The first thing you should know about the firing of Carlos Mendoza is that no one on the Mets team believes their poor performance is the former manager’s fault. Not David Stearns, president of baseball operations. Not Francisco Lindor, the franchise stopper. Not Bo Bichette, the biggest acquisition of the season. Not Andy Green, the farm director who became the interim manager. Mendoza did not lose the clubhouse, Stearns said in a press conference Friday afternoon, less than six hours after the team announced the dismissal, and Lindor said he and the players failed Mendoza.
It would be easy to point to the embarrassing series the Mets recently played against the Cubs at Citi Field, the low point of which will be found in the second game of Wednesday’s doubleheader. Each of the four midfielders made at least one mistake; that had not happened since September 8, 1962. New York recorded six total defensive errors. But the truth is, there is not a single game or a single series that Mendoza entered. The only surprising thing about his firing is that it didn’t happen quickly. The Mets went 34-47 (.420) under Mendoza this season, which tied them for third in the National League. On June 12, 2025, the Mets held the best record in the majors. As of Friday morning, they had a record of 72-102 (.414) since that high-water mark. This is a group in free fall, and the drop lasted more than a full calendar year. During the offseason, Stearns and the Mets purged most of their veteran players and brought in a new group of guys. That didn’t work in the first 81 games of the season, so the next thing to do is fire the manager. Stearns said at a press conference on Friday that his job is safe, and he said he supports ownership. The thing is, so did Mendoza – until he didn’t.
Jay Jaffe will take a closer look at Mendoza’s firing and the Mets in a story early next week, so that’s the last thing I’ll say about the news in this week’s mailbag. Instead, we’ll be answering your questions about the unwritten rules of ABS challenges, what would happen if a team was made up of nine Frank Thomases, how much money a player can make in just 24 hours on the big league roster, and more. But first, I’d like to remind you that this post bag is only available to FanGraphs members. If you are not yet a Member and would like to continue learning, you can sign up for Membership here. It’s the best way to experience the site and support our staff, and it comes with tons of other great benefits. Also, if you’d like to ask a question about a future mailbag, email me at mailbag@fangraphs.com.
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