Good Morning,
Before we get into today's newsletter, we have some big news (not Jared Porter just yet — we'll get to that in a minute).
Last night, we launched a new website called Mets Fix, where you'll find all the best breaking news, stories and links about the team compiled in one place, and posted in real time. Leave it open all day, and check back whenever you want the latest updates. If it's about the Mets, it will be on this site. Let us know what you think!
Now to the Porter news...
BREAKING: METS FIRE JARED PORTER
🚨 WHAT HAPPENED: “New York Mets general manager Jared Porter sent explicit, unsolicited texts and images to a female reporter in 2016, culminating with a picture of an erect, naked penis, according to a copy of the text history obtained by ESPN.”
ENDLESS TEXTS: Porter sent 62 unanswered texts to the reporter he had met on an elevator at Yankee Stadium while working for the Cubs. He continued to harass her with texts while she struggled at first to understand his intent due to a language barrier (she was a foreign correspondent). When she didn’t respond, he repeatedly texted “I want to see you” and “Mad at me?” and “Am I annoying you” in-between sending selfies and pictures of his groin area, as well as the nude pic.
PORTER’S RESPONSE: After initially denying he had sent any pictures of himself, Porter later told ESPN he had sent some selfies and "the more explicit ones are not of me. Those are like, kinda like joke-stock images."
🙋♀️ STANDING UP: The woman who received the text messages from Porter is a foreign correspondent who was worried her career would be in jeopardy if ESPN released the story when they originally obtained the messages in December 2017. She later left the journalism profession partly due to the harrassment.
HER WORDS: "My number one motivation is I want to prevent this from happening to someone else. 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. 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."
👩⚖️ LEGAL ACTION: After considering legal action around the time of the harassment, the woman decided against it and told ESPN that she has no plans to do so now.
🍎 METS RESPONSE: Sandy Alderson provided a statement to ESPN for the story before releasing it to the broader media:
“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.”
🍎 ANONYMOUS METS PLAYER: “F--king disgusting, the Mets have to fire him,” he told the NY Daily News after reading the report. “They can’t get this wrong. She left the profession because of this man, he cannot be employed.”
🗞 FROM THE BEAT:
DEESHA THOSAR, DAILY NEWS: "Disgusting. Unacceptable. Mets have to do more than Sandy’s statement."
JOEL SHERMAN, NY POST: "How can the Mets go forward with Porter if these allegations prove true? Not in this time. Not for this organization. Not if you read the text messages."
CUBS: Porter worked as the Cubs’ director of professional scouting at the time of the harassment. The Cubs told ESPN, “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.”
(More on the Porter mess in a minute...)
BEFORE THE PORTER NEWS
Before this major story broke late last night, we'd planned on summarizing normal baseball things in our "first pitch" section. While it pales in comparison to the ESPN report, here is what else happened yesterday related to the Mets:
🍎 TRADE: As part of a larger trade, the Mets snuck in as the third team and acquired left-hander Joey Lucchesi from the Padres while sending catching prospect Endy Rodriguez to Pittsburgh.
☑️ CHECKS A LOT OF BOXES: Lucchesi gives the mets a left-handed starter under team control through 2024. They will reportedly stretch him out in the spring. He has two minor league options remaining, which gives them flexibility in featuring him in the back of the rotation, as a long reliever, or as depth in Triple-A.
📝 TRADED AWAY: Endy Rodriguez was the 14th ranked prospect in the Mets’ system per MLB.com’s most recent rankings: “Rodriguez’s bat will become even more valuable if he can remain behind the plate. He’s an athletic and agile defender who moves well behind the plate, with solid catch-and-throw skills that should continue to improve.”
GEORGE SPRINGER SWEEPSTAKES
🗓 THIS WEEK: Springer’s decision could come this week, per Jon Morosi, who lists the Mets and Blue Jays as the two frontrunners.
🗣 MAKING A PUSH: Toronto is expected to re-connect with Springer early this week and may have already done so, per Sportsnet.
🗺 LOCATION: While everyone knows the free agent outfielder is from Connecticut, Sportsnet also reports “[Springer’s] interest in the Blue Jays is believed to be genuine, with Toronto posing little or no obstacle [as a location].”
🗣 RELIEF HELP: Mets are one of 10 teams reportedly interested in reliever Jeremy Jeffress, per Mark Feinsand.
🍎 VETERAN WATCH: Mets will send scouts to watch right-handers Aníbal Sanchez and Julio Teherán throw bullpen sessions in Miami on Tuesday, per Mike Puma.
🔝 TOP PROSPECTS: Three Mets landed on Baseball America’s 2021 Top Prospects list: catcher Francisco Alvarez (no. 48), infielder Ronny Mauricio (no. 65), and right-hander Matthew Allan (no. 98).
🌴 SPRING TRAINING: Subject to change given the unknowns of COVID-19, Michael Mayer of MetsMerized Online reports Major League workouts and minor league fields will be closed to public during spring training; fans will be allowed to attend spring games, but teams are waiting on the percentage allowed from the league, and the St. Lucie Mets will start their season in May.
🍓 INTERVIEW: Darryl Strawberry joined Fox Business to talk Martin Luther King Jr., Steve Cohen, and his new book Turn Your Season Around that released last week. Watch here.
NEW METS, OLD MESS
by Jeffrey Bellone and Blake Zeff
Remember January 16, 2020? Almost one year ago to the day—when we left our houses without masks, dreamed of a new owner while accepting the current fate of the Wilpons, and news broke that Carlos Beltran would be fired before he even managed one game due to his involvement in the Houston Astros cheating scandal. Remember when everything the Mets did was accompanied with a meme?
Those days were supposed to be behind us. Steve Cohen bought the team, becoming the sport's wealthiest owner. Sandy Alderson returned to lead baseball operations, cleaning house and promising a new direction. And the team acquired quality players through trades and, yes, free agency. A new Mets.
But today — after an offseason of excitement and promise — the Mets are the talk of the baseball world not because of the Lindor deal or George Springer speculation, but because of the disgraceful, embarrassing and repugnant behavior of their second-highest ranking employee.
Porter's conduct is inexcusable, to say the least. If you're not sure, read the ESPN account and the text messages themselves. Not that you needed his confession to believe this story amid the mountain of documentary evidence and credibility of the reporter he harassed — but Porter even admits he sent the texts. There is no ambiguity as to what occurred.
What happens next: Well, we learned about one minute before hitting send on this newsletter. The Mets have fired Jared Porter. And it’s the right move. If you read that ESPN story, look at the texts and understand the way this foreign correspondent was mistreated, one point seems uncontroversial: Porter has no place leading any organization. Particularly one vowing to change its culture to focus on good people.
Who replaces Porter as GM is conversation for another day, but many are probably already reacquainting themselves with Mets assistant GM Zack Scott, a logical contender to replace him.
At the end of the day, though, this grotesque story is about more than who runs the Mets. A woman's life was up-ended by the harassment she endured at the hands of Porter, and shortly thereafter she left the country and industry (though she doesn't attribute that directly to Porter). His appalling conduct also exposed the toxic culture that still pervades baseball when it comes to how men treat women. The sport, and society more broadly, needs to put in serious work to make sure girls and women can participate in America’s pastime without feeling out of place, or a target for harassment.
A tiny step in that process should begin with the Mets making an obvious choice today.
⚾️ In the deal involving the Mets and Joey Lucchesi, the Padres will acquire right-hander Joe Musgrove from Pittsburgh in exchange for several prospects, including OF Hudson Head, LHP Omar Cruz, RHP Drake Fellows, and reliever David Bednar.
⚾️ The Nationals reached a one-year, $5MM agreement with veteran starter Jon Lester.
⚾️ Toronto signed right-hander Tyler Chatwood for $3 million with additional incentives.
🔗 Revelations about Porter detail unacceptable abuse of power," by Andy Martino, SNY: "His conduct could have left [the reporter] to doubt that she could proceed in an industry that requires her to develop relationships with men of Porter’s relative age and background."
🔗 Get to Know Pete Crow-Armstrong: The 2020 first round pick talks about his first year in professional baseball, including experience at instructional camp, draft night and more.
🔗 Signing Trevor Rosenthal would give Mets "one of the best [bullpens in baseball, by Dilip Sridhar, MetsMerized Online: "One thing to note about Rosenthal and his fit with the Mets is his success against lefties... For his career, lefties have hit .207/.316/.256 against [him]."
Thanks for reading! Follow us on Twitter for updates until tomorrow’s newsletter.
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