Laura Albanese: Mets need a major shake-up, but firing Carlos Mendoza won't fix their deeper issues
Mets manager Carlos Mendoza looks on in the dugout during the first inning of a baseball game against the Cubs on Friday in Chicago. Credit: AP/Erin Hooley
CHICAGO — Before the Mets took the field Friday, president of baseball operations David Stearns sat in the visiting dugout at Wrigley Field and expressed his firm belief in manager Carlos Mendoza.
“I think Mendy is doing a very good job,” he said. “I think Mendy is putting players in positions to succeed . . . He’s enormously consistent.”
He added: “We need to play better and I think we will. I’m very confident we will, and it can start today.”
A few hours later, Stearns got to witness the Cubs circling Kodai Senga like ravenous wolves, a slew of defensive misadventures and a ninth straight loss — a 12-4 walloping — matching their longest losing streak since 2004.
You read that right. The last time the Mets were this consistently bad, Carson Benge was a 1-year-old. But it somehow actually is worse than that: Since that fateful June 13 day that marked the beginning of their 2025 collapse, this team is 45-68 — an absurd 97-loss pace over 162 games.
Two things can be true, though. It’s not all Mendoza’s fault. And that fact might not preclude him from being scapegoated, Stearns’ words notwithstanding.
On Friday, Mendoza tried everything he could to shake things up. He moved Francisco Lindor out of the leadoff spot in favor of Benge, loaded up on lefties against Edward Cabrera and played his best defensive outfielders in the notoriously tricky Wrigley Field expanse. He’s also working without Juan Soto, who’s still slated to come back next week, and Jorge Polanco, who should be on the injured list but isn’t.
The Mets responded by playing one of their worst games of the season in a way far too reminiscent of last year — bafflingly so — and fell to 7-13. And as the innings wore on, it continued to be apparent that this team needs a major shake-up. It’s naive, though, to think that simply firing the manager will make athletes play to their level.
After all, Stearns is the one who constructed a “run prevention” roster that, as of right now, appears good only at preventing its own runs. And his players are stuck in a rut — a non-cohesive group that still looks to be finding its identity.
There are some practical options to explore, though.
After the game, Mendoza said he would have to consult with Stearns before determining what to do about Senga, but coming off two straight clunkers, it’s becoming harder and harder for anyone to justify keeping him in the rotation.
After allowing five runs in relief, Sean Manaea certainly isn’t jockeying for a spot. At this point, either Christian Scott or Jack Wenninger, both of whom have looked good with Triple-A Syracuse, should be candidates for promotion.
It’s tempting to say the Mets just need to batten down the hatches and wait for Soto to return, but that’s not a complete answer, either. Soto hit 43 home runs and stole 38 bases by the time the Mets were eliminated from playoff contention in Game 162 last year; he’s incredibly talented, yes, but he can’t do everything for this team.
No, somehow, in some way, there has to be a mental shift — a little bit of fire that burns the facade off this team. To quote Mendoza, “I want them to be [upset].”
Indeed, Mendoza’s own frustration has been palpable during this losing streak. The bats finally came to life Friday, but that wasn’t the case against the A’s and Dodgers — two series in which hitters expanded the zone and strung together a slew of uncompetitive at-bats. Simply put, they were pressing and consistently failed to pick each other up.
“There’s plenty of urgency, there’s plenty of want and sometimes that can lead to things like [increased] chase rate, unfortunately,” Stearns said. “I think that ends with one bases-clearing double. We’ve all seen that time and again throughout our careers in baseball and I think once we get that, it will normalize.”
He’s right, but last year proved that doesn’t always happen.
Speaking of which, I asked Stearns if he saw a through line from last season to this one, and he understandably noted that it’s basically a completely different team.
“You talk to Bo Bichette about last year and he’s like, yeah, I was in the seventh game of the World Series. Last year was pretty good,” Stearns said. “Are there similarities? There are similarities because we’re not playing great baseball at the moment, but in terms of any root causes or things like that, it’s very difficult for me to draw any lines there.”
It really is a conundrum, but the risk right now is that Stearns eventually ends up drawing that line to Mendoza — warranted or not.
Injury updates
Soto (calf) is expected to be activated on the next homestand, Stearns said. Soto took live batting practice Friday and engaged in high-intensity running and will undergo a precautionary MRI before returning to play, Mendoza said . . . Polanco, who’s already dealing with Achilles bursitis, also has a sore right wrist. He had an MRI; though results are pending, he might be placed on the injured list, Mendoza said.
Laura Albanese is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. She's been covering MLB since 2014 after starting at Newsday as an intern seven years earlier.
