Can't say nobody saw this one coming. The New York Mets fired embattled manager Carlos Mendoza amid the team's current six-game losing streak, highlighted by a four-game sweep at the hands of the Chicago Cubs at Citi Field.
When a team is as bad as the Mets are, which is 13-games under .500 (34-47), and 10 games out of a wild card and 16 out of the division, the manager, typically is the one that goes first especially if that team has a payroll as high as the Mets.
While you can debate Mendoza's lineup strategy, or his earnestness to run to the bullpen at the drop of a pop-up, this debacle that was the 2026 season was not his fault.
Mendoza was a decent manager (206-199), and a better man. He deserved a better fate, and hopefully for him he can land elsewhere as a bench coach and rebuild his rep. In many ways he's the lucky one as he departs with the seventh highest winning percentage among Mets skippers, and is one of seven managers to take the franchise to at least the NLCS.
This year however, "Mendy" was set up to fail, and we all knew as far back as January that this day was coming, and the only men to really point the fickle finger of blame at are President of Baseball Operations David Stearns and Owner Steve Cohen.
Together Stearns and Cohen have built the biggest disaster in baseball while spending over $330 million doing it.
Stearns is the one who allowed Pete Alonso to walk in free agency. The Mets didn't offer him a contract this past winter, allowing the Mets' All-Time Leader in home runs to walk down I-95 to Baltimore where he is hitting .253 with 18 homers and 55 RBI. You think the Mets wish they had those numbers on the team?
We know Mets fans surely do, as the were chanting "Pete Alonso" during the ninth inning of the Mets 10-5 loss to the Cubs on Wednesday.
Who did the Mets replace Alonso with? Jorge Polanco, a decent middle infielder who had a career year in Seattle last year. Polanco has played exactly 14 games for the Mets this season, and there is no telling when he will return.
But Alonso wasn't the only one Stearns kicked out. Brandon Nimmo, Jeff McNeil, Edwin Diaz, Jose Iglesias, Harrison Bader, Jesse Winker. The list goes on and on and on of players who were both popular, and successful in Mets blue and orange as recently as two years ago when this franchise had a miraculous run to the NLCS.
Now they are all gone.
Instead of building off a potential World Series contender, Stearns blew it up as if the Mets were an Indy ball team where drastic changes over roster construction from year-to-year are commonplace.
Instead this past off-season Stearns threw $42 million at Bo Bichiette, arguably the best signing on paper this winter to move from his natural short stop with the Toronto Blue Jays to third base in New York. The results have been mixed at best.
Stearns also traded for outfielder Luis Robert. A player who always had potential, but the back of the baseball card said otherwise. Robert was a floundering hitter with the White Sox the past several years, and couldn't stay healthy. Guess what. He's been out since April, and was hitting only .224 with two homers and eight RBI.
He won a lot of people over the trade with the Milwaukee Brewers for Freddy Peralta, a pending free agent. Peralta won 20 games last year in Milwuakee, but when you looked closely, you could see that he was at best a five inning pitcher in 2025. The Mets wanted him to be their anchor. It hasn't worked out. In 17 starts, Peralta is 5-6 with a 4.18 ERA. The Mets, if they are smart, will flip him to a contending team in the next four weeks.
Yet there were Mets fans the world over who were convinced that David Stearns was a genius. Don't ask me how, they drank the kool-aid and then some.
Stearns built a roster that was full of holes and question marks. He tried to disprove known truths in baseball such as having a true staff ace. The Mets in Stearns three seasons never had a true ace on the team.
He tried to prove to baseball that you can sign anyone to play any position, even if they never played that position before. Another Stearns hypothesis that proved wrong again.
Yet when he was asked Monday about the build of the team, Stearns cryptically said with his typical grin that this team needs time.
Time? You kidding?
Right now Stearns is running out of time. He can change the manager from Carlos Mendoza to Andy Green, it won't change a thing. Green has been a manager before; from 2016-19 he put it four seasons as San Diego Padres skipper where he lost 90-plus games in each season at the top step of the dugout.
He's perfect.
Steve Cohen pursued Stearns. He wanted him to be the one to guide the Mets over the next decade. But right now the pressure is mounting, and with severe doubts about baseball even playing next year, Cohen has a crucial decision to make in the three months.
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