Jessica Mendoza, Espn commentator was involved in car accident and has not been in the booth for the "Sunday Night Baseball" broadcast this weekend because she was recovering at home from a car accident.
Jessica, who has been a full-time color commentator on the broadcast since 2016, was rear-ended at full speed on a freeway Friday, according to ESPN, which said she scaled through serious injury." The hope,
according to ESPN communications director Ben Cafardo, is that Mendoza will rejoin the broadcast this Sunday in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.
"Ever a champ, she made every effort to be in the booth tonight but the much better decision was to rest and recover with her family," Cafardo wrote on Twitter.
In addition to her broadcasting duties, Jessica Mendoza serves as a baseball analyst for other ESPN shows. She's also a baseball operations advisor for the New York Mets.
Jessica will also be in the room with the Mets for the GM meetings and winter meetings, where teams widely have all their proprietary information on display, an indication to her role could be potentially significant.
There has never been a woman GM in baseball. Jean Afterman is an assistant GM with the Yankees. Mendoza wouldn’t say definitively her goal is to one day lead a team of her own.
“That question has definitely come up more and more,” Jessica said by phone. “I can’t really conclude my mind on that. Honestly, right now, I want to be the best analyst I can be. That’s truthful. I think of this position as something that is going to make me grow broader in my knowledge with ‘Sunday Night Baseball’ and ESPN sport".
Van Wagenen prodded Mendoza to join the Mets, but she first sought the approval of her bosses at ESPN.
“I think what was really cool was how immediately supportive they were. They were like, 100 percent, we want you to do this, Jessica said. “It is also helpful for us as a network. To hear that and not, ‘Oh, I don’t know,’ or any other reaction, which could’ve been expected, I was partially prepared for that. That really helped me, and I knew that was something that I definitely wanted to acquire”.
ESPN has other analysts who are advisers to teams. Jessica Mendoza spoke with Alex Rodriguez, who consults with the Yankees, while also found out how Grant Hill handles the dual role as a part owner of the Hawks and as an analyst. Jessica and Hill share the same agent, Matt Kramer, who works for the same agency, CAA, that Van Wagenen left to take the Mets’ job.
With her dual role, opposing players and managers could be hesitant to share as much information, knowing that Mendoza works for the Mets. But Mendoza expects her commentary and relationships with players and managers to remain the same.
“If I walked into a room and all of a sudden those doors shut, I would be shocked,” Mendoza said.