5 Effects Carlos Mendoza's Firing Will Have on Mets' Entire Future

While there have been plenty of people arguing online that Carlos Mendoza was scapegoated for the Mets' slow start to 2026, the decision to move on from him is pretty simple to understand. He bore plenty of the blame and moving on is a good step for the Mets to take accountability for a significant underperformance over the past calendar year.

The Mets have gone just 72-103 since June 12 of 2025, a woefully bad .411 winning percentage that ranks among the worst in the majors. Letting Mendoza go now instead of in April, when the Mets' season could have been saved, is a performative move but one that sets the stage for how the rest of a lost season should be evaluated.

Firing a manager for a team with one of the highest payrolls in baseball leads to all sorts of speculation about what else could be coming for the Mets, with David Stearns' job security being questioned as well. Let's sort through the noise to examine all the impacts Mendoza's departure will have on the Mets.

A unique interim opportunity

The Mets tabbed Green, who has managerial experience with the San Diego Padres from 2016-2019, to guide the club through the final 81 games of the regular season. Green, who has been in the front office helping to oversee player development, will only serve as manager through the end of the season, according to Stearns.

David Stearns says that Andy Green will return to the Mets' front office after serving as the team's interim manager this season pic.twitter.com/uPSlYNZPW6
— SNY (@SNYtv) June 26, 2026

There is benefit to giving Green a half season to work as it is a chance to see how the team's existing players can function under a new voice. Green appeared singularly focused in his first comments to the media, revealing that he told his team he wanted them to worry about only the game that is right in front of them and shut out the outside noise.

Having someone from the front office like Green work in the dugout for the last three months of the year could be quite informative for the Mets. Green will be able to see up close how players are preparing for their jobs and handling their business, which could guide decisions on who to retain and who to move on from in the offseason.

Mets' manager search offers new leading voices

Since Green won't be taking the job on a permanent basis, it seems likely the Mets will look outside the organization for their next permanent manager after the season.

Future Hall of Famer Albert Pujols threw his hat in the ring shortly after Mendoza was let go, telling MLB Network that he would love to manage the Mets because they have an owner (Steve Cohen) who wants to win.

Pujols confirmed he had interest in managing the Mets (and managing in-general).

“You have an owner that wants win.” pic.twitter.com/X7Jb39zgRi
— Mike Mayer (@mikemayer22) June 26, 2026

While Pujols doesn't have any big league managerial experience, he did manage the Dominican Republic in the World Baseball Classic and has a close relationship with Mets' star Juan Soto. There has been a lot of buzz around the league regarding Pujols as a future manager, with the Los Angeles Angels and San Diego Padres reportedly considering him for their vacancies last winter.

Another first-time candidate in a similar mold to Pujols could be Carlos Beltran, who currently works in the Mets' front office as an advisor. Beltran was set to become the Mets' manager in 2019 before getting forced out of the job over his connection to the Astros' cheating scandal, but he is headed to the Hall of Fame now and Cohen was not the primary owner at the time.

Both Pujols and Beltran would be taking the job as first-time managers, which is something that could be a tough sell to see them (or any other candidates without managerial experience) learn on the job in the New York market. There are several experienced candidates out there as well, with the most prominent being former Red Sox' skipper Alex Cora, who declined a chance to take over for the Phillies in-season.

Cora will likely be a Phillies' target again this winter since interim Don Mattingly doesn't seem to want to manage on a permanent basis, but he should expect a phone call from the Mets. Two other names of note in the experienced department are Rocco Baldelli, who did well before being let go by Minnesota, and David Ross, who the Cubs unceremoniously fired to poach Craig Counsell from Milwaukee.

Mets can lean into trade deadline approach

Even though the Mets will try to convince you their mind hasn't been made up, the David Peterson deal was the first move of what will be a fire sale. The Mets' schedule remains quite difficult through the trade deadline and it seems highly unlikely they will make up enough ground to justify holding potential trade chips like Freddy Peralta, Brooks Raley and A.J. Minter.

