Mendoza is not allowed to share anything she learns about other teams through ESPN with the Mets ESPN IMAGES
Mets Exec VP & GM Brodie Van Wagenen said that new Baseball Operations Advisor Jessica Mendoza, who will retain her role at ESPN, will work for the team during MLB's offseason GM and winter meetings, "suggesting her role would be more consequential" than that of other "broadcasters and advisers for teams," according to Draper & Armstrong of the N.Y. TIMES. Mendoza will "evaluate players and provide input on roster construction," and her deal "includes a confidentiality agreement." Van Wagenen said that she "would not share on her broadcast 'anything she gleans from our operation.'" Mendoza also "will not be allowed to share with the Mets anything she learns about other teams through her ESPN duties." Mendoza having "input on important baseball decisions seems to set her apart from other broadcasters’ or ex-players’ roles as 'special advisers,' a role that tends to be more ceremonial than substantive" (N.Y. TIMES, 3/6). On Long Island, David Lennon writes, "What’s the downside for anyone involved here?" The hope is that Mendoza "uses this Mets opportunity as a springboard to an even bigger front-office role someday." This hire is an "example of a long-overdue deviation from the same tired playbook" (NEWSDAY, 3/6).
GOT TO BE REAL: In Chicago, Barry Rozner hopes the Mets "really want to incorporate" Mendoza's ideas and "listen to her assessments, and that it's not just a publicity stunt." The Mets "better be serious about hearing her speak or this will backfire if she walks away in a year or two having wasted her time" (Chicago DAILY HERALD, 3/6). In N.Y., Bob Raissman wonders if Mendoza's hiring, along with Al Leiter and John Franco's moves into similar positions, are more about "good public relations ... or a move to further burnish the media's early perception and portrayal" of Van Wagenen as "MLB's next innovative whiz" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 3/6).
THE SPACE BETWEEN: Mendoza noted her ESPN "SNB" colleague Alex Rodriguez has the same position with the Yankees, and he was "one of the first people I talked to, saying, 'How do you handle this?'" There have been "so many people I've been able to reach out and ask, 'How do other managers and players handle it when they know you're involved with a ball club?'" Mendoza: "I've built a lot of trust with these players and managers and them trusting that the information they give me is because I'm an analyst first for ESPN" ("Golic & Wingo," ESPN Radio, 3/6). In Chicago, Phil Rosenthal writes the problem with hiring Mendoza and allowing her to stay at ESPN is "conflict of interest -- and it must be be addressed." This "cannot be allowed to be the norm among TV analysts." Tasks "can be balanced," but "loyalties can’t." It is ESPN viewers who "stand to get shorted," as fans "shouldn’t have to wonder whether commentators are holding back or if what they do say is colored by their other job" (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 3/6).
