New York Mets fired CEO Jared Porter after he admitted to texting naughty reporters, owner Steve Cohen said Monday. “There should be zero tolerance for this type of behavior,” Cohen said in a tweet.
Porter sent the reporter uninvited text messages and graphics in 2016 as he worked for the Chicago chicks in their main office, ESPN reported Monday night. Porter sent the woman dozens of texts, ending with an image of “an erect, empty penis,” according to the report. ESPN said it obtained a copy of the text’s history.
New York hired Porter, 41, last month. He agreed to a four-year contract after spending the last four seasons with the Arizona Diamondbacks as senior vice president and assistant general manager.
“I spoke directly with Jared Porter about the events that took place in 2016, about which I was informed tonight for the first time. Jared acknowledged my serious misconduct, took responsibility for his behavior, expressed remorse and previously apologized for his actions. ” Mets President Sandy Alderson said in a statement before Porter was fired.
/ AP
The woman was not identified in the report. ESPN said it chose to appear recently only on condition of anonymity because it fears side effects in its home country.
ESPN said the woman was a foreign correspondent who had moved to the United States to cover Major League Baseball. He met with Porter in an elevator at Yankee Stadium in June 2016 and said they talked briefly about international baseball and exchanged business cards. She told ESPN it was the only time they had ever spoken.
After text exchanges that started by chance, Porter began complimenting his appearance, inviting him to meet him in different cities and asking him why he ignored him, ESPN said.
After sending her a naughty picture, the woman ignored more than 60 messages from Porter before he sent the last vulgar photo, according to ESPN. The woman told ESPN that she had deliberately tried to avoid him at several major stadiums in the league, and Porter’s texts eventually contributed to her decision to leave the journalism industry and return to her home country.
Porter apologized to the woman in 2016 after seeing the blank picture and writing that her messages were “extremely inappropriate, very offensive and out of line,” ESPN reported.
ESPN said it contacted Porter on Monday night, and he admitted to texting the woman. At first, he said that he did not send any pictures with him, but when he was informed about the exchanges, he sent selfies and other images, saying that “the most explicit ones are not mine. These are like jokes, “ESPN reported.
After asking if the press intended to broadcast a story, Porter asked for more time before later refusing further comments, ESPN said.
It’s another embarrassing development for the Mets, who have energized fans by acquiring shortstop Francisco Lindor and several other notable players since Cohen bought the club from the Wilpon and Katz families for $ 2.42 billion in early November.
Last season, under former GM Brodie Van Wagenen, the Mets hired former slugger Carlos Beltrán as manager only to sever ties with him two and a half months later, when he was involved in the MLB investigation into illegal sign theft. by Houston while Beltrán was an Astros player in 2017.
Beltrán was released by the Mets – without managing a single game – just over a year ago on January 16, 2020, after a period of 77 days. The ESPN report was posted online 37 days after Porter was introduced as GM of the Mets, a role he called “a dream job,” but which is now certainly in grave danger.
“Jared has proven himself at every level and in every position he has held, earning respect from his colleagues throughout baseball,” Alderson said in a statement when Porter was hired.
Prior to Diamondbacks’ tenure, Porter worked under Theo Epstein with the Boston Red Sox and Chicago Cubs, winning three World Series championships at the Boston front office and another with the Cubs. ESPN said he was the director of professional research on the chicks when he sent the woman messages.
Not fully familiar with English and American culture, the woman received help from an interpreter in building a message to Porter asking her to “please stop sending offensive photos” or messages. He apologized in the text several times and said he would stop, ESPN reported.
ESPN said it interviewed three other people who said they had seen or been told about the texts at the time.
The woman finally informed her bosses and was connected in 2016 with a lawyer and a Cubs employee from her home country, ESPN reported. He did not want to publicly identify the employee because he feared revenge, according to ESPN.
She said the Cubs employee told her Porter wanted to apologize in person, but did not want to see him. She said the employee repeatedly urged her if she intended to file a lawsuit against Porter and later Monday she got angry when she saw the employee at spring training in 2017 and said she was still taking it consideration, ESPN reported.
ESPN said the employee confirmed Monday that he had discussed the situation with Porter and the woman, but denied that he would be upset. The woman did not pursue legal action and told ESPN that she did not intend to do so.
“This story caught our attention tonight and we are not aware that this incident was ever reported to the organization,” the Cubs said in a statement to ESPN late Monday.
“If we had been notified, we would have taken quick action, because the alleged behavior violates our code of conduct,” the club said. “While these two people are no longer part of the organization, we take the issues of sexual harassment seriously and intend to investigate the issue.”
New York moved quickly last winter from Beltrán to quality control coach Luis Rojas, who managed the Mets to have a 26-34 record during the 2020 season shortened by the pandemic. They tied with Washington for the last time in the NL East and missed the playoffs for the fourth year in a row. Rojas is coming back this season.
Cohen brought back Alderson, the 2010-18 Mets general manager, as team president and immediately fired Van Wagenen and some of his office assistants.
The team initially tried to hire a president of baseball operations, but changed course when it could not get permission to interview several candidates around the majors and at least one did not want to move to New York.
Instead, the 73-year-old Alderson took over baseball operations, and the idea was for Porter to potentially grow in that role as he reports to Alderson.
“I think the most we’ve talked about is just a cultural change, for one,” Porter said when he was introduced as GM last month. “Adding good people to the organization. Improving the organizational culture.”