” does make it seem that that’s how this started). If the Mets did not have all the information in the ESPN story until that information was published, a “we do not condone” and “we will follow up” statement to the outlet running that story for its initial publication makes sense. But the execution here meant something different; that was a statement the Mets sent to the entire media that covers them, and one they sent out at least 20 minutes after ESPN’s story went live. But Alderson confirmed in his press conference Tuesday that it was largely written before they saw the details of the ESPN story, as Davidoff notes:
That particular timing seems incredibly bad. As mentioned, a “We’re investigating” would have been more logical if it was a response to ESPN before they ran their story. Or it might even have been possible to go with only that if it went live immediately after ESPN’s publication, and if it explicitly said “This is based on the information we had before ESPN published this; we will analyze the published report in full and announce further actions tomorrow.” That wouldn’t have been a great move, as there still would have been questions about why they couldn’t react to the published material in a reasonable amount of time, but it at least wouldn’t have furthered the idea their actual statement gave, which was that they just “take these matters seriously” but were not committing to any actual action. And that statement got them absolutely roasted Monday night. If that was all they were willing to say publicly until Tuesday, it might have been better to just leave that as a pre-publication statement sent to ESPN rather than a statement sent widely after ESPN’s publication.
There is some minor sympathy here for the time zone involved, but it doesn’t explain everything. Yes, this story was published after 11 p.m. Eastern, and it’s maybe understandable why Alderson didn’t immediately call Cohen and why they didn’t both decide on a firing at that hour. (Although, that probably would have worked out better for them, and if there ever was a “wake the owner up!” moment, it’s this.) But the Mets were not ambushed here; they were given advance notice by ESPN that a story was coming, which led to them talking to Porter and generating that poor initial statement largely in advance of ESPN’s publication of the story. And it certainly would seem smarter for both Cohen and Alderson, knowing that a significant story like this is coming, to read it in detail as soon as it is published and then decide how to respond then, even if it means them (and their PR department, who doubtless did the bulk of the work of actually writing this statement) staying up a little later than normal and putting out an actual response Monday night.
But even no response (beyond the pre-publication one sent to ESPN) Monday night would have been better than what the Mets actually did. The timing of their statement, more than 20 minutes after the story’s publication, gave the impression that it was a statement made with the knowledge of all that was in that story. And as such, it was perceived as a totally inadequate reaction. And if Alderson and Cohen both believed that they had to terminate Porter after seeing what was in that story, they should either have announced that immediately after viewing the story, or not fully responded to the story until Tuesday morning. Their half-hearted approach gave the impression that they were considering with less-than-firing punishments here even after seeing the story and only changed their tune after seeing the ferocity of the public response. And if that wasn’t actually the case (which is what Alderson said Tuesday), they did a horrible job of presenting their actual reaction.
One other incredible blunder here comes from Alderson’s comments on the Mets’ vetting of Porter. Here are those, as relayed by Yahoo Sports’ Hannah Keyser:
Sandy Alderson has worked in Major League Baseball since 1981, when he started as the Oakland Athletics’ general counsel. He became their GM in 1983 and held that role through 1997, then became MLB’s national executive president for baseball operations from 1998 to 2005, then worked as the San Diego Padres’ CEO from 2005-09, then as the Mets’ GM from 2010-18, then as an A’s advisor in 2019, then as the Mets’ team president from last September on. He has spent almost four decades in Major League Baseball, and in that time, he has certainly come across female reporters’ repeated stories of harassment from players, coaches and executives. While Porter’s particular behavior is exceptionally terrible and disqualifying, behavior along these lines has been going on for decades. Here are a couple of pieces from female reporters and columnists that exemplify that:
Sports executives sexually harassing women, whether media members or team employees, is a well–known problem. And those pieces illustrate why Alderson’s comment of getting all “glowing reviews” on Porter was incredibly flawed considering that the team did not ask a single woman about him and his character. So they asked his male coworkers what his character was like, and they responded that it was fine. And boy, that sure shows a huge flaw in many professional sports teams’ approaches to hiring.
In the end, the Mets came around to the right decision here. Retaining Porter after this story would have been incredibly bad. But they definitely messed up their response here, and made themselves again look unnecessarily foolish in the process. And Alderson’s press conference raises a lot of questions about if the organization will actually learn the needed lessons from this story.
