Mets fire GM Jared Porter for sending lewd texts, pictures to reporter

The New York Mets have fired general manager Jared Porter for sending explicit, unwanted texts to a reporter in 2016 when he was working for the Chicago Cubs. New owner Steve Cohen tweeted the news of Porter's firing Tuesday morning after ESPN reported on the scandal Monday night.

"In my initial press conference I spoke about the importance of integrity and I meant it," Cohen wrote. "There should be zero tolerance for this type of behavior."

Porter had only been with the Mets for a little over a month, as he was hired on Dec. 13 and said that he planned to help bring a "cultural shift" to the organization. However, those words proved hollow after reports emerged of Porter sending dozens of texts to a woman foreign correspondent who had moved to the United States to cover Major League Baseball.

The report showed that the conversation between Porter and the woman began cordially but Porter eventually sent over 60 texts to the female reporter without getting any response. with the messages getting increasingly sexual. The woman finally responded, letting Porter know how inappropriate his harassment was. He later apologized.

"This is extremely inappropriate, very offensive, and getting out of line," she said. "Could you please stop sending offensive photos or msg."

Porter confirmed to ESPN that he had texted with the woman but claimed the "more explicit" photos were not actually of him but rather were "kinda like joke-stock images."