Christopher Smith
masslive.com
The New York Mets have fired Jared Porter for texting explicit photos to a female foreign MLB correspondent reporter living in the United States.
The explicit photos were sent in 2016, according to an ESPN report from Mina Kimes and Jeff Passan.
Porter — who the Mets hired as general manager Dec. 13 — then worked for the Chicago Cubs as the director of professional scouting. The texts went unanswered after Porter began sending explicit images.
“We have terminated Jared Porter this morning,” Mets owner Steven Cohen said in a tweet Tuesday. “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.”
Mets president Sandy Alderson wrote in a release, per MLB Network’s Jon Heyman: “The New York Mets have terminated General Manager Jared Porter, effective immediately. Jared’s actions, as reflected by events disclosed last night, failed to meet the Mets’ standards for professionalism and personal conduct.”
According to the ESPN report, the reporter “ignored more than 60 messages from Porter before he sent the final lewd photo.”
Kimes and Passan wrote, “Reached by ESPN on Monday evening, Porter acknowledged texting with the woman. He initially said he had not sent any pictures of himself. When told the exchanges show he had sent selfies and other pictures, he said that ‘the more explicit ones are not of me. Those are like, kinda like joke-stock images.’”
Porter worked as director of professional scouting for the Boston Red Sox before the Cubs hired him in 2015.
He also worked as the Arizona Diamondbacks assistant GM from November 2016 until being hired by the Mets in December.
Porter began with the Red Sox in 2004 as an intern.
Breaking: The Mets have fired GM Jared Porter, according to owner Steve Cohen.
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) January 19, 2021
The news comes less than 24 hours after ESPN’s @minakimes and @JeffPassan reported that Porter sent graphic, uninvited text messages and images to a female reporter in 2016 when he was with the Cubs. pic.twitter.com/w87bnsPSye
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