[The New York Post; Alderson screenshot from MLB.com]
One question about Jared Porter exposed big problem in sports
By Ken Davidoff
January 19, 2021 | 8:58pm
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Punter's trick shots are an incredible 'feet'
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NEW YORK METS
Mets miss out on star free agent
Where the Mets’ front office goes from here
Sifting through the fallout of Mets’ Jared Porter disaster
It’s on Sandy Alderson to lead Mets from Jared Porter disaster: Sherman
The question came forth simply enough to Sandy Alderson:
When the Mets considered Jared Porter for their general manager opening last month — reaching out to “a variety of organizations, a number of individuals, people that had known him for a long time, people that had endorsed him. There wasn’t really a dissenting voice,” the team president explained on Tuesday afternoon — were any women among the references?
“No,” Alderson replied to Hannah Keyser of Yahoo Sports.
And that’s why diversity matters. On the Mets. In Major League Baseball. Everywhere in the universe.
The Steve Cohen Mets faced their first crisis Tuesday and dealt with it swiftly enough, terminating their new GM, Porter, 38 days after hiring him, within hours of learning of his highly disturbing conduct — unsolicited, lewd texts — with a female reporter from another country while he worked for the Cubs in 2016. Major League Baseball, too, jumped on the grenade, mobilizing for an investigation of 1) whether Porter did this to other women; and 2) who knew what and when among the Cubs, as an employee based in the journalist’s country acknowledged to ESPN (which broke the story) that he was aware of Porter’s behavior; the person no longer works for the Cubs. The Cubs announced they’ll conduct their own internal scrutiny of this matter.
SEE ALSO
It’s on Sandy Alderson to lead Mets from Jared Porter disaster: Sherman
Hence we have our annual baseball scandal, this one far less fun and far more concerning as a societal matter than last year’s Astros sign-stealing extravaganza (which compelled the Mets to fire their new manager, Carlos Beltran, who, like Porter, didn’t make it as far as spring training). Yet if clubs always will try to gain a competitive advantage on the field, one solution to doing so off the field dovetails cleanly with the very issue that toppled Porter: The dynamics of the industry must change so that, when a team vets a candidate, it reaches out to women — and people of all colors and orientations — as a matter of course.
“There does need to be more diversity across the industry,” Alderson acknowledged. “We need more diversity at the Mets.”
He can start by bringing folks of different backgrounds into the Mets’ baseball operations power structure, which currently consists solely of white men at the front office’s highest level; Luis Rojas, a Dominican Republic native, manages the team and has coaches of color in Ricky Bones (bullpen), Chili Davis (hitting) and Tony Tarasco (first base).
As Alderson noted, including women in the Porter process wouldn’t have automatically alerted the Mets to Porter’s gross behavior. However, using common sense, it surely wouldn’t have made such a discovery less likely. The more diverse voices reflecting diverse experiences you have, the better.
SEE ALSO
Answers to key questions in Mets’ Jared Porter aftermath
“It’s important that different sensitivities are reflected not just in decision-making, but in assessing the situation and determining what’s appropriate,” Alderson said. “It’s not about putting the onus on women. The onus is on all of us to root this out where it exists.”
MLB had enjoyed a banner winter on the diversity front with the Marlins’ hiring of Kim Ng, who had worked in baseball operations for 30 years, as their GM, breaking a barrier in all North American professional sports. The Yankees hope that Rachel Balkovec, the hitting coach they hired prior to the 2020 season to work with minor leaguers — who didn’t have a season thanks to the novel coronavirus — gets an opportunity to actually do her job this coming season, and the Giants’ Alyssa Nakken worked during games last year, a huge leap.
There need to be so many more huge leaps, though, to prevent such stumbles. To naturally block someone like Porter from making it this far, this fast — would the reporter have felt less isolated and helpless, or would Porter have felt less entitled, if there were more women executives and media members around the ballpark? — without being spotted for such creepiness. So that we can avoid such sorry days of reckoning.
“That’s one of the unfortunate circumstances that exists in the game today: There aren’t women in those positions with whom one can have a conversation and develop information and check references,” Alderson said, in response to Keyser’s question.
“Something to consider going forward,” Keyser suggested to Alderson, who nodded and replied, “Yes.”
Not diversity by mandate. Diversity because it makes the product, the industry, superior.
By Ken Davidoff
January 19, 2021 | 8:58pm
UP NEXT:
Punter's trick shots are an incredible 'feet'
Close
MORE ON:
NEW YORK METS
Mets miss out on star free agent
Where the Mets’ front office goes from here
Sifting through the fallout of Mets’ Jared Porter disaster
It’s on Sandy Alderson to lead Mets from Jared Porter disaster: Sherman
The question came forth simply enough to Sandy Alderson:
When the Mets considered Jared Porter for their general manager opening last month — reaching out to “a variety of organizations, a number of individuals, people that had known him for a long time, people that had endorsed him. There wasn’t really a dissenting voice,” the team president explained on Tuesday afternoon — were any women among the references?
