A former ESPN reporter is back in Major League Baseball — this time in a different role, in a different city.

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Adam Rubin, who covered the New York Mets for ESPN.com after previously covering the team for the New York Daily News, has joined the Pittsburgh Pirates as their director of communications.

Rubin last covered the Mets in 2016 for ESPN. Prior to ESPN, he was at the New York Daily News.

— Andrew Marchand (@AndrewMarchand) February 24, 2026

Rubin covered the Mets for a combined 15 years, while also hosting a baseball-themed radio show on ESPN New York and making appearances on ESPN’s “SportsCenter” as well as SportsNet New York’s “Daily News Live.”

Rubin moved from reporting to public relations in 2017, and subsequently served in strategic communications roles for Division I college athletics programs at Long Island University and Stony Brook University as associate athletic director.

He went on to take a position as an Adjunct Instructor of Journalism, Media Studies, and Public Relations at Hofstra University, and as public relations director for the Commack School District on Long Island.

Rubin still has nearly 80,000 followers on X. So why did he leave reporting?

“I don’t think I’m alone in saying the relationship between reporters and players has changed over the years,” he said in a 2017 interview. “Probably rightfully so because of the scrutiny they receive in the social-media age, but the players are much more guarded now. It’s not viewed as frequently as a mutually beneficial business relationship. And I didn’t like being treated as a nuisance.”

It’s a dynamic Rubin will get to navigate on the other side of the aisle.

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