Updated, 2:25 PM EST: As reported by Bob Nightengale of USA Today Sports, Major League Baseball is launching an investigation in jettisoned New York Mets general manager Jared Porter, who was fired Tuesday morning after ESPN’s late-Monday report detailing his sexual harassment of a female journalist in 2016.

Porter, 41, could be facing a suspension for his conduct, and Nightengale suggests “there will likely be follow-ups within all of Porter’s previous organizations asking if anyone knew or ever saw signs of this abhorrent behavior”.

Original Post

Early Tuesday, New York Mets owner Steve Cohen confirmed that the team has indeed fired general manager Jared Porter following ESPN’s report on Monday night detailing Porter sending explicit photos to a foreign female journalist in 2016.

“We have terminated Jared Porter this morning. In my initial press conference, I spoke about the importance of integrity and I meant it,” Cohen said. “There should be zero tolerance for this type of behavior.”

In a statement, Mets team president Sandy Alderson added, “Jared’s actions, as reflected by events disclosed last night, failed to meet the Mets’ standards for professionalism and personal conduct”.

Porter, 41, was hired by the Mets on December 13. His tenure with the team lasted a total of 37 days.

Late Monday, Mina Kimes and Jeff Passan of ESPN publicly uncovered Porter’s disturbing improprieties. Porter reportedly send 60-plus text messages to the journalist (then covering the Cubs) followed by two sexually explicit images.

The journalist, who is no longer employed in the industry and has chosen to remain anonymous, spoke with ESPN sporadically following their first correspondence in 2017 and only decided to come forward over the past few days, initially fearing for her safety in her home country.

“I know in the U.S., there is a women’s empowerment movement. But [in my home country], it’s still far behind. Women get dragged through the mud if your name is associated with any type of sexual scandal,” she said. “I don’t want to go through the victimization process again. I don’t want other people to blame me.”

“My number one motivation is I want to prevent this from happening to someone else,” she told ESPN. “Obviously, [Porter’s] in a much greater position of power. I want to prevent that from happening again. The other thing is, I never really got the notion that he was truly sorry.”

Alderson released a statement late Monday night in response to the ESPN report, assuring the team would “review the facts”. Clearly, there wasn’t much assessment necessary.

With under a month until pitchers and catchers report to Port St. Lucie, the Mets will need to choose Porter’s replacement on the fly.

Assistant GM Zack Scott — a Theo Epstein disciple and former colleague of Porter’s in Boston and Arizona — was hired by the Mets on December 23. Scott would be a logical choice to assume responsibilites, though we will keep you posted as new information breaks.