“No,” Alderson replied to Hannah Keyser of Yahoo Sports.
And that’s why diversity matters. On the Mets. In Major League Baseball. Everywhere in the universe.
The Steve Cohen Mets faced their first crisis Tuesday and dealt with it swiftly enough, terminating their new GM, Porter, 38 days after hiring him, within hours of learning of his highly disturbing conduct — unsolicited, lewd texts — with a female reporter from another country while he worked for the Cubs in 2016. Major League Baseball, too, jumped on the grenade, mobilizing for an investigation of 1) whether Porter did this to other women; and 2) who knew what and when among the Cubs, as an employee based in the journalist’s country acknowledged to ESPN (which broke the story) that he was aware of Porter’s behavior; the person no longer works for the Cubs. The Cubs announced they’ll conduct their own internal scrutiny of this matter.
SEE ALSO
It’s on Sandy Alderson to lead Mets from Jared Porter disaster: Sherman
Hence we have our annual baseball scandal, this one far less fun and far more concerning as a societal matter than last year’s Astros sign-stealing extravaganza (which compelled the Mets to fire their new manager, Carlos Beltran, who, like Porter, didn’t make it as far as spring training). Yet if clubs always will try to gain a competitive advantage on the field, one solution to doing so off the field dovetails cleanly with the very issue that toppled Porter: The dynamics of the industry must change so that, when a team vets a candidate, it reaches out to women — and people of all colors and orientations — as a matter of course.
“There does need to be more diversity across the industry,” Alderson acknowledged. “We need more diversity at the Mets.”
He can start by bringing folks of different backgrounds into the Mets’ baseball operations power structure, which currently consists solely of white men at the front office’s highest level; Luis Rojas, a Dominican Republic native, manages the team and has coaches of color in Ricky Bones (bullpen), Chili Davis (hitting) and Tony Tarasco (first base).
As Alderson noted, including women in the Porter process wouldn’t have automatically alerted the Mets to Porter’s gross behavior. However, using common sense, it surely wouldn’t have made such a discovery less likely. The more diverse voices reflecting diverse experiences you have, the better.
SEE ALSO
Answers to key questions in Mets’ Jared Porter aftermath
“It’s important that different sensitivities are reflected not just in decision-making, but in assessing the situation and determining what’s appropriate,” Alderson said. “It’s not about putting the onus on women. The onus is on all of us to root this out where it exists.”
MLB had enjoyed a banner winter on the diversity front with the Marlins’ hiring of Kim Ng, who had worked in baseball operations for 30 years, as their GM, breaking a barrier in all North American professional sports. The Yankees hope that Rachel Balkovec, the hitting coach they hired prior to the 2020 season to work with minor leaguers — who didn’t have a season thanks to the novel coronavirus — gets an opportunity to actually do her job this coming season, and the Giants’ Alyssa Nakken worked during games last year, a huge leap.
There need to be so many more huge leaps, though, to prevent such stumbles. To naturally block someone like Porter from making it this far, this fast — would the reporter have felt less isolated and helpless, or would Porter have felt less entitled, if there were more women executives and media members around the ballpark? — without being spotted for such creepiness. So that we can avoid such sorry days of reckoning.
“That’s one of the unfortunate circumstances that exists in the game today: There aren’t women in those positions with whom one can have a conversation and develop information and check references,” Alderson said, in response to Keyser’s question.
“Something to consider going forward,” Keyser suggested to Alderson, who nodded and replied, “Yes.”
Not diversity by mandate. Diversity because it makes the product, the industry, superior.
Mets fire general manager who sent explicit texts to female reporter
Guardian sport and agencies
Tue 19 Jan 2021 09.21 EST
24
The New York Mets have fired their general manager, Jared Porter, after he confirmed an ESPN story that he sent graphic, uninvited text messages and images to a female reporter in 2016 when he was working for the Chicago Cubs.
Porter sent dozens of texts to the woman, concluding with a picture of “an erect, naked penis”, according to the report. ESPN said it obtained a copy of the text history.
Mets owner Steve Cohen said in a tweet on Tuesday morning that Porter had been fired. “In my initial press conference I spoke about the importance of integrity and I meant it,” Cohen wrote. “There should be zero tolerance for this type of behavior.”
