New York Mets fire general manager for sending explicit texts to reporter

NEW YORK —  Jared Porter, the New York Mets’ general manager, was fired Tuesday for having sent graphic, unsolicited text messages and images to a female reporter in 2016 when he was working for the Chicago Cubs in their front office.

“We have terminated Jared Porter this morning,” Mets owner Steve Cohen tweeted Tuesday. “In my initial press conference I spoke about the importance of integrity and I meant it. There should be zero tolerance for this type of behavior.”

The accusations against Porter were reported by ESPN on Monday night.

Porter sent dozens of unanswered texts to the woman, including a picture of genitalia, according to the report. ESPN said it had obtained a copy of the text history.

New York hired the 41-year-old Porter last month. He agreed to a four-year contract after spending the previous four seasons with the Arizona Diamondbacks as senior vice president and assistant general manager.

“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,” Mets President Sandy Alderson said in a statement.

“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 [the ESPN] story. We will follow up as we review the facts regarding this serious issue.”

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The woman was not identified in the report. ESPN said she recently chose to come forward only on condition of anonymity because she is afraid of backlash in her home country.

ESPN said the woman was a foreign correspondent who had moved to the United States to cover Major League Baseball. She met Porter in a Yankee Stadium elevator in June 2016, and she said they spoke briefly about international baseball and exchanged business cards. She told ESPN that that was the only time they ever spoke.

After text exchanges that began casually, Porter started complimenting her looks, inviting her to meet him in different cities and asking why she was ignoring him, ESPN said.

After he sent her a lewd 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 tried to avoid him at a couple of big league ballparks and that the texts from Porter ultimately contributed to her decision to leave journalism and return to her home country.

Porter texted apologies to the woman in 2016 after she saw the picture of genitalia and wrote to him that his messages were “extremely inappropriate, very offensive, and getting out of line,” ESPN reported.

ESPN said it contacted Porter on Monday evening, and he acknowledged texting the woman. At first, he said he hadn’t sent any pictures of himself, but when informed that the exchanges showed he had sent selfies and other pictures, he said: “The more explicit ones are not of me. Those are like, kinda like joke-stock images,” ESPN reported.

After asking whether the outlet intended to run a story, Porter requested more time before later declining further comment, ESPN said.

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It’s another embarrassing development for the Mets.

Last offseason, under previous General Manager Brodie Van Wagenen, the Mets hired former slugger Carlos Beltrán as manager, only to cut ties with him two and a half months later when he was implicated in Major League Baseball’s investigation of illegal sign-stealing by Houston while Beltrán was an Astros player in 2017.

Beltrán was let go by the Mets — without his managing a single game — just over a year ago after a tenure that lasted 77 days.

ESPN’s report on Porter was posted online 37 days after Porter was introduced as general manager of the Mets, a role he called “a dream job.”

“Jared has proven himself at every level and in every position he has held, earning respect from his peers throughout baseball,” Alderson said in a statement when Porter was hired.

Before his Diamondbacks tenure, Porter worked under Theo Epstein with the Boston Red Sox and Chicago Cubs, which between them won four World Series while he worked for them. ESPN said he was the Cubs’ director of professional scouting when he sent the messages to the woman.

Not fully familiar with the English language and American culture, the woman received help from an interpreter in constructing a message to Porter asking him to “please stop sending offensive photos” and messages. He apologized by text multiple times and said he would stop, ESPN reported.

ESPN said it interviewed three other people who said they saw or were told about the texts at the time.

The woman eventually informed her bosses and was connected in 2016 with a lawyer and a Cubs employee from her home country, ESPN reported. She didn’t want to identify the employee publicly because she feared retribution, according to ESPN.

She said the Cubs employee told her that Porter wanted to apologize in person, but she didn’t want to see him. She said the employee pressed her repeatedly on whether she planned to file a lawsuit against Porter and that he grew angry with her months later when she said she was considering it.

ESPN said the employee confirmed Monday that he had discussed the situation with Porter and the woman, but denied getting angry. The woman did not pursue legal action and told ESPN that she does not plan to.

“This story came to our attention tonight, and we are not aware of this incident ever being reported to the organization,” the Cubs said in a statement given to ESPN late Monday.

“Had we been notified, we would have taken swift action as the alleged behavior is in violation of our code of conduct,” the club said. “While these two individuals are no longer with the organization, we take issues of sexual harassment seriously and plan to investigate the matter.”

When introduced as general manager last month, Porter said that what he and Alderson “talked about the most is just a cultural shift, for one. Adding good people to the organization. Improving on the organizational culture.”