There is so much to unpack from the aftermath of ESPN's bombshell story that Mets General Manager Jared Porter sent more than 60 lewd photos to a female journalist while as a member of the Chicago Cubs front office that it will take months to unravel for Major League Baseball.
A year after MLB whiffed on its handling of the Houston Astros sign-stealing scandal, there are some serious questions that need to be answered in light of the Porter fiasco. Namely why was Porter allowed to maintain employment with several MLB clubs, including the Cubs, Diamondbacks, Red Sox, and Mets and not once did anyone raise an eyebrow to his troubled past?
On Tuesday morning the Mets fired Porter for cause, his contract terminated as Mets general manager. Give credit to owner Steve Cohen and President Sandy Alderson for acting swiftly, firing Porter at 7:30 Tuesday morning a mere eight hours after the story broke late Monday night.
In speaking with reporters Tuesday afternoon, Alderson stated that "there wasn't a dissenting voice, so from my standpoint, I was shocked. ... To my knowledge, none of the other organizations that Jared was employed with knew either," he said.
Yet there is a report in the ESPN article that a Cubs employee , who is no longer with the team, knew about Porter's behavior. That person of interest is believed to no longer be in the Cubs employ.
The Mets says they will have to do a better job in the vetting process, but it is increasingly hard to believe that nobody was in the know. This reveals disturbing truths about the sport that nobody wants to talk about.
1) The obvious being the lack of women in the baseball industry. Outside of Kim Ng who was named General Manager of the Miami Marlins this winter, and Alyssa Nakken, who is a coach with the San Francisco Giants, there isn't a lot of women in the sport -- Alderson admitted as much. This is not to say that women need to fill every key front office position, but it is important from the diversity standpoint have having numerous opinions and experiences as possible. Baseball has become something of an "old boys club" for a very long time, and the treatment of women in the sport of baseball is notoriously bad as compared to the other sports, the NFL and NBA -- where women in the industry is prominent.
2) The bigger and most disturbing truth is that such behavior as displayed by Porter might be considered acceptable deep in the ethos of the baseball fraternity. Who knows how many other similar situations have taken place in the past? That is what is really scary, and that is what is starring Major League Baseball right in the face.
Major League Baseball has to do more than its due diligence. They have to root this out and find out where such harassment is happening, why and make sure it doesn't happen again. A simple slap on the wrist similar to what former Astros manager AJ Hinch and Red Sox manager Alex Cora got for their roles in the sign stealing scandal is not going to be acceptable.
As for the Mets, they can get past this. Their swift action was laudable. They will be fine. Alderson said they will not fill the General Managers role with a new candidate, instead it will be a collaborative effort with Zach Scott, the teams Assistant GM and the rest of the front office. That is more than fine. It's not like Porter swung the Lindor deal -- that was all Alderson who has pretty much run all of the Mets on-field acquisitions this winter.
While the Mets may be fine as far as the on-field product is concerned, the stain from this scandal is going to rock the sport for sure.
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