Porter was hired by Mets president Sandy Alderson, who confirmed the firing on Tuesday. “The New York Mets have terminated general manager Jared Porter, effective immediately,” Alderson said in a statement. “Jared’s actions, as reflected by events disclosed last night, failed to meet the Mets’ standards for professionalism and personal conduct.”
New York hired the 41-year-old Porter last month. He agreed to a four-year contract after spending the past four seasons with the Arizona Diamondbacks as senior vice president and assistant general manager.
The woman was not identified in the report. ESPN said she was a foreign correspondent who had moved to the United States to cover Major League Baseball. She ignored more than 60 messages from Porter before he sent the last vulgar photo, according to ESPN. The woman told ESPN the texts from Porter contributed to her decision to leave the journalism industry and return to her home country.
ESPN said it contacted Porter on Monday evening and he acknowledged texting with the woman. At first, he said he hadn’t sent any pictures of himself, but when informed the exchanges show he sent selfies and other pictures, he said “the more explicit ones are not of me. Those are like, kinda like joke-stock images”.
After asking whether the outlet intended to run a story, Porter requested more time before later declining further comment.
Before his Diamondbacks tenure, Porter worked under Theo Epstein with the Boston Red Sox and Chicago Cubs, winning three World Series championships in Boston’s front office and another with the Cubs. He was the Cubs’ director of professional scouting when he sent the messages to the woman.
It’s another embarrassing development for the Mets, who energized their fans by acquiring star shortstop Francisco Lindor and several other notable players since Cohen purchased the club from the Wilpon and Katz families for $2.4bn in early November.
Last offseason, under previous GM Brodie Van Wagenen, the Mets hired former Carlos Beltrán as manager only to cut ties with him two and a half months later when he was implicated in MLB’s investigation of illegal sign stealing by Houston when Beltrán was an Astros player in 2017.
Beltrán was let go – without managing a single game – on 16 January 2020, following a tenure that lasted 77 days. ESPN’s report was posted online 37 days after Porter was introduced as GM of the Mets, a role he called his “dream job”.
“I think what we’ve talked about the most is just a cultural shift, for one,” Porter said when he was introduced as GM last month. “Adding good people to the organization. Improving on the organizational culture.”
- Jared Porter sent the uninvited images in 2016, when at Cubs
- ESPN says texts ended with photo of ‘erect, naked penis’
Guardian sport and agencies
Tue 19 Jan 2021 09.21 EST
24
The New York Mets have fired their general manager, Jared Porter, after he confirmed an ESPN story that he sent graphic, uninvited text messages and images to a female reporter in 2016 when he was working for the Chicago Cubs.
Porter sent dozens of texts to the woman, concluding with a picture of “an erect, naked penis”, according to the report. ESPN said it obtained a copy of the text history.
Mets owner Steve Cohen said in a tweet on Tuesday morning that Porter had been fired. “In my initial press conference I spoke about the importance of integrity and I meant it,” Cohen wrote. “There should be zero tolerance for this type of behavior.”
Porter was hired by Mets president Sandy Alderson, who confirmed the firing on Tuesday. “The New York Mets have terminated general manager Jared Porter, effective immediately,” Alderson said in a statement. “Jared’s actions, as reflected by events disclosed last night, failed to meet the Mets’ standards for professionalism and personal conduct.”
New York hired the 41-year-old Porter last month. He agreed to a four-year contract after spending the past four seasons with the Arizona Diamondbacks as senior vice president and assistant general manager.
The woman was not identified in the report. ESPN said she was a foreign correspondent who had moved to the United States to cover Major League Baseball. She ignored more than 60 messages from Porter before he sent the last vulgar photo, according to ESPN. The woman told ESPN the texts from Porter contributed to her decision to leave the journalism industry and return to her home country.
ESPN said it contacted Porter on Monday evening and he acknowledged texting with the woman. At first, he said he hadn’t sent any pictures of himself, but when informed the exchanges show he sent selfies and other pictures, he said “the more explicit ones are not of me. Those are like, kinda like joke-stock images”.
After asking whether the outlet intended to run a story, Porter requested more time before later declining further comment.
Before his Diamondbacks tenure, Porter worked under Theo Epstein with the Boston Red Sox and Chicago Cubs, winning three World Series championships in Boston’s front office and another with the Cubs. He was the Cubs’ director of professional scouting when he sent the messages to the woman.
