January 18th, 2020 at 8:00 am 
by 0799291000348 Jessica Mendoza wears a couple of hats in her professional career: an analyst for ESPN and a special assistant to New York Mets General Manager Brodie Van Wagenen. In either capacity, it appears that she crossed a bright-line during the January 16 ESPN television broadcast of ‘Golic and Wingo‘ regarding the Houston Astros cheating scandal.
Responding to a question from ESPN program co-host Bob Golic whether she had a problem with ex-Astros pitcher Mike Fiers going public with the illegal sign stealing, Mendoza said that going public with the cheating did not sit well with her, saying that is something teammates do not do. She seemed to imply that since the cheating wasn’t something that had been complained about by other teams, or discovered by Major League Baseball (MLB), that Fiers was wrong to make it public.
“I mean, I get it. If you’re with the Oakland A’s and you’re on another team, heck yeah, you better be telling your teammates, ‘Look, heads up, if you hear some noises when you’re pitching, this is what’s going on.’ But to go public? Yeah, it didn’t sit well with me.”
Mendoza was quoted later in the day that Fiers had “ratted-out” his Astros teammates, seemingly calling him a snitch. She also said that Fiers publicly exposing the Astros’ scheme was “hard to swallow.”
(Image courtesy of Sports Illustrated)
And she didn’t stop there.
She also said that MLB failing to discipline the players who were involved was wrong.
No doubt Van Wagenen was thinking of MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred’s edict regarding teams commenting on the imposed punishment, when he separated the team from Mendoza’s comments, saying that she did so as an ESPN analyst; that she was not speaking for the Mets.
So, when does Mendoza change hats? Perhaps she wears both hats simultaneously? This may be the very reason why the Dodgers refused her and another ESPN analyst, David Ross (at the time a special assistant to the Chicago Cubs and a former Dodger) access to their clubhouse.
You may recall that Mendoza (not Ross) went public with her angst over the Dodgers refusing to allow her access to the team’s clubhouse before Game-3 of the 2019 NLDS, claiming that the team inconsistently applied its policy. Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman responded by saying:
“For me, if someone is really involved in the front-office operation of another team, we don’t think it’s right to give them unfettered access to our players, I think it’s pretty cut and dried. It’s hard for me to see the other side of it, personally. If that’s not the case, then I think there will be an arms race in hiring announcers to work for our front office to go get information on players.”
Friedman went on to say that the policy has been consistent.
(Photo credit – Scott Varley)
It appears that the Dodgers’ concern about which hat Mendoza would wear in the clubhouse was well-founded.
What discipline – if any – will be imposed upon Mendoza by ESPN, the Mets, or MLB?
What do you think?
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Editors Note:
Within hours of her egregious comments, Mendoza backpedaled on them, which made her appear even more foolish. This from The New York Post:
“Thought it was important to clarify my earlier remarks about the sign stealing situation in MLB. Most importantly, I feel strongly that the game of baseball will benefit greatly because that sign stealing matter was uncovered. Cheating the game is something that needs to be addressed and I’m happy to see the league is taking appropriate action. The point I should have been much more clear on was this: I believe it’s very critical that this news was made public; I simply disagree with the manner in which that was done.”
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Maybe it’s just me, but I find it hard to understand just where Mendoza stands on this issue.
Agreed, lots of double talk.
Times like this, best to follow the money. Want to know where Mendoza stands, look to see who butters her bread.
My guess, Mendoza has ticked-off ESPN, the Mets, and MLB.
She probably did Jesse. Sounded like when she realized she was stepping on the toes of someone with her wrong takes and it might effect her career, she quickly changed her stance to something else.
To bad she didn’t realize from the start, wrong is wrong in all cases.
It is surprising that she forgot how she got the job at ESPN in the first place. Wasn’t it because they fired Curt Schilling because of the total B.S. that emanated from his mouth?
An absolute fact, Joe.
Spot-on, Jesse!
At a time when women are clamoring – and protesting – about being excluded from every aspect of professional sports, this is definitely a (major) step in the wrong direction.
There are so many extremely talented female sportscasters, trainers, and now sports executives that it should no longer even be an issue. (Note: I was very blessed to have become friends with one of the very first – former Dodgers medical trainer Sue Falsone). Yet, when someone in such a position, regardless of gender, blatantly crosses the line, they absolutely positively should be called out on it, as you and others have done with Mendoza.
Outstanding piece, my friend.
She should be fired st ESPN. She also needs to realize that since she works for another team that she should not have access to gather teams. Just fire her.
Jessica happens to be way more knowledgeable about the game of baseball then alot of men I know. Comments taken out of context happen everyday. That’s “news media”. Dude going to media about what happened was lame and goes against all locker room and team concepts. Clearly none of you wanting her fired have ever played a team sport on any level let alone high level so i dont expect you to understand but end of day there is a right and wrong way of doing things and what Mike did was dead wrong,as well as stealing signs.
” Clearly none of you wanting her fired have ever played a team sport on any level let alone high level so i dont expect you to understand …”
Thanks for the chuckles.
No doubt she is knowledgeable, no intention of questioning her resume, or skill. There was nothing taken out of context, you can go on line and listen to her interview with Golic, and you can read her twitter message trying to explain her comments. It is also a fact that she is employed by both ESPN, and the NY Mets so her comments regarding the Houston Astros cheating scandal and the whistleblower Mike Fiers are reasonably considered to be authoritative. As a paid employee of the NY Mets her comments regarding the Astros players appears to violate the directive from the MLB Commissioner. Calling out Mike Fiers as snitch (ratting out his teammates) should not happen in her capacity of ESPN reporter / representative. If she wants to editorialize then resign her position from the Mets, and move from reporter / analyst to the editorial department.
Call me old fashioned. Or whatever.
Women’s softball is in no way MLB baseball. I have no use for her baseball opinions.
What bothers me about Mendoza’s baseball reporting is when she talks over her cohorts in the booth like Aaron Boone, often coming across as condescending. I have no problem with women announcers for MLB, or any other sport — I think Alanna Rizzo does an excellent job as a member of the Dodgers broadcast team.
The natural comparison for Dodger fans is to Alanna. Jessica can’t carry Alanna’s microphone.
Another thing I often notice is that many of her “insights” are merely rewording something one of her cohorts said.
Spot on!
With all due respect, it makes no difference if she played softball or not. Either her knowledge of baseball is strong or its not.
Uncle Ned you “nailed it.” Mendoza is very nice person who had a great career playing women’s softball. If I’m not mistaken she’s married to a US Marine, which is awesome, but having to hear her go on and on about hitting a 95 MPH fastball etc drives me crazy. She’s never had to hit a MLB pitcher and cannot, for a minute, explain how to do it.
I personally think Jessica Mendoza bit off more than she can chew
IMO, she regularly engages her mouth before engaging her brain.