Jessica Mendoza Speaks for the Mets. Or Is It for ESPN? It Depends.

Beltran, who was still Mendoza’s fellow Mets employee when the show was airing, played for the Astros in 2017 and was the only player implicated in M.L.B.’s report on the investigation.

Mendoza also criticized Mike Fiers — the Oakland A’s pitcher whose revelation of the sign-stealing scheme to The Athletic triggered M.L.B.’s investigation — for violating clubhouse culture.

Beltran, who started 129 games for the Astros in 2017, was a central figure in conceiving the scheme, according to a person with knowledge of the investigation who requested anonymity to discuss details that had not been made public.

When asked directly about Beltran on the show, Mendoza was less forthright. “I know Brodie Van Wagenen and Jeff Wilpon, and as of now it is public out there, they are down in Florida, they are talking with Carlos, trying to assess it themselves,” she said. “Because it is not as simple as he was in charge or he was a bench coach.”

She does indeed know Wilpon, the Mets’ chief operating officer, and Van Wagenen: They hired her.

Hours after her television appearance, the Mets and Beltran parted ways.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/16/sports/jessica-mendoza.html?emc=rss&partner=rss