It’s another embarrassing development for the Mets, who energized their fans by acquiring star shortstop Francisco Lindor and several other notable players since Cohen purchased the club from the Wilpon and Katz families for $2.4bn in early November.
Last offseason, under previous GM Brodie Van Wagenen, the Mets hired former Carlos Beltrán as manager only to cut ties with him two and a half months later when he was implicated in MLB’s investigation of illegal sign stealing by Houston when Beltrán was an Astros player in 2017.
Beltrán was let go – without managing a single game – on 16 January 2020, following a tenure that lasted 77 days. ESPN’s report was posted online 37 days after Porter was introduced as GM of the Mets, a role he called his “dream job”.
“I think what we’ve talked about the most is just a cultural shift, for one,” Porter said when he was introduced as GM last month. “Adding good people to the organization. Improving on the organizational culture.”
Mets Terminate General Manager Who Reportedly Sent Lewd Texts To Reporter
JASON BEAUBIEN
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This screen grab from a December Zoom call shows New York Mets general manager Jared Porter. Porter sent graphic, uninvited text messages and images to a female reporter in 2016 when he was working for the Chicago Cubs in their front office, ESPN reported Monday night.
Zoom via AP
The New York Mets have fired the team's new general manager Jared Porter over alleged sexual harassment of a female reporter.
Porter sent explicit, unsolicited texts of himself repeatedly to the journalist in 2016, ESPN reported on Monday evening. At the time, Jared Porter was the director of professional scouting for the Chicago Cubs. The reporter moved to the U.S. from an unnamed foreign country to cover Major League Baseball, according to ESPN.
She said she initially thought Porter was "volunteering himself as a source," the sports network reported. In messages obtained by ESPN, Porter texted, "You're gorgeous. Want more of me?"
The reporter told ESPN that she said yes, adding, "I thought it would be awkward to say no. I didn't think of where it would progress."
He then reportedly sent a selfie of a man's trousers with a bulge in the crotch.
The woman stopped responding, ESPN reported. But then "Porter would send 62 unanswered texts ... between July 19 and Aug. 10," ESPN said, including one of an erect penis. At one point Porter reportedly asked, "Am I annoying you?" and "Why won't you answer me beautiful?"
Article continues after sponsor message
The journalist, who's since returned to her home country and changed professions, told ESPN that she didn't know how to respond to the repeated messages. She's asked not to be identified out of fear of a backlash. The sports network said it obtained the text messages in 2017 but held the story initially because the woman felt going public with it would hurt her career.
Mets owner Steven Cohen tweeted this morning, "We have terminated Jared Porter." Cohen added, "There should be zero tolerance for this type of behavior."
"The Mets take these matters seriously, expect professional and ethical behavior from all of our employees, and certainly do not condone the conduct described in your story," Mets president Sandy Alderson said in a statement. "We will follow up as we review the facts regarding this serious issue."
Alderson said Porter has expressed remorse and "has previously apologized for his actions." ESPN reported that Porter acknowledged texting the reporter, and denied that the explicit pictures are of him.
Porter, 41, had been considered a rising star in Major League Baseball. He worked for the Boston Red Sox from 2004 to 2015, rising to the director of professional scouting. From there, he was the top scout at the Chicago Cubs for two seasons before being hired by the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Last month, the New York Mets hired Porter as the general manager of the New York Mets, a role he called his "dream job." He was in that role for less than six weeks.
JASON BEAUBIEN
FacebookTwitterInstagram
This screen grab from a December Zoom call shows New York Mets general manager Jared Porter. Porter sent graphic, uninvited text messages and images to a female reporter in 2016 when he was working for the Chicago Cubs in their front office, ESPN reported Monday night.
Zoom via AP
The New York Mets have fired the team's new general manager Jared Porter over alleged sexual harassment of a female reporter.
Porter sent explicit, unsolicited texts of himself repeatedly to the journalist in 2016, ESPN reported on Monday evening. At the time, Jared Porter was the director of professional scouting for the Chicago Cubs. The reporter moved to the U.S. from an unnamed foreign country to cover Major League Baseball, according to ESPN.
She said she initially thought Porter was "volunteering himself as a source," the sports network reported. In messages obtained by ESPN, Porter texted, "You're gorgeous. Want more of me?"
The reporter told ESPN that she said yes, adding, "I thought it would be awkward to say no. I didn't think of where it would progress."
He then reportedly sent a selfie of a man's trousers with a bulge in the crotch.
The woman stopped responding, ESPN reported. But then "Porter would send 62 unanswered texts ... between July 19 and Aug. 10," ESPN said, including one of an erect penis. At one point Porter reportedly asked, "Am I annoying you?" and "Why won't you answer me beautiful?"