Peralta is the biggest name here as he has not lived up to expectations since the Mets traded two top prospects for him over the winter. Extension talks didn't get quite far prior to the season, so the logical play would be for the Mets to try and recoup some value by dealing him closer to the deadline in hopes that Thursday's start against the Cubs is a sign he is righting the ship.

This sale figures to be unlike 2023, when the Mets ate a lot of long-term money to get Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer off the roster to reset the organization before Stearns' arrival. The Mets still have Juan Soto and Francisco Lindor in their primes, so moving off of pieces that could be helpful next season is highly unlikely unless the Mets are blown away with offers.

The pending free agents, such as the aforementioned pitchers, will definitely get moved. Luis Robert and Clay Holmes, who can opt out after the season, could also be viable candidates to trade if they can return from their injuries prior to the deadline.

The case of Bo Bichette, however, is notably complicated since he can opt into each year of his contract after a slow start to the season.

Bichette has improved considerably and would be among the most impactful bats available if the Mets decided to do, but they would have to not only pay down some money to get a good return but guarantee they'd need to replace Bichette in a weak free agent class during a pending lockout.

Taking a deep look at roster for next regime

This is going to be a big feature of Green's job down the stretch as he looks to help the Mets make final calls on players who could be on the roster next year. That is a mix of looking at players who could play roles on next year's roster, such as the Baby Mets and Jared Young, as well as integrating more young prospects into the mix.

Zach Thornton's strong start against the Phillies on Friday was encouraging and he will likely get runway to showcase his ability to hold a rotation spot the rest of the way. If the Mets trade all of their rental pitchers, it should also give them a lot of time to look at the likes of Jonah Tong, Jack Wenninger, Dylan Ross and Ryan Lambert in key big league spots.

There is also the matter of Kodai Senga and Sean Manaea, both of whom have been highly inconsistent over the past two years. Both are entering the last years of their contracts in 2027 and the Mets would happily move either if they can get some kind of value in return. The market for both players is low, however, so don't be shocked if the two of them are fighting for one rotation spot in 2027.

The other interesting name in this department is Marcus Semien, who has become something of a pariah for Mets' fans as a result of his poor play this season following an unpopular trade that sent Brandon Nimmo out of town. Semien still has two years left on his contract and was playing every day under Mendoza, so it will be interesting to see if his playing time diminishes after his return from the injured list.

David Stearns' seat becoming red-hot

The last thing to watch here is Stearns' future, which would appear to be dicey after he turned over most of the roster, coaching staff and manager only for the Mets to continue underachieving. Stearns' job security was questioned at Friday's press conference, with one reporter asking Stearns directly if he considered stepping down after firing Mendoza, but Stearns isn't going anywhere.

Cohen had immense difficulty filling his head of baseball operations post for years, getting denied permission to speak to numerous executives from other organizations. Others turned Cohen down in the wake of his comments about expecting to win a World Series in 3-5 years at his initial press conference, which created expectations many viewed as unreasonable or unrealistic.

Stearns came to New York willing to embrace the challenge and with a glowing reputation around the game, including an NLCS run in his first season. Parting with Stearns, who Cohen was willing to wait three years to hire, now would create a chilling effect around the vacancy again.

There aren't a ton of obvious GM candidates around the game and the Los Angeles Angels are already in the market for a new lead baseball executive after firing Perry Minasian. There is also the matter of trying to fill Stearns' role in the midst of a pending lockout, which would be a very bad idea to have front office instability in the middle of a work stoppage.

The logical play here, which Stearns did not rule out when asked at Friday's press conference, would be to hire a General Manager to work underneath him. Stearns has his hands in a lot of different cookie jars trying to modernize the organization, which has left him stretched thin to cover so many areas of team building.

The weakest aspect of Stearns' tenure thus far has been his major league acquisitions, which have largely followed the formula that worked for him in Milwaukee but hasn't translated here. Bringing in an executive with more pro personnel experience and a fresh perspective on external acquisitions could provide some needed balance to the organization while allowing Stearns to focus on more big picture concepts.

There are a lot of angles to emerge from Mendoza's departure, but it is a key crossroads moment for the Mets. Seeing how they navigate the situation could be quite informative as to how long it will take to restore the franchise to respectability with vibes among the fan base as low as they have ever been in the Cohen era.

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