Alderson vows due diligence in wake of Porter, Callaway

PORT ST. LUCIE — Looking back, Sandy Alderson conceded, the Mets didn’t conduct sufficient due diligence in hiring Mickey Callaway as their manager. Looking forward, Alderson vowed, things will change.

In his first public comments since The Athletic reported on multiple allegations of Callaway’s lewd behavior toward female journalists, Alderson said,

“When we hired Mickey [after the 2017 season] ... Mickey was the hot commodity. There were a number of teams anxious to hire him. We felt very fortunate at the time to get him.

“Was that short-sighted on our part? Too narrow a focus? I think the answer is probably yes. There probably should’ve been a broader assessment of his qualifications. From the people we talked to, there were no reservations. The process should’ve been broader. The process has and will be broader than it was in 2018.”

Alderson has been asked to answer for a pair of highprofile hires since returning to the Mets as team president. The Callaway decision occurred during Alderson’s first stay, as general manager (Callaway also interviewed with the Phillies for their managerial opening at the time, as

Alderson referenced). After returning to the organization, Alderson hired Jared Porter as the club’s general manager last December, only to fire him for cause in January upon revelations, reported by ESPN, that Porter sent repeated, unsolicited, lewd text messages to a female journalist while Porter worked for the Cubs in 2016.

Callaway is currently suspended from his role as Angels pitching coach, a job he assumed last season, as

Major League Baseball investigates the allegations against him.

➤ The Mets announced Monday that they will wear a “41” patch on the right sleeve of their uniforms, home and away, for the entire 2021 season to honor their iconic pitcher Tom Seaver, who died last Aug. 31.

➤ Righty Sean Reid-Foley, one of three pitchers the Mets received from Toronto

for Steven Matz, pitched the second inning of the Mets’ 2-0 loss to the Marlins at the unsubtly named Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium. Reid-Foley said that the Mets have pegged him as a multipleinnings reliever.

➤ An announced crowd of 1,238 watched the Mets and Marlins, the Mets’ first time playing in front of paying fans since before the pandemic shutdown last year.