Article continues after sponsor message
The journalist, who's since returned to her home country and changed professions, told ESPN that she didn't know how to respond to the repeated messages. She's asked not to be identified out of fear of a backlash. The sports network said it obtained the text messages in 2017 but held the story initially because the woman felt going public with it would hurt her career.
Mets owner Steven Cohen tweeted this morning, "We have terminated Jared Porter." Cohen added, "There should be zero tolerance for this type of behavior."
"The Mets take these matters seriously, expect professional and ethical behavior from all of our employees, and certainly do not condone the conduct described in your story," Mets president Sandy Alderson said in a statement. "We will follow up as we review the facts regarding this serious issue."
Alderson said Porter has expressed remorse and "has previously apologized for his actions." ESPN reported that Porter acknowledged texting the reporter, and denied that the explicit pictures are of him.
Porter, 41, had been considered a rising star in Major League Baseball. He worked for the Boston Red Sox from 2004 to 2015, rising to the director of professional scouting. From there, he was the top scout at the Chicago Cubs for two seasons before being hired by the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Last month, the New York Mets hired Porter as the general manager of the New York Mets, a role he called his "dream job." He was in that role for less than six weeks.
imo with this GM debacle blacks and hispanics should stay as far away from this team as possible.Yo you aint kidding....
mets have historically been a lowkey racist organization( ask darryl strawberry, doc gooden, kevin mitchell, willie randolph)
george springer made the right decision going to the blue jays
Investing: WTF?!? People Are Heavily Trading AMC & Gamestop Stocks Because of Reddit
@tallblacknyc @godofwine People Are Heavily Trading AMC Stocks Because of Reddit By Justin Curto Photo: Noam Galai/Getty Images Like a scene out of The Big Short, or maybe The Wolf of Wall Street — some finance movie, you get the idea — AMC Entertainment has become one of the day’s most...
www.bgol.us
Barstool's Dave Portnoy, Mets' Steve Cohen spar over GameStop drama
Barstool founder Dave Portnoy directed his rage over the GameStop stock drama at New York Mets owner Steve Cohen on Thursday.
Steve Cohen and Dave Portnoy feud over GameStop on Twitter
A real life rumble over GameStop between Wall Street and Main Street broke out Thursday between hedge fund billionaire Steve Cohen and day-trading poster boy Dave Portnoy. The back-and-forth kicked…
nypost.com
Yo Stevey?
This is NOT want you want to do right now nope not at all
making for of regular working folk
after your involvement with SEC fines and saving hedge funds
No my friend you better just close your social media cause I PROMISE you
a couple more tweets?
You gonna catch a bad one.
Mets owner off Twitter after stock-fueled threats
Mets owner Steve Cohen is taking a break from Twitter after saying his family received threats this week amid an ongoing stock-trading standoff involving GameStop and a few other struggling companies.
New York Mets owner Steve Cohen taking 'break' from Twitter following threats tied to stock flurry
12:17 PM ET
- ESPN News Services
"I've really enjoyed the back and forth with Mets fans on Twitter which was unfortunately overtaken this week by misinformation unrelated to the Mets that led to our family getting personal threats," Cohen said in a statement Saturday after deactivating his account Friday night. "So I'm going to take a break for now. We have other ways to listen to your suggestions and remain committed to doing that. I love our team, this community, and our fans, who are the best in baseball. Bottom line is that this week's events in no way affect our resources and drive to put a championship team on the field."
Cohen's decision to step off Twitter appears to stem from conflict between independent investors and hedge funds. Day traders, mobilized on Reddit, have poured about all the money they can find into the stocks of struggling video game retailer GameStop and a few other beaten-down companies. Their buying has swollen those companies' share prices beyond anyone's imagination and inflicted huge losses on the hedge funds that had placed bets that the stocks would drop, also known as "shorting."
Cohen's Point72 Asset Management became involved when it made a $750 million infusion into Melvin Capital Management, a hedge fund that had heavily placed bets against GameStop and drew the ire of the Reddit users.
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Before closing his Twitter account, Cohen -- the richest owner in baseball, worth more than $14.5 billion -- responded to the controversy Tuesday by tweeting, "Rough crowd on Twitter tonight. Hey stock jockeys, keep bringing it."
Among the critics of Cohen, WFAN morning host and former NFL quarterback Boomer Esiason said he would stop going to Mets games "until I find out exactly what's going on here" regarding Cohen's involvement with the GameStop situation.
