NEW YORK -- Despite overseeing one of the most precipitous collapses in franchise history, Carlos Mendoza will return as the Mets' manager next season, president of baseball operations David Stearns said Monday.
Speaking from Citi Field a day after his Mets were eliminated with a loss to the Marlins in the season’s final game, Stearns fielded questions for more than half an hour about his club’s early exit, his roster construction and his Trade Deadline strategy, among other topics. Chief among them was the future of Mendoza, who has one guaranteed season left on the three-year deal he signed before 2024.
Stearns left no doubt that he intends to have Mendoza back.
“I believe Carlos has all the same traits and assets that I believed in when we hired him two years ago,” Stearns said. “And I think over the course of his tenure here, he has demonstrated that.
“We had a tough year this year -- there’s no question. We are all disappointed. We are all frustrated -- Mendy as much or more than anyone else. But I still believe he’s a very good manager, and I think he’s going to demonstrate that.”
Through two seasons, Mendoza is 172-152, which gives him the fifth-highest winning percentage of the 24 men to manage a game in Mets history. But Mendoza also led the Mets to a 38-55 record over their final 93 games this year, missing the playoffs to prompt questions about his future. Throughout that collapse, the team made frequent physical and mental errors.
“Look, since Day 1, when you’re in this chair, you’re on the hot seat,” Mendoza said following Sunday’s season-ending loss. “When you’re managing a team that has a lot of expectations and you go home, questions like this are going to come up, and that’s part of it. I’m responsible, and I have to be better.”
Asked specifically if he thought leadership was an issue for the Mets, Stearns responded: “I don’t.”
“I think we have leaders in our clubhouse,” he said. “I think we have leadership in our clubhouse. I did not think that was a problem.”
Stearns did not, however, commit in the same way to members of Mendoza’s coaching staff. He said team brass will evaluate that group over the next week before announcing potential changes.
Regarding other Mets issues:
Trade Deadline strategy
Stearns expressed a measure of regret about his Trade Deadline strategy, which resulted in the acquisitions of relievers Ryan Helsley, Tyler Rogers and Gregory Soto, as well as outfielder Cedric Mullins -- but no starting pitching help for a club that wound up badly needing it.
Specifically, Stearns said he wished he had operated with a bit more “urgency” -- though his regret didn’t extend to passing on the top starting pitchers reportedly available at the Deadline. Stearns suggested the heavy prospect price for such starters would have turned off many fans.
“I either make or delegate every decision that’s made here,” Stearns said. “So you point to a decision that didn’t work out, and I’m responsible for it. We have all the resources we need. We have tremendous ownership support. We have tremendous fan support. And clearly we have segments of our team that were not good enough. That’s on me.”
Run prevention
The other problem Stearns stressed repeatedly was run prevention. He suggested shaking up the team’s position-player grouping could be an avenue toward refining its defense, which was an issue throughout the second half.
“Does that mean there are robust changes? I don’t know.” Stearns said. “Does it mean people could be playing different positions? Maybe. Does it mean we ask people to play different roles? Maybe. A