By Miguel Mike Medina
Photo Credit: Brad Penner / Imagn Images via Reuters Connect
The New York Mets fired manager Carlos Mendoza after a 34-47 start this season, currently on a six-game losing streak.
The Mets are 15 games behind the first-place Atlanta Braves in the NL East. The Mets recently got swept in a four-game home series against the Chicago Cubs. Getting outscored 33 to 17. Witnessing this, owner Steve Cohen had seen enough.
Front office executive Andy Green will serve as interim manager for the remainder of the season. In three seasons, Mendoza posted a 206-199 record. He led the Mets to a 2024 NL pennant and wild-card berth, and lost in the NLCS to the Los Angeles Dodgers in six games.
Mendoza becomes the third manager this season to get fired during the middle of the season (Rob Thomson and Alex Cora). The Mets haven’t fired a manager during the middle of the season since 2008. It’s been an embarrassing and disappointing season for a team that had high hopes entering the season. With a lineup featuring Francisco Lindor, Juan Soto, Francisco Alvarez, and new players like Bo Bichette and Marcus Semien, being in last place doesn’t cut it.
In fairness to the Mets, they have also dealt with many injuries, and we haven’t seen the full product on the field. The starting rotation has been a disaster. The Mets have the second-biggest payroll in baseball. The Mets front office will have to do something at the trade deadline to change the season’s narrative and consider a manager for the long term.
Mendoza doesn’t deserve full blame for the Mets’ struggles. It’s not a surprise, because when the team is struggling this badly, the front office is going to look at the coaching staff first, more than anybody else. Mendoza has made some mistakes as a manager, but he can’t control how his pitchers are performing or how many errors the defense is committing.
Will this firing change things around? Highly unlikely because many things need to be cleaned up, and it won’t happen this season.
Miguel Mike Medina is the publisher of The MMM Journal. He can be reached at medinamiguelmike@gmail.com and themmmjournal@gmail.com
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