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06/26 22:07 CDT Last-place Mets fire manager Carlos Mendoza. Team owner Steve Cohen says 'fans deserve better' Last-place Mets fire manager Carlos Mendoza. Team owner Steve Cohen says 'fans deserve better' By MIKE FITZPATRICK AP Baseball Writer NEW YORK (AP) --- From the front office to the field, the New York Mets have failed in almost every area over the past year. And on Friday, manager Carlos Mendoza took the fall. Halfway through a wretched season, Mendoza was fired as skipper of the underperforming Mets and replaced by former San Diego Padres manager Andy Green, who was already working in the organization. Last-place New York was 34-47 at the season's midpoint, 15 games behind NL East-leading Atlanta and 9 1/2 back of the final NL wild-card berth. Mets owner Steve Cohen had high expectations for a team without a World Series title since 1986. New York opened the season with baseball's highest payroll at $358 million and was projected to pay an additional $124 million in luxury tax. "There is no sugar-coating it: This season has been a disappointment and our fans deserve better than what we've delivered," Cohen said in a statement. Although in some ways Mendoza had been on the hot seat for months, in others it was a stunningly swift decline for a skipper viewed as a rising star in 2024, when he earned high praise and was a Manager of the Year finalist after taking the Mets on a surprising playoff run in his debut season. At a Citi Field news conference before Friday night's 2-1 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies, president of baseball operations David Stearns thanked Mendoza for his contributions and called it "a very difficult day." "Despite all of our effors, Mendy's included, we haven't been able to get this going this year. And I take responsibility for that," Stearns said. "I also have a responsibility to push us forward, to look for solutions and to make difficult decisions and change when I think it's needed." Slowed by injuries to Francisco Lindor, Juan Soto, Clay Holmes, Francisco Alvarez, Luis Robert Jr. and Jorge Polanco, the Mets (34-48) are a season-worst 14 games under .500 after dropping their seventh in a row. Friday night marked only the 10th time all year --- and first since April 22 --- that Lindor and Soto were both in the starting lineup. On two of those occasions, one left early because of a calf strain. New York traded pitcher David Peterson, who had been the team's longest-tenured player, to the Chicago Cubs on Thursday and could pivot to a selloff this summer and retooling for the future. "I understand we have an uphill battle ahead of us this year, but we're not turning the page," Stearns said. "I think sometimes a new voice, a new perspective, a new view, helps. And sometimes it's really difficult to explain why or how. But at this point, it was time to try." Stearns said he informed Mendoza of the decision when they met Friday morning, and the Mets held a team meeting Friday afternoon. "At the end of the day, this is not on him. It's more on us, the players, that we didn't perform to our capabilities," Lindor said. The 46-year-old Mendoza spent 15 seasons working for the New York Yankees, the last four as bench coach, before the Mets hired him to replace Buck Showalter after the 2023 season. They reached the National League Championship Series in 2024 but missed the playoffs last year and are among baseball's biggest disappointments this season. "If we were playing better, he'd still be here. It's just unfortunate he had to take the fall," infielder Bo Bichette said. Since starting 2025 a major league-best 45-24 through June 12, the Mets are 72-103. The team went 206-199 under Mendoza, who was in the final guaranteed season of a three-year contract. He was hired by the Mets a month after Stearns arrived. After signing Soto to a record $765 million, 15-year contract before the 2025 season, Stearns made major changes last offseason. He overhauled Mendoza's coaching staff and allowed fan favorites Pete Alonso and Edwin Diaz to leave as free agents. Brandon Nimmo and Jeff McNeil were traded, and Stearns brought in Bichette, Polanco, Robert, Freddy Peralta and Marcus Semien. None of it has worked. New York had a 12-game losing streak in April, its longest since 2002, and made six errors in the nightcap of Wednesday's doubleheader loss to the Chicago Cubs, the team's most in a game since 2014. The 48-year-old Green, a former major league infielder, joined the Mets in 2023 as senior vice president of baseball development and had been running their farm system. He was given the title of interim manager for the rest of the season and will wear uniform No. 70. "Tough. I don't think anybody dreams of sitting in this seat this way," Green said. Green managed San Diego to a 274-366 record from 2016-19, finishing with losing records in all four seasons. Stearns said Green will return to a front-office role after this season and the Mets will conduct a full search for a new manager. Green said he loves the player-development job he had and chose it largely to be able to spend more time with his three daughters. "This wasn't something I was running to," Green said. "This felt more like a responsibility than an opportunity." Green played four games for the Mets in 2009, his final big league appearances as a player. He became the team's fourth manager since Cohen bought the club from the Wilpon and Katz families after the 2020 season, following Luis Rojas, Showalter and Mendoza. Mendoza is the third major league manager to lose his job since the season started. Boston's Alex Cora was replaced by Chad Tracy and Philadelphia's Rob Thomson by Don Mattingly, with both of those changes coming in late April.

Roster shuffle In other moves, the Mets reinstated outfielder Tyrone Taylor (right hip flexor strain) from the 10-day injured list and recalled left-hander Zach Thornton from Triple-A Syracuse to make his second big league start Friday night against Philadelphia. The club optioned outfielder MJ Melendez and right-hander Daniel Duarte to Syracuse following Thursday night's 10-inning loss to the Cubs. ___ AP Baseball Writer Ronald Blum and AP freelancer Jerry Beach contributed to this report. ___ AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

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