METS FIRE EX-CUBS EXEC
Recently named GM dismissed after texting explicit photo to reporter
The Cubs will launch an investigation into former director of pro scouting Jared Porter, who was fired Tuesday as the general manager of the Mets after a report Monday by ESPN revealed he had sent an unsolicited explicit photo to a female reporter in 2016.
According to USA Today, Major League Baseball also will be investigating the matter.
Porter, 41, had been on the Cubs’ short list of GM candidates after president Theo Epstein resigned this offseason and former GM Jed Hoyer was promoted to replace him.
‘‘This story came to our attention [Monday], and we are not aware of this incident ever being reported to the organization,’’ the Cubs said in a statement Tuesday. ‘‘Had we been notified, we would have taken swift action, as the alleged abhorrent behavior is in violation of our code of conduct. While these two individuals are no longer with the organization, we take issues of sexual harassment seriously and plan to investigate the matter.’’
The second person referred to in the Cubs’ statement is a former employee who tried to broker an apology from Porter, according to the ESPN report. The reporter shared the sexually explicit image with a player from her home country, who helped her come up with a response to Porter’s advances, stating they were inappropriate and offensive.
According to the ESPN report, the reporter — who was assigned to cover the Cubs — told the network she received more than 60 unanswered text messages from Porter before receiving several explicit photos from him. The reporter, who came forward under the condition of anonymity, considered alerting the Cubs but decided against it for fear of retribution in the industry.
‘‘We have terminated Jared Porter this morning,’’ Mets owner Steve Cohen said Tuesday on Twitter. ‘‘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.’’
‘‘HAD WE BEEN NOTIFIED, WE WOULD HAVE TAKEN SWIFT ACTION,
AS THE ALLEGED ABHORRENT BEHAVIOR IS IN VIOLATION OF OUR CODE OF CONDUCT. WHILE THESE TWO INDIVIDUALS ARE NO LONGER WITH THE ORGANIZATION, WE TAKE ISSUES OF SEXUAL HARASSMENT SERIOUSLY AND PLAN TO INVESTIGATE THE MATTER.’’ Statement released Tuesday by the Cubs
‘‘My No. 1 motivation is I want to prevent this from happening to someone else,’’ the reporter told ESPN. ‘‘Obviously, he’s in a much greater position of power . . . . The other thing is, I never really got the notion that he was truly sorry.’’
After ESPN reached him for comment, Porter — who was hired as the Mets’ GM last month — admitted to having a text exchange with the reporter. And after learning the messages and photos were obtained by ESPN, he stated: ‘‘The more explicit ones are not of me. Those are, like, kinda like jokestock images.’’
‘‘With respect to this series of incidents, those are the kinds of things this organization finds abhorrent and not tolerable in any way,’’ Mets president Sandy Alderson told reporters Tuesday. ‘‘We responded as quickly as we possibly could, given that we needed to sort out the facts and deliberate.
‘‘I’m very sorry for the woman involved. It’s an unfortunate set of circumstances we weren’t aware of when Jared was hired. But suffice to say [that] had we known in advance, it would have been a disqualifier.’’
Alderson said the Mets did what he thought to be a thorough background check and vetted Porter with people in baseball, but he admitted none was a woman.
Before the Mets hired him as their GM, Porter had been with the Diamondbacks as their assistant GM. Before that, Porter had worked with Epstein and Hoyer with the Red Sox starting in 2004 before joining them with the Cubs in 2015.