Mets' Carlos Mendoza Reacts to Alex Cora Firing

The Boston Red Sox shook the baseball world on Saturday when they fired manager Alex Cora and a slew of his assistant coaches.

On Sunday, New York Mets manager Carlos Mendoza, whose own job security has been called into question, was asked to give his thoughts on the situation.

"You never know, especially in this business...I have a lot of respect for him, I consider him one of the best managers in the league," Mendoza said.

Carlos Mendoza is asked about the Red Sox firing Alex Cora:

"You never know, especially in this business...I have a lot of respect for him, I consider him one of the best managers in the league" pic.twitter.com/jiBTzg8LO6
— SNY Mets (@SNY_Mets) April 26, 2026

Cora had a managerial record of 620-541. He managed Boston for the last eight seasons. Cora also led the Red Sox to their most dominant season in franchise history in 2018 when they won the World Series.

Mendoza, on the other hand, is in his third season as the skipper of the Mets. His managerial record entering play on Sunday was 181-169. Mendoza led the Mets to the NLCS in 2024, their first appearance since 2015.

However, Mendoza's Mets were a league-best 45-24 last season before going 38-55 the rest of the way and missing the postseason. This season the Mets are off to a dreadful 9-17 start. The team lost 12 games in a row for the first time since 2002.

Mendoza is also a lame-duck manager on the final year of his deal. The Mets did not pick up his option for 2027 in the offseason.

If the Mets continue their poor play, it's certainly possible that Mendoza could be the next MLB manager to lose his job. Should Mendoza get fired during the season, some internal options to replace him could be vice president of baseball development Andy Green, bench coach Kai Corea and special assistant and franchise legend Carlos Beltran.

Roster Construction

While Mendoza deserves some of the blame for the Mets' rough start to the year as well as last season's collapse, he didn't construct the roster.

President of baseball operations David Stearns built a flawed pitching staff last year. Stearns also overhauled the Mets' roster in the offseason, letting Pete Alonso and Edwin Diaz walk and trading Brandon Nimmo and Jeff McNeil.

Stearns replaced Alonso with Jorge Polanco, who has been injury prone throughout his 13-year career. Polanco is currently on the IL with an Achilles and wrist injury. Meanwhile, Alonso is a player who posts everyday and proved he could handle New York.

Stearns signed Devin Williams, now the Mets' closer, and saw Diaz go to the National League rival Los Angeles Dodgers. Williams currently holds a 10.29 ERA in nine appearances this season.

Nimmo, who was traded for Marcus Semien, is slashing .284/.358/.477 with a .835 OPS, four home runs and 12 RBI. Semien is hitting .226 with a .596 OPS. He also had two down offensive seasons in a row and is 35-years-old.

Most of Stearns' offseason moves have not paid off through the first 26 games. It remains to be seen whether they pick things up the rest of the way.

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