Jeremy Mand: Mets’ President Sandy Alderson is a baseball legend, but is he also part of baseball’s culture problem?

The Mets, and their team President Sandy Alderson in particular, have been at the heart of a series of politically charged scandals that spotlight the troubling behavior of men in power in Major League Baseball, especially in light of the Me Too Movement, that date back – for the Mets at least – more than a decade and have burst into the public sphere in a series of publications by the sports news service the Athletic, and ESPN. 

Since Alderson took the reins' of the organization over in late October 2020, after the Mets were sold to Billionaire Steven. A. Cohen, the Mets have been connected to three sexual harassment scandals, all three of which Alderson could be scrutinized for given his role in the hiring decisions of all three men in question. 

In January, ESPN reported that newly hired General Manager Jared Porter admitted to sending “explicit, unsolicited texts and images to a female reporter in 2016” while he was working for the Chicago Cubs. The harassment was apparently so pernicious, including extensive and pervasive efforts of Porter to form a relationship with a foreign correspondent, that it caused the woman subjected to these unwanted overtures to have to avoid Porter at public events, and eventually leave her career out of fear of retribution. Porter moved on to become assistant GM of the Arizona Diamondbacks, and eventually was named General Manager of the Mets, with seemingly no repercussions for his behavior until this winter. Alderson, who conducted significant vetting for the job, said Porter got glowing reviews from his peers at the Red Sox, Cubs, and Diamondbacks, but when pressed by Yahoo Sports’ Hanna Keyser, acknowledged that he did not consult any woman when reviewing Porter’s qualifications.  

In February, the Athletic’s Brittany Ghirall and Katie Strong published details of the troubling behavior of former Mets’ Manager, Mickey Callaway, who is now widely recognized and chastised for his serial and inappropriate pursuit of women in the workplace. Callaway, who is now under suspension by the Angels as MLB investigates the history of his misdeeds dating back to his time as the Indians pitching coach in the mid-2010s. Alderson, along with former Mets’ COO Jeff Wilpon, hired Alderson to replace Terry Collins in October 2017, and apparently were unaware of Callaway’s reputation at the time of hiring. While it became clear to the Mets’ organization in mid-2018, after the husband of a woman Callaway had committed adultery with, contacted the Mets to notify them about Callaway, Alderson, by that point had resigned from his position so to focus on a new cancer diagnosis, which would seemingly absolve him of knowledge of Callaway’s behavior.  

Now in April, the Athletic has reported again on the Mets culture. This time on executives Joe DeVito, the team’s executive producer for content and marketing, and David Newman, the team’s chief marketing, content and communications officer. Newman, in particular, seemed to cause extreme consternation among several current female employees who went so far as to warn Alderson of his behavior. Alderson allegedly responded that the behavior was “unacceptable” and "vowed to tell Newman to ''knock it off.'" But the women were "deflated" that he was returning, being rewarded -- while others were ostensibly punished for pointing out bad behavior. 

As we rehash the facts, a more philosophical question arises-- now that we have examined some of the problems and the consequences individuals face because of the bad behavior of people more powerful than them, particularly men: How do we remediate the experiences of these individuals who have had their careers and workplace safety put at risk? And what is the appropriate response, in the form of both punishment and reform?

On punishment, some on social media have already called for Alderson to resign or be fired for his inactions or lenient attitude in regard to Newman, and Alderson didn’t do himself any favors by analogizing losing ones’ job with capital punishment, a tone deaf explanation that doesn’t acknowledge the loss and impact to the victims of Newman’s callousness, who some felt forced them to leave their job. But should Alderson be the fall guy for the bad behavior of others, or for the culture that was allowed to exist under previous ownership? Should the 73 year-old Sandy Alderson, who started his new job only in October, take the fall for the toxic culture Jeff Wilpon allegedly let perpetuate for years? 

Before we all jump on the fire Sandy bandwagon, let’s do a quick recap of who Alderson is as a man. He has had a legendary and revolutionary career as a baseball executive. The Athletic, in a story from November 2020, by writers Marc Carig and Tim Britton, detailed the vision Alderson had for the new New York Mets under the ownership of Steve Cohen. Alderson, in his mission statement, spoke of building the Mets’ into an “Iconic Franchise” which is recognized and "respected for its success, competitive and financial success, and how it achieves that success. And for its commitment to fans and community." Those statements, in the opinion of this writer, clearly reflect a man with an awareness of success goes beyond just wins and losses, but speaks to the inclusive brand he is aspiring to create.

It should also be noted that Sandy Alderson is also almost universally beloved throughout the game for his intelligence, leadership skills, honesty, and kindness as detailed also by the Athletic in 2018, and his generous spirit. According to Ben Cherington, current general manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates while speaking in that story, said “One of the things I respect most about him is his desire to take on the hardest challenges. Look at his life, and there are so many examples of that. This isn’t someone positioning for the job that’s going to make him look best. He cares about leading and service more than himself.” 

On one hand, could a man so universally respected by his peers, and the people who worked for him, also allow such a pernicious and toxic culture to exist had he been in charge of the whole operation? On the other hand, could you also say, by staying on with the Mets then, and rehiring staff that allegedly participated in these acts now, he was and is tacitly condoning this sort of behavior? The answer to those questions is probably murky at best.  In my opinion, if you contextualize both circumstances, Alderson was and is not at fault, it wasn't his job nor was he capable of changing the workplace culture that current and former employees are so upset about. Ethical organizational behavior stems from the top, and despite his stature and influence, Alderson was still not the last stop, Jeff Wilpon was. Was Alderson supposed to take a moral stand, when he probably and rightfully was shielded from knowing about the extent of misdeeds in other areas of the organization? On the re-hiring of Newman, the matter is difficult to adjudicate without all the facts, but his character in other areas of life should afford him at least some benefit of the doubt.

Alderson, skeptics should note, in his life, has been progressive in areas outside of the Mets and outside of baseball, which in my opinion speak to the ethics of the man. During the political turmoil of the last several years, he wrote about the importance of keeping the military out of politics, citing his experience as a veteran who served in Vietnam. He also wrote about the previous scandals such as the use of steroids by players under his watch, Jose Canseco and Mark McGwire, and the Astros sign stealing scandal, of which he was particularly harsh -- because it had been authorized and approved by leadership.

So is Alderson’s supposed naivete to matters of sexual harassment in the workplace cause for a change in leadership, or despite recent missteps, is he still the right person for the job? I suppose that is in the eye of the beholder, and if he’s allowed to stay on, we’ll see how the Mets, their employees, and the community responds, but he seems up to the challenge. 

Alderson, in response to these stories had this to say on the matter: “I guess how I’d respond to that is well, if there was disappointment on Day 1, I’m hoping that (there is) optimism on Day 100-whatever-it-is based on how we handle other situations going forward.”

The Mets have retained the law firm WilmerHale to conduct a review of the organization's culture, and have promised to take any necessary and appropriate steps based on the findings.