The New York Mets have fired manager Carlos Mendoza on Friday following a 34-47 start to the season which has the club sitting in last place in the NL East.
“Carlos has led the organization with passion and grace and is beloved by everyone who works with him on a daily basis,” said Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns in a statement. “Carlos’ impact on our players, staff, and culture over the last three seasons has been transformative. Unfortunately, we know we are falling short and change is necessary to move forward.”
The 46 year old was in his third season as manager of the team, and had a club option for 2027 remaining on his deal. That option was ultimately not exercised, and following the team’s 6th consecutive loss the Mets front office decided that a change in direction was required. Former Padres manager Andy Green will reportedly step in and serve as interim manager for the duration of the season while the team casts a wide net to make a permanent hire ahead of the 2027 campaign.
Pressure on Mendoza was at a boiling point at the beginning of the year following a remarkable 3 month collapse down the stretch which cost the team a spot in the playoffs. New York had one of the best records in all of baseball in 2025 before coming unraveled late in the summer and falling out of postseason contention altogether. As such, Mendoza knew that 2026 would be a pivotal one for him with the club, and the early results didn’t appear to show much improvement over the team’s poor play to end last summer.
Stearns & Co. attempted to shuffle up the roster to avoid another disaster, shipping off Brandon Nimmo, Jeff McNeil, Pete Alonso, and Edwin Diaz via trade or letting them walk in free agency. The club also relieved several assistants of their duties and declined Mendoza’s option for 2027, indicating that it would be a “do or die” season for the embattled bench boss.
Unfortunately, most of the moves the Mets made in the offseason haven’t yielded the kind of results management was hoping for. Newcomers Bo Bichette, Jorge Polanco, Marcus Semien, and Luis Robert Jr. have all struggled at the plate to begin their tenure in Queens. While Bichette’s bat is slowly coming around following a slow start, the other additions have been borderline unplayable to this point.
New York will look to rally against the Phillies in a 7:10pm ET game Friday in their first game under Green.
Photo: D. Benjamin Miller. This file is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication.