Jessica Mendoza Will Leave Mets Job

Appearing on a number of ESPN programs last month, Mendoza chastised Mike Fiers — the former Astros pitcher whose revelation of the sign-stealing scheme to a reporter triggered M.L.B.’s investigation — for speaking out. Fiers “ratted everyone out,” she said.

One of the players Fiers “ratted” out was Carlos Beltran, who at the time of Mendoza’s comments was still the Mets manager. She was less forthright when commenting on her co-worker, the only player named in M.L.B.’s report on the cheating scandal. “It is not as simple as he was in charge or he was a bench coach,” she said. Later that day, the Mets let Beltran go.

Mendoza was far from the only person working for both a media company and a baseball team. Besides her and Ross, Alex Rodriguez, Pedro Martinez and Al Leiter have all worn two different hats in recent years.

Asked yesterday if he was comfortable with people sometimes representing a team and sometimes representing a media network, M.L.B. Commissioner Rob Manfred was clear. “No. I’m not all that comfortable with it,” he said at an owner’s meeting in Orlando, Fla., according to the New York Post. “I’m really not. But it’s a topic that remains under discussion internally. As you know, it causes a lot of complications, not just on this particular incident or comments, but in general.”

ESPN hailed Mendoza in a news release, announcing she was being signed to a contract extension and would have new responsibilities for the upcoming season. She will appear more frequently across the network’s studio shows, will be the sole analyst on a number of weeknight and holiday baseball games and will also be a radio analyst for World Series games.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/07/sports/jessica-mendoza-new-york-mets-espn.html?emc=rss&partner=rss