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MMO Fan Shot: A Dereliction of Duty?

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MMO Fan Shot by Gabriel Pariente

Last week, my brother told me about the story that was spreading all over social media in regards to Mets GM Jared Porter sending inappropriate texts to a female reporter when he was the Cubs director of scouting back in 2016.

I was surprised, but assumed the story was a one-time thing and was curious why it was seemingly coming out of nowhere.

However, upon reading the Jeff Passan and Mina Keims accounts, I was horrified by the extent and graphic nature of Porter’s texts. The messages, which included inappropriate pictures and innuendos for sex, showed a clear pattern of harassment at best, and at worst the picture of a virtual stalker.

The Mets acted quickly, first saying they would review the facts and then a day later, new owner Steve Cohen dropped the hammer.

“We have terminated Jared Porter this morning,” he said. Cohen went on to add that in his first press conference that he spoke about the importance of integrity and that, “there should be zero tolerance for this type of behavior.”

However, while many on social media have been railing the Mets and even ESPN for “holding” the story, that is not the issue. The shame of this story is clearly on Jared Porter, but the another important question is:

Why are the Chicago Cubs getting off with barely a slap on the wrist for their role in this incident?

According to the ESPN article, the unnamed reporter was put in touch with a Cubs employee who came from the country the woman lived in before coming to the United States.

This meeting occurred during the 2016 postseason, and the employee informed the woman that Porter wanted to meet her in person to apologize for his early conduct, though he had apologized to her earlier via text after she informed him to stop sending the inappropriate pictures and other messages.

The woman was asked by the Cubs employee if she intended to file a lawsuit.

She kept in touch with the employee, who confirmed to ESPN, that he had contact with both the woman and Porter.

The Cubs employee however, denied the woman’s account in 2017, that he got angry with her when they met at the Cubs’ spring training facility while she was still pondering filing a lawsuit. This led to no further contact between the two of them.

This means that unless this employee went rogue, the Cubs’ front office was somewhat aware of Porter’s conduct and failed to disclose this information to the Arizona Diamondbacks where Porter became an assistant GM, and of course the New York Mets who named Porter as their GM only 37 days ago.

It also begs the question if other female reporters or staff who worked around MLB during this time were victims of Porter’s conduct. Will be interesting to see if anyone else will come forward.

There should be zero tolerance for those who are guilty of misconduct, and for failing to report it to the proper authorities or others in the field.

The Mets from all sources were totally unaware of Porter’s conduct, as opposed to when they went ahead with Carlos Beltran in spite of unanswered questions with his role in the Astros cheating scandal.

The blame the Mets are getting from some areas is ridiculous. This incident also illustrates why a lot of people who are victims of sexual harassment or stalking don’t come forward.

There is a genuine fear of retribution by higher-ups in their company or profession, that they will be accused of encouraging it and so forth.

Look at why men like Harvey Weinstein, Kevin Spacey and Matt Lauer got away with their conduct for so long… What person would dare risk their careers, hopes and livelihoods by coming forward to say: “this man touched me,” or said “I’d be promoted if I did this for him,” etc…

The power dynamic, knowing that they have major allies who will support them, defend them and even ensure the accuser is silenced or discredited to keep themselves safe, is all too obvious.

This is why stories like this are not reported right away by the media and others, and also ignores that if someone doesn’t want to come forward, the media company or writers have to honor their sources’ wishes.

In addition, the Cubs have a pretty poor track record when it comes to dealing with issues like this. This is same Cubs team that in 2016 traded for Aroldis Chapman who was suspended earlier that year for violating MLB’s domestic violence policy and was seemingly caught unaware when one of their top players Addison Russell was accused of domestic violence towards his own wife. The Cubs kept him on the team for another two seasons, in spite of MLB investigating the claims and suspending Russell when the accusations proved credible.

Chicago did not set a strong example with Russell, nor did they set an example by keeping Porter employed and then exacerbated the problem when they allowed him go to other organizations and possibly endangering countless other reporters and staffers.

Hopefully, when MLB investigates this situation we will learn if members of the Cubs’ front office was aware of Porter’s unlawful behavior, and why they neglected to have the common sense to handle the situation themselves or at least inform his future employers that Porter had some questionable and egregious baggage.

If the facts do support a cover-up, MLB must come down hard not only on Porter, but also on his defenders and enablers.

That is the only way major league baseball will start to see real change take place…

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This MMO Fan Shot was contributed by Gabriel Pariente . Have something you want to say ? Share your opinions with the best and most diverse Mets community on the web! Send your Fan Shot to GetMetsmerized@aol.com.

The post MMO Fan Shot: A Dereliction of Duty? first appeared on Metsmerized Online.

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