The Mets opened their doors on the 2021 season with the arrival of pitchers and catchers to spring training camp on Wednesday, but the day also brought another black eye to the organization in the form of more reported sexual misconduct by a team employee.
A Wednesday morning report by The Athletic detailed multiple women approaching the Mets about hitting coordinator Ryan Ellis and his inappropriate behavior, which followed evidence of misconduct by former general manager Jared Porter (who was fired shortly before Ellis was quietly fired) and former manager Mickey Callaway. Asked about the culture within the organization on Wednesday, manager Luis Rojas expressed his hope that with new ownership under Steve Cohen, such cases of misconduct will no longer surface from within the franchise.
“I think we’ve released statements on situations like that,” Rojas said. “Under our new ownership and the addition of Sandy [Alderson] there, we’ve set new expectations. There’s also new avenues added to it to report cases like this. It’s been disappointing to see it from afar. When you get reports of this news, it’s upsetting.
“Those misconducts are unacceptable. We should have a safe environment to work and everyone should feel safe around here.”
Rojas came through the Mets organization with Ellis, as Rojas has been a part of the franchise for nearly 14 years, but said his relationship with Ellis never stretched past the diamond.
“I’m aware of the story that came out this morning,” Rojas said. “My relationship with Ryan, knowing him for years in the organization has been strictly baseball. That’s all we had as far as conversations.”
Rojas never observed any inappropriate behavior from Ellis himself, and had no knowledge of any misconduct when Ellis was promoted to the major-league staff when hitting coach Chili Davis opted out of the 2020 season due to COVID-19 concerns.
“Last year we lost Chili Davis, which was a big loss to not have him present in camp 2.0 and the regular season,” Rojas said. “The next guy to come into place is our hitting coordinator, and that was Ryan Ellis’ position at the time. He was the next guy up and the guy that knew our players heading into the camp. It was the right move for us to do to get him to come with us and work with Tom Slater during the season.”
With Ellis, Porter and Callaway now all out of the organization and new ownership in place, Rojas believes the Mets have turned a page with their workplace environment.
“Right now, like I said, it’s been upsetting to hear the news…but my confidence right now is working under the new ownership,” Rojas said. “Our new ownership has definitely set a new set of expectations they put out, and there are new avenues to reporting these cases. I’m confident this type of behavior is going to be unacceptable in this organization.”
Follow Ryan Chichester on Twitter: @ryanchichester1
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