USA TODAY International Edition
Mets’ GM mess: Two steps forward, one huge step back
Bob Nightengale column: Jared Porter fired after harassing texts to a woman are revealed.
It was uncomfortable, humbling and embarrassing at times Tuesday for Mets President Sandy Alderson to spend 45 minutes being asked how such a horrific incident involving general manager Jared Porter was never revealed in a background check.
Alderson said Porter was glowingly recommended for the job in all of their interviews and background checks and not a single person revealed even so much as a blemish on his character.
Then came the question that left Alderson momentarily speechless.
In all of the Mets’ reference interviews, did they speak to a single woman?
“No,” Alderson said.
He paused and said, “That’s one of the unfortunate circumstances in the game today. There aren’t women in those positions where one can have that conversation and develop information or check references.”
Certainly, they did not check with the Korean female reporter who received 62 unwanted texts, included lewd pictures including those of his penis, which left her mortified, causing her to not only leave the business but the country. She was the victim.
Porter was merely fired.
Major League Baseball has launched an investigation into Porter, a person with knowledge of the investigation told USA TODAY Sports. The person spoke only on the condition of anonymity because he was unauthorized to speak publicly.
The investigation likely will lead to a suspension from Major League Baseball in which Porter would have to apply for reinstatement to work again in the industry.
But let’s be honest. Porter will never work another day in baseball. No one could ever hire him.
There will be investigations within all of Porter’s previous organizations asking if anyone knew or ever saw signs of this abhorrent behavior, with several of his closest baseball friends telling USA TODAY Sports they were in disbelief with the news.
The Mets are left trying to find answers how this happened and what can be done to prevent it from happening again.
“We did a routine backup check; we did not do an FBI investigation,” Alderson said. “Those are the kind of things we might have to consider in the future, perhaps? … We have to make sure we are hiring well- vetted employees, and what this situation suggests we have to rethink what constitutes well- vetted.”
Alderson, a former Marine, says this is not just a baseball problem but societal, where women have been cruelly subjected to this behavior.
“I wouldn’t indict just Major League Baseball on this particular incident,” Alderson said, “but it’s reflective on a larger problem we have. The onus is on all of us to root this out where it exists. …
“There needs to be more diversity across the industry. We need more diversity with the Mets. Diversity has many benefits. Maybe that would have been useful in this case.”
Porter admitted to sending lewd and uninvited text messages and images to a female reporter in 2016, which was reported Monday evening by ESPN, and on Tuesday morning new Mets owner Steve Cohen announced on his Twitter account that Porter was dismissed.
And just like that, 37 days after being hired, Porter was fired.
Porter, 41, likely has worked his last day in baseball, destroying his reputation and all credibility, while forfeiting his four- year contract.
Everything is gone, and what we all thought we knew about Porter, it turns out we knew nothing at all about the man.
The Cubs, Porter’s employer at the time, insists it was unaware of Porter’s actions until this week, releasing a statement:
“Had we been notified, we would have taken swift action as the alleged abhorrent behavior is in violation of our code of conduct. … We take issues of sexual harassment seriously and plan to investigate the matter.”
The Diamondbacks, who hired Porter in 2017 as a senior vice president and assistant GM and was their employee until leaving for the Mets, also issued a statement citing no knowledge of Porter’s actions.
“We do not condone this behavior and are extremely troubled by the details that have been reported. We were obviously not aware of these allegations from 2016 and had we been, we would have investigated and addressed the situation immediately.”
The Mets’ investigation was brief. Porter telephoned Alderson at 5: 30 p. m. ET Monday, informed him that a story was coming out on the text messages. Alderson read the ESPN story about 11, talked to Cohen, saw pictures Monday morning and immediately fired Porter.
“I think this is an indictment of our industry, an indictment in our society,” Alderson said. “There is a way to deal with it, harshly. We believe we have done that.”