The Mets’ disastrous season has apparently reached its peak. The club announced this morning that manager Carlos Mendoza has been fired. He will be replaced by former Padres skipper Andy Green, who worked with the Mets in a player development role. Green will be the interim manager for the rest of the season, according to the Mets.
“Carlos has led the organization with passion and grace and is loved by all who work with him every day,” president of baseball operations David Stearns said in a press release announcing the change. “Carlos’ impact on our players, staff, and culture over the past three seasons has been transformative. Unfortunately, we know we are falling and change is needed to move forward.”
Mendoza, 46, was in his third season as captain at Queens. He led the Mets to an 89-73 record and the team’s NLCS against the Dodgers as a rookie captain back in 2024, but the Mets missed the season after a dramatic second-half collapse in 2025.
The 2026 season was, frankly, a nightmare. The Mets entered the season with the second-largest CBT payroll in the game and the largest actual payroll in the sport but rattled off a 34-47 record that left them buried in the bottom of the NL East and 9.5 games back of the Wild Card chase. The Giants and Rockies are the only clubs in the National League with the worst record.
Stearns gave Mendoza the most votes of confidence at the start of the season. Seven weeks ago, Stearns publicly stated that the Mets “do not view this as a management issue” and insisted that the organization had no intention of making a change. The team followed that up with an encouraging 16-12 showing in the month of May (after 7-19 April), but have gone 8-14 this month, including six straight losses to drop them to a season-worst 13 games under .500.
“I want to express my deepest gratitude to Carlos Mendoza for his leadership and unwavering commitment,” owner Steve Cohen said in a statement. “He has represented this organization with integrity and dedication in everything, and I wish him and his family all the best. Our commitment to bringing our fans a top-quality team has not changed. There is nothing to sugar coat: this season has been a disappointment and our fans deserve better than what we have delivered.”
Mendoza spent 13 years in the minor leagues as an outfielder before joining the Yankees organization as a minor league coach in 2009. He coached and managed at all levels of the Yankees’ before joining the big league staff in 2018. The Yankees promoted him to bench coach in 2019 — a role he held until he was hired as a starter in the Mets’ 203 offseason.
A nightmare 2026 campaign certainly cannot be explained by Mendoza alone. He’s obviously the most influential voice in the organization and is tasked with the day-to-day oversight of the clubhouse, coaching staff and roster, but Mendoza didn’t put the roster together, and he can’t keep his players healthy. That’s not to say he’s not partially to blame for the season we’re in, but he’s one of the culpable in what Stearns, Cohen and other key Mets officials would certainly admit to the failure of the entire organization. Every manager signs his contract knowing that it will end with his dismissal, however. Such is the life of a major league captain.
Stearns and the rest of the Mets’ front office overhauled the roster last season, allowing guards. Pete Alonso again Edwin Diaz departures as free agents and trades Brandon Nimmo to Rangers in a closed deal Marcus Semien. Jorge Polanco, Bo Bichette, Devin Williams again Luke Weaver they were all brought in on short-term free agent deals – Bichette with a maximum annual salary of $42MM. Freddy Peralta was acquired from the Brewers in exchange for two top prospects (Brandon Sproat, Jett Williams). Luis Robert Jr. was acquired to play the central position.
Weaver has played well this season. Williams and Bichette, after a bad start, are starting to look like normal people. Bichette is hitting .312/.349/.546 in his past 152 plate appearances. Williams has a 2.33 ERA and a 35% strikeout rate over his past 19 1/3 innings. Those rebounds fall under the “too little, too late” umbrella, however, and some of the team’s moves haven’t panned out. Semien has been one of the most inactive hitters in the game and recently went on the injured list. Robert, surprisingly, has only played in 24 games and is on the 60-day disabled list. Polanco has been on and off the field (14 games). Peralta has hit well most of the season but was just shy of his previous level even before the Phillies’ 10-run shutout last week, raising his ERA to over 4.00 at the time.
Despite the injuries and lackluster performance of the new arrivals, the current team has not yet completed the deal. Francisco Lindor he has only played 25 games due to a calf strain that kept him out for more than six weeks. He didn’t hit when healthy, perhaps in part because of a hamstring fracture during spring training. Clay Holmes It was a good nine plays before a running back hit him in the leg and broke his hamstring. He came out in the middle of May. Juan Soto he missed a few weeks with a calf strain and has recently been dealing with back pain. Nolan McLean it has been better than great. Brett Baty has taken a step back after last year’s outbreak. New York got some great showings from the rookies Carson Benge again AJ Ewingbut the list as a whole just fell by the miles without expectation.
As is often the case, the manager will be the first to pay the price for the top-down failure the Mets have experienced this season (and, in fact, dating back to last July or so). A failure of this magnitude often serves as an indicator of baseball’s changes, but it’s common for front offices to get a little more rope. Cohen hasn’t said whether a front office shuffle is being considered. Stearns & Co. has already made a move, trading lefty David Peterson — another steady veteran who has struggled mightily this season — to the Cubs earlier this week.
Stearns and Green will speak to the media later this afternoon – first at 3pm ET and later at 4:15pm ET.
Jon Heyman of the New York Post first reported that Mendoza had been fired and would be replaced by Green.