The Mets owner had previously garnered a Twitter following of nearly 200,000 for his irreverent interactions with fans, where he took suggestions about how to run the team, reacted to the team's biggest moves -- such as the trade for shortstop Francisco Lindor -- and teased a return of black jerseys.
Cohen first took a stake in the Mets in 2012. Last year, he gained 95% ownership in a deal that valued the club at $2.4 billion, a record sale price for a Major League Baseball team.
Folks gone learn to keep your personal shit off of twitter people stay getting zapped by their tweets.
His ol bitchass is scared lol
Report: Mickey Callaway accused of misconduct
Former Mets manager Mickey Callaway sent unsolicited messages and photos, among other inappropriate and harassing behavior, five women who work in sports media told The Athletic.
Report: Ex-New York Mets manager Mickey Callaway accused of sexual misconduct
9:30 PM ET
The women, who spoke to The Athletic under the condition of anonymity, all worked in sports media at the time of their interactions with Callaway, which spanned five years and included his run as pitching coach for the Cleveland Indians. They detailed interactions in which they said Callaway sent lewd messages, inappropriately commented on their appearances and, in one instance, thrust his crotch near a woman's face while she attempted to conduct an interview.
In an emailed response to The Athletic, Callaway wrote: "Rather than rush to respond to these general allegations of which I have just been made aware, I look forward to an opportunity to provide more specific responses. Any relationship in which I engaged has been consensual, and my conduct was in no way intended to be disrespectful to any women involved. I am married and my wife has been made aware of these general allegations."
The allegations were publicized two weeks after ESPN reported on a string of explicit, unsolicited text messages sent by now-former Mets general manager Jared Porter to a female reporter in 2016, one of which included an image of an erect penis. Porter, who was working for the Chicago Cubs at the time of the messages, was fired by the Mets after the ESPN report last month.
A Mets spokesperson told The Athletic that after hiring Callaway, the team had investigated an incident that occurred before he joined New York, but did not provide further details.
In a statement after the publication of The Athletic's report, Steve Cohen, who is only three months into his stint as Mets owner, wrote: "The conduct reported in The Athletic story today is completely unacceptable and would never be tolerated under my ownership."
Mets president Sandy Alderson, who hired Callaway in a prior stint as Mets GM, wrote: "I was appalled by the actions reported today of former manager Mickey Callaway. I was unaware of the conduct described in the story at the time of Mickey's hire or at any time during my tenure as General Manager. We have already begun a review of our hiring process to ensure our vetting of new employees is more thorough and comprehensive."
The Indians said in a statement that they were made aware of the allegations for the first time Monday night. "We are currently reviewing the matter internally and in consultation with Major League Baseball to determine appropriate next steps," the team said. "Our organization unequivocally does not condone this type of behavior. We seek to create an inclusive work environment where everyone, regardless of gender, can feel safe and comfortable to do their jobs."
One woman, who is based in New York, told The Athletic she received shirtless selfies from Callaway "two or three times a week for a month" in 2018 and that he would ask for naked pictures in return. Other times, she said, Callaway approached her in the dugout and massaged her shoulders. One of the texts from Callaway, according to The Athletic, read: "I bet you look yummy on tequila."
Another New York-based reporter said Callaway sent her more than a dozen emails beginning in April 2018, some of which came from his official Mets account, in which he commented on her physical appearance and invited her to meet socially. The reporter who said Callaway thrust his crotch near her face told The Athletic she received a video of him shirtless on a tractor, in addition to other photos.
According to The Athletic, several of the messages were unreturned, as were most of the invitations to meet socially. The interactions, according to The Athletic, made the women uncomfortable and, because of the dynamics, left them in a vulnerable position.
Callaway's pattern of behavior was so concerning that women in multiple MLB markets received warnings to be on guard around him, according to the report.
Callaway, 45, was hired as the Mets' manager in October 2017, following five seasons as the Indians' pitching coach, but was let go after going 163-161 and missing the playoffs in two years. He was then hired as the Angels' pitching coach under new manager Joe Maddon in October 2019.
Maggie Gray, Al Dukes have heated WFAN debate after Mickey Callaway report
By Peter Botte
February 2, 2021 | 6:10pm | Updated
Enlarge Image
Maggie Gray, Al DukesGetty Images; CBS Sports Network
It wasn’t quite Don Imus getting into it with Mike and the Mad Dog, but WFAN featured a minor tiff Tuesday between morning show producer Al Dukes and midday host Maggie Gray.
What started out as discussion on Twitter between the two about The Athletic report that former Mets manager Mickey Callaway had sent inappropriate emails and texts to several female media members morphed into a debate about why Gray and co-host Marc Malusis were scheduled to have former Giants star Lawrence Taylor on their afternoon program.
“You cannot blame [Mets president] Sandy Alderson for something Mickey Callaway did, and then have Lawrence Taylor on as a guest,” Dukes wrote on Twitter.
Gray later called into the “Boomer & Gio” show, and Dukes questioned the decision to have Taylor on the show.
“Maggie, who seems to stand up for women’s rights, as well she should, is having a guest on who has been convicted of bad things against underage women,” Dukes said. “Why give him a platform?”
Taylor, who was arrested in 2010 for paying for sex with an underage girl, ended up canceling the interview, but the station was told the move was unrelated to the testy conversation between Gray and Dukes, according to Newsday.
“Having L.T. on for 10 minutes is not me hiring someone who has a pattern of overstepping when it comes to women,” Gray said, referring to the Callaway story.
Dukes also asked why Taylor was a “relevant Interview” since “the Giants are not in the Super Bowl” and whether Gray – a Buffalo Bills fan — would have on O.J. Simpson to discuss the Super Bowl. She said she would not, adding “I’m going to push back on that.”
“Al, I think you’re kind of using this moment to kind of shout me down in this way that you think is going to make me look like some kind of fraud,” Gray said, before ending the discussion. “I appreciate you guys giving me the time to try to give my point of view on this thing. Be well, everybody.”
nypost.com
By Peter Botte
February 2, 2021 | 6:10pm | Updated
Enlarge Image
Maggie Gray, Al DukesGetty Images; CBS Sports Network
It wasn’t quite Don Imus getting into it with Mike and the Mad Dog, but WFAN featured a minor tiff Tuesday between morning show producer Al Dukes and midday host Maggie Gray.
What started out as discussion on Twitter between the two about The Athletic report that former Mets manager Mickey Callaway had sent inappropriate emails and texts to several female media members morphed into a debate about why Gray and co-host Marc Malusis were scheduled to have former Giants star Lawrence Taylor on their afternoon program.
“You cannot blame [Mets president] Sandy Alderson for something Mickey Callaway did, and then have Lawrence Taylor on as a guest,” Dukes wrote on Twitter.
Gray later called into the “Boomer & Gio” show, and Dukes questioned the decision to have Taylor on the show.
“Maggie, who seems to stand up for women’s rights, as well she should, is having a guest on who has been convicted of bad things against underage women,” Dukes said. “Why give him a platform?”
Taylor, who was arrested in 2010 for paying for sex with an underage girl, ended up canceling the interview, but the station was told the move was unrelated to the testy conversation between Gray and Dukes, according to Newsday.
“Having L.T. on for 10 minutes is not me hiring someone who has a pattern of overstepping when it comes to women,” Gray said, referring to the Callaway story.
Dukes also asked why Taylor was a “relevant Interview” since “the Giants are not in the Super Bowl” and whether Gray – a Buffalo Bills fan — would have on O.J. Simpson to discuss the Super Bowl. She said she would not, adding “I’m going to push back on that.”
“Al, I think you’re kind of using this moment to kind of shout me down in this way that you think is going to make me look like some kind of fraud,” Gray said, before ending the discussion. “I appreciate you guys giving me the time to try to give my point of view on this thing. Be well, everybody.”
Maggie Gray, Al Dukes have heated WFAN debate after Mickey Callaway report
It wasn’t quite Don Imus getting into it with Mike and the Mad Dog, but WFAN featured a minor tiff Tuesday between morning show producer Al Dukes and midday host Maggie Gray. What started out as di…
nypost.com
Mickey Callaway accused of lewd behavior by five women
The former Mets manager sent inappropriate photographs and promised information in return for meeting up with him.
theathletic.com
Mets, Sandy Alderson need to respond to misconduct by Jared Porter and Mickey Callaway with more diversified front office
Alderson can instantly make an impact on what he already admitted is an institutional crisis for baseball.
www.newsday.com
Mickey Callaway accused of lewd behavior by five women
The former Mets manager sent inappropriate photographs and promised information in return for meeting up with him.
Mets, Sandy Alderson need to respond to misconduct by Jared Porter and Mickey Callaway with more diversified front office
Alderson can instantly make an impact on what he already admitted is an institutional crisis for baseball.www.newsday.com
like i said lol
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