Mets manager Luis Rojas condemned the behavior of former New York performance coordinator Ryan Ellis on Wednesday, but said he never witnessed his former co-worker act inappropriately. Ellis was fired last month for sexual harassment.
Athletic reported on Wednesday that in the summer of 2018, three Mets employees complained to human resources that Ellis, then the second division batting coordinator, had addressed obscene comments to them personally and via text message.
Ellis, promoted to the league’s coaching staff last summer, was fired last month after New York investigated the matter a second time. His resignation came shortly after the club fired newly hired general manager Jared Porter for sending sexually explicit and uninvited text messages and images to a reporter in 2016 while working for the Chicago Cubs.
Former Mets manager Mickey Callaway, now the Los Angeles Angels pitching coach, was suspended this month and is under investigation amid allegations of inappropriate behavior towards several women working in the sports media.
In a statement to The Athletic, New York said it investigated and disciplined Ellis in 2018, but did not fire him. The team said it received new information in January about Ellis’ behavior in 2017-18 and fired him on January 22 for “violating company policy and failing to meet Mets standards for professionalism and personal conduct”.
“We set new expectations,” said Rojas of the club’s spring training complex in Port St. Lucie, Florida. “There are also new ways added to report cases like this. It has been disappointing. I’m sorry to see that from a distance ”.
Ellis, a former minor league field player, was hired by the Mets as a minor league coach in 2006. Rojas joined the franchise a year later as manager of the Dominican Summer League team, and both have been with the organization ever since. most of that time in the minor leagues.
Rojas was pushed into office as a New York manager in January 2020 after Carlos Beltran was fired 77 days after his post in the Houston Astros 2017 cheating scandal. Ellis joined the major league team for the shortened regular season. for the pandemic, after beating coach Chili Davis in giving up. Ellis has been with the team throughout the 60-game season.
“My relationship with Ryan, who I have known him for years here at the Mets organization, has been strictly baseball,” said Rojas. “This is what we had as much as conversations.”
“Such inappropriate conduct is simply unacceptable,” he added. “We must have a safe working environment, a safe workplace.”
Rojas said he had regular video meetings with his coaching staff this offseason, and Ellis was not part of that group because Davis is returning for the 2021 season.
The women who spoke to The Athletic about Ellis described sexually explicit comments made in person and unwanted and persistent sexual text messages.
Rojas credited new owner Steve Cohen for quickly responding to the charges against Porter and Ellis and pointed out the new reporting procedures the team has implemented for employees to report illicit behavior, including an outside hotline that allows employees to remain anonymous, if prefer.
The Major League Baseball has adopted a similar hotline for league and team officials, which is also available to non-league officials, such as journalists.
“I am very confident that this type of behavior is something that will be unacceptable in this organization,” said Rojas. “I’ll leave it at that.”