Angels Suspend Pitching Coach Mickey Callaway in Wake of Sexual Misconduct Accounts

The Los Angeles Angels suspended pitching coach Mickey Callaway on Tuesday morning, in the wake of a report from The Athletic which detailed accounts of Callaway sending inappropriate photographs and unsolicited messages to at least five women working in sports media over a five-year span.

The team announced Callaway's suspension on Tuesday after being made aware of the accounts late on Monday. The Angels said they will work closely with MLB to conduct a full investigation into Callaway's conduct.

According to ESPN's Alden Gonzalez, Callaway has denied any wrongdoing, which protects him from being fired without an investigation.

The Angels hired Callaway in October 2019. He served as the Mets' manager from October 2017 until 2019. He was also the Cleveland pitching coach for five seasons. 

The women, who spoke to The Athletic under the condition of anonymity, worked in sports media at the time of their interactions with Callaway. They detail interactions in which they said Callaway sent lewd messages, inappropriately commented on their appearance, and in one instance "thrust his crotch near the face of a reporter as she interviewed him."

According to one source interviewed for the story, Callaway's mistreatment of women was "the worst-kept secret in sports."

“Rather than rush to respond to these general allegations of which I have just been made aware, I look forward to an opportunity to provide more specific responses," Callaway wrote in an email to The Athletic. "Any relationship in which I was engaged has been consensual, and my conduct was in no way intended to be disrespectful to any women involved. I am married and my wife has been made aware of these general allegations.”

On Monday, Major League Baseball told The Athletic that they “[had] never been notified of any allegations of sexually inappropriate behavior by Mickey Callaway.” The Athletic later reported the league was launching an investigation into the claims leveled against him. 

In a statement following the publication of The Athletic's report, Mets owner Steve Cohen, who has owned the team for three months, said: "The conduct reported in The Athletic story today is completely unacceptable and would never be tolerated under my ownership." 

New York recently fired general manager Jared Porter, who had been hired in December 2020 after ESPN reported on a string of explicit and unsolicited text messages sent to a female in 2016. 

"I was appalled by the actions reported today of former manager Mickey Callaway," Mets president Sandy Alderson, who hired Callaway in a previous stint as the team's general manager said in a statement. "I was unaware of the conduct described in the story at the time of Mickey's hire or at any time during my tenure as General Manager. We have already begun a review of our hiring process to ensure our vetting of new employees is more thorough and comprehensive."