The Mets, after posting a 7-19 record in April and falling to 10-21 on the season, do not plan to fire Carlos Mendoza, David Stearns confirmed on Friday. Elaborating upon those remarks, Stearns told MLB.com, “We know our record is not what we want, and we know we are capable of more. We don’t view this as a manager problem, and we don’t intend to make a change.” The news temporarily puts to bed talk of firing their skipper, who is in the final guaranteed year of a three-year deal, which includes a club option for 2027.
It would be inaccurate to say that this comment from Stearns was made in order to get ahead of calls from fans and the media to fire Mendoza, as those discussions have been raging since the team’s 12-game losing streak. If nothing else, a strong, “definitive” statement from leadership was needed to divert attention away from the manager, whose seat had been growing hotter by the day. This announcement puts the onus squarely back on the players, who are now tasked, alongside Mendoza and Stearns, with figuring out a way to save a season that is quickly careening off a cliff at an alarming speed.
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Mendoza is hardly entirely to blame for this mess—I said as much in my piece about the end is likely near for Mendoza, which is not so much untrue now as it is “delayed until further notice”—though he can also not be entirely absolved of fault. Mendoza has made some genuinely head-scratching moves—not just this year, but during his entire managerial tenure— and his inability to adjust on the fly when needed can often be infuriating. This team also largely seems to give up when trailing in games, as evident by their 0-88 record in their past 88 games when trailing after eight innings. While overseeing two different rosters, this is a damning indictment on the team’s preparation and, as a result, their manager.
However, the team’s biggest issue can most succinctly be described as, “The players are not getting it done”. Stearns, who executed an ambitious offseason plan, which included jettisoning several core members of the roster, has not been rewarded for his moves, and most of the players he has brought in have well underperformed expectations. That, coupled with struggles from just about everyone on the roster, from the rotation to the bullpen to the “Baby Mets”, has made this a perfect storm of pain.
The Mets enter play tonight with a 10-21 record, the worst mark in the entire sport, which is a far cry from the postseason (and even World Series) aspirations that the club carried into spring training. The Mets are currently mired in a 3-17 stretch, which includes the aforementioned 12-game losing streak. Only the 1964 and 1981 Mets got off to a worse start to a baseball season. The team has been free-falling towards irrelevancy as the calendar turns to May, and anger from the fanbase could soon give way to apathy, which will hurt their bottom line in the form of ticket sales—the team has yet to release single game tickets for games beyond June, which could prove to be a gross miscalculation on their part.
Two managers have already been fired in 2026. First, the Red Sox parted ways with longtime skipper Alex Cora after a suboptimal and sloppy start to their season. Next, the division rival Phillies, who endured a 10-game losing streak of their own and are battling the Mets for last place in the division, cut ties with Rob Thomson, who led them to an NL Pennant in 2022 after taking over midseason for Joe Girardi.
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Perhaps it will not make Mendoza feel any better to know that Dave Dombrowski gave Thomson a vote of confidence roughly one week before being fired, so Stearns’ words, while accurate in the moment, may change should circumstances call for it. Still, for the time being, Mendoza will be at the helm, and fans will need to turn their attention to other topics surrounding the club.
