The New York Mets have fired general manager Jared Porter after allegedly admitting to sending lewd text messages to a female reporter, owner Steve Cohen announced Monday. “There should be zero tolerance for this type of behavior,” Cohen said in a tweet.
Porter sent graphic, unsolicited text messages and images to the reporter in 2016 when he worked for the Chicago Cubs in their front office, ESPN reported Monday night. Porter sent dozens of text messages to the woman, according to the report, and concluded with a photo of “a stiff, naked penis.” ESPN said it obtained a copy of the text history.
Last month, New York hired 41-year-old Porter. 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.
“I spoke directly with Jared Porter about events that took place in 2016 that we were first made aware of tonight. Jared has admitted to me his grave error of judgment, taken responsibility for his behavior, has expressed regret and previously apologized for his deeds, ” Mets president Sandy Alderson said in a statement before Porter was fired.
/ AP
The woman was not identified in the report. ESPN said she chose to come forward only on the condition of anonymity recently, fearing backlash in her home country.
ESPN said the woman was a foreign correspondent who moved to the United States to defeat Major League Baseball. She met Porter in a Yankee Stadium elevator in June 2016 and said they spoke briefly about international baseball and exchanged business cards. She told ESPN that this was the only time they ever spoke.
After text exchanges that started casually, Porter began to compliment her appearance, invite her to meet him in different cities and ask why she was ignoring him, ESPN said.
After sending her a lewd photo, the woman ignored more than 60 messages from Porter before sending the latest vulgar photo, according to ESPN. The woman told ESPN that she was deliberately trying to dodge him in a few big league ballparks, and Porter’s lyrics ultimately contributed to her decision to leave the journalism industry and return to her home country.
Porter texted the woman apologizing in 2016 after seeing the nude photo, writing that his messages were “extremely inappropriate, very offensive and out of line,” ESPN reported.
ESPN said it contacted Porter Monday night and acknowledged that he was texting the woman. At first he said he hadn’t sent photos of himself, but when he was informed that the exchanges show that he had sent selfies and other photos, he said, “The more explicit photos aren’t mine. are kind of joke stock images., ”reported ESPN.
After asking if the outlet intended to tell a story, Porter asked for more time before declining further comment later, ESPN said.
It’s another embarrassing development for the Mets, who have energized fans by taking over star shortstop Francisco Lindor and several other notable players since Cohen bought the club for $ 2.42 billion from the Wilpon and Katz families in early November.
Last off-season, under previous GM Brodie Van Wagenen, the Mets hired ex-slugger Carlos Beltrán as manager to cut ties with him 2 1/2 months later when he was involved in MLB’s investigation into illegal sign theft by Houston while Beltrán was an Astros player. in 2017.
Beltrán was unleashed by the Mets just over a year ago on January 16, 2020 – without managing a single game – after a 77-day tenure. ESPN’s report was posted online 37 days after Porter was introduced as GM of the Mets, a role he called “a dream job,” but which now certainly appears to be in serious jeopardy.
“Jared has proven himself at every level and position he has held, and earned the respect of his peers in baseball,” Alderson said in a statement when Porter was hired.
Before his tenure at Diamondbacks, Porter worked under Theo Epstein with the Boston Red Sox and Chicago Cubs, winning three World Series championships in the Boston front office and another with the Cubs. ESPN said he was the Cubs’ director of professional scouting when he sent the messages to the woman.
The woman, who was not fully conversant with the English language and American culture, was assisted by an interpreter in composing a message to Porter asking “please stop sending offensive photos” or messages. He apologized several times by text and said he would stop, ESPN reported.
ESPN said it had interviewed three other people who said they saw or heard about the lyrics at the time.
The woman eventually informed her bosses and was in touch with a lawyer and a Cubs employee from her home country in 2016, ESPN reported. She did not want to publicly identify the employee because she feared retaliation, ESPN said.
She said the Cubs employee had told her that Porter wanted to apologize personally, but she didn’t want to see him. She said the employee repeatedly pressed her on whether she intended to file a lawsuit against Porter and became angry months later when she saw the employee in spring training in 2017 and said she was still considering it, ESPN reported.
ESPN said the employee confirmed on Monday that he had discussed the situation with Porter and the woman, but denied getting angry. The woman has not taken any legal action and told ESPN she did not intend to.
“This story came to our attention tonight and we are not aware that this incident has ever been reported to the organization,” the Cubs said in a statement to ESPN late Monday.
“Had we been informed, we would have taken action quickly, as the alleged conduct violates our code of conduct,” the club said. “Although these two individuals are no longer with the organization, we take issues of sexual harassment seriously and intend to investigate the matter.”
New York quickly changed from Beltrán to quality control coach Luis Rojas last winter, who managed to take the Mets to a record of 26-34 during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season. They last finished tied with Washington in the NL East. and missed the playoffs for the fourth year in a row. Rojas returns this season.
Cohen brought Alderson, the Mets’ general manager from 2010-18, back as team president and immediately fired Van Wagenen and some of his best front office employees.
The team initially tried to hire a baseball operations president, but changed course when it was denied permission to interview several candidates around the majors and at least one refused to move to New York.
Instead, 73-year-old Alderson has taken over the baseball business and the idea was that Porter might grow in that role while reporting to Alderson.
“I think what we’ve been talking about the most is just a cultural shift,” Porter said when he was introduced as GM last month. “Adding good people to the organization. Improving the organizational culture.”