Ex-Mets GM Jared Porter placed on MLB's ineligible list through 2022 season
New Mets general manager Jared Porter has his first news conference with media via Zoom on Dec. 14.
Former Mets general manager Jared Porter will be placed on MLB’s ineligible list through at least 2022 for a series of explicit texts he sent to a female foreign reporter in 2016 while he was the Chicago Cubs' director of professional scouting, commissioner Rob Manfred announced Wednesday.
Porter served as Mets GM for 37 days before a bombshell ESPN report enumerated multiple instances of inappropriate behavior, including 62 unanswered texts to the woman, and the sending of obscene photos that Porter later insisted to ESPN were just stock images. He did acknowledge to ESPN that he sent the woman texts. The reporter has since changed careers and moved out of the country.
Porter will be allowed to apply for reinstatement after the 2022 season concludes its playoffs.
After a months-long investigation, MLB concluded that Porter "violated MLB’s policies and that placement on the Ineligible List is warranted," Manfred said in a statement. "We are committed to providing an appropriate work environment consistent with our values for all those involved in our game."
Porter’s suspension comes on the heels of Mickey Callaway’s two-year suspension on May 26. MLB found that he, too, sent inappropriate messages to female reporters, including photos, during a five-year period that included when he was manager of the Mets in 2018-19. Both Porter and Callaway were hired by the Mets' current president of baseball operations Sandy Alderson.
Additionally, in April, The Athletic reported on several instances of alleged bad behavior in the Mets’ workplace, including a former employee who called workers there "pawns in a toxic workplace environment."
The discoveries led owner Steve Cohen to hire law firm WilmerHale to conduct an audit of the franchise’s culture. As a result, both David Cohen, general counsel, and Holly Lindvall, senior vice president of human resources and diversity, were phased out. The Mets also committed to a number of initiatives to shore up the organization’s anti-harassment and anti-discrimination protections.
Laura Albanese is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. She's been covering MLB since 2014 after starting at Newsday as an intern seven years earlier.
