Red Sox assistant GM rejecting Mets smartest career move

Red Sox assistant GM Raquel Ferreira is the latest MLB exec to turn down the Mets

The New York Mets are trying to throw a party, but no one, and I mean no one wants to be the guest of honor.

Raquel Ferreira, the longtime Boston Red Sox exec who is currently assistant GM, is the latest to decline an invite to interview with the embattled franchise.

That’s right, she doesn’t even want to interview for the position.

The New York Mets have been embroiled in multiple sexual harassment scandals

If you haven’t been keeping up with the Mets’ scandals over the last year or so, it includes multiple men accused of sexual harassment with an abundance of evidence, as well as employees coming forward to depict a “toxic” workplace environment.

First, Jared Porter, the Mets’ GM for about five weeks. During his time with the Cubs, he sent what he admitted to be “explicit, unsolicited texts and images” to a female reporter. Over 60 messages went unanswered by the woman, who wished to remain anonymous. Porter was the Cubs’ director of professional scouting at the time.

Exactly one month and five days after his hiring was officially announced, the Mets fired Porter.

Not long after, the Mets also fired their major-league hitting coordinator, Ryan Ellis. Three women who had worked for the team had come forward in 2018 with concerns over his inappropriate behavior.

Apparently, it took three years for the Mets to care.

Then, there was Mickey Callaway, the manager fired at the end of the 2019 season. In February 2021, five women alleged that he had behaved inappropriately with them, including sending them unsolicited photos. According to them, he had been doing this as an employee with three different MLB organizations for many years, including the Mets. He had also abused his power trying to cover it up.

Callaway’s behavior was known as “the worst-kept secret” in baseball. A female reporter who spoke to The Athletic said that she had been “warned he was gross” before he began behaving lewdly towards her.

MLB placed him on the Ineligible List through the end of the 2022 season.

Not hard to see why Ferreira said no, right?

She would do an amazing job with the Mets, and one day in the near future, she’ll do an amazing job leading another MLB team. But after the numerous issues uncovered at their organization over the last year, no woman would feel comfortable there. If powerful executives don’t even want to interview for the job, imagine how intimidating it is there for low-level employees.

Ferreira has worked too long and too hard to become the poster woman of the Mets’ image rehabilitation. She’s been with the Red Sox since 1999 and has already earned a GM position in baseball on her own merit.

If the Mets were to hire Ferreira in the current climate, it would come off as performative, to the tune of, “We’re done hiring sexists, we hire women instead!” That would be an insult to Ferreira and every woman in this industry who has worked so hard to get to where they are, even more so since many women have dealt with characters like Callaway and Porter.

But more than that, it is not up to any woman to fix a problem created by men, especially when it’s a problem that has hurt women. Women in sports have enough to deal with because of men in sports, and this situation is the perfect example of that. It’s not up to us to educate you or absolve you of your sins. We don’t want to, and we should not have to.

If the men running the Mets want to create a better culture, they’re going to have to get their acts together and do it themselves.