The Los Angeles Dodgers reportedly block Jessica Mendoza of ESPN’s clubhouse access due to her advisory role with the New York Mets.
It seems like the Los Angeles Dodgers prefer to play it safe when it comes to who enters the clubhouse. This week, Andrew Marchand of the New York Post reported that the Dodgers actually block ESPN analyst Jessica Mendoza’s access to their clubhouse.
Along with her role for ESPN, Mendoza works as an adviser to New York Mets general manager Brodie Van Wagenen. The organization hired her into that role in March of this year.
“The Dodgers, for one, decided not to allow Mendoza or another ESPN analyst, David Ross — a Cubs adviser — to roam the clubhouse during media availability before games, according to sources. A Dodgers spokesman confirmed this policy,” Marchand wrote.
“Broadcasters and writers usually can go up to any player in the clubhouse during the one hour of media availability before games. Mendoza and Ross had to preset any interviews, because the Dodgers wanted to monitor the access of broadcasters working for other front offices.”
The Dodgers surely have reasoning to pull something like this. No way would they want an adviser to another National League ballclub to be any sort of close to intel in their own clubhouse. It’s a “better safe than sorry” mentality.
Mendoza represented the United States softball team at the 2004 and 2008 Summer Olympics. She’s been on ESPN’s “Sunday Night Baseball” broadcast team since 2016. Mendoza was originally on the “Baseball Tonight” team starting in 2014.
