It’s very easy to give the Mets credit where credit is due. Firing GM Jared Porter for cause after the revelation of his sending inappropriate texts and pictures to a female reporter back in 2016, was swift and to the point.
They deserve credit for doing the right thing here. Think about it, under the old ownership we probably would have had a statement from the organization that it was “monitoring” what was happening and then after a full week of ridicule and non-action, another statement would have come out saying Porter and the Mets “mutually decided to part ways” or something like that.
Team president Sandy Alderson and owner Steve Cohen spoke of zero tolerance and they quickly fired their employee.
The page is turned, and this won’t linger on.
And you can’t blame Alderson from not unearthing this incident during the interview process. Both the Cubs and Diamondbacks had no clue and ESPN sat on the story for two years, just waiting for Porter to get a high-profile job and the reporter to agree for it to be printed.
After all, “Mets GM” doing this gets you far more reads than “Cubs Front Office Scout.”
So, let’s take Alderson and Cohen at their words and believe they didn’t know and there is a zero-tollerance policy in place. That works well for the 400 or so employees in the organization from the GM on down to the guy in the Mr. Met suit.
However, what if in the future a player gets himself into trouble with something like this? Will the Mets be so quick to cut out the cancer? Remember Porter was fired for cause, so the club will not have to pay the 4-year contract he signed last month.
Player contracts are guaranteed and even if MLB puts a suspension in place, the Mets will be responsible for the rest of that contact. If it is a high-profile player that could be eight-figures Cohen will have to eat.
Before you think the Mets could get out of the deal, the Players Association will be all over the Mets to make sure the player gets every penny.
And say there is no suspension, will the Mets inflict a wound on the team during a pennant race all in the name of zero-tolerance?
Let’s even move this further. If they decide to cut the player and eat the contract, they run the risk of having him go to a competitor and come back to haunt them.
All you must do is look back a few years at the players who served time for domestic violence. Although probably egged on by Jeff Wilpon, Alderson took back Jose Reyes after he served 52 games and Colorado ate the contract.
And Jeurys Familia, who had his case dismissed and MLB couldn’t find fault still had 15 games given to him in 2017 and he is still on the team right now.
So yeah, sure, the Mets did the right thing here. Firing Porter was a very easy decision, no matter how much it hurts the front office, but next time zero-tolerance may be a tougher decision.
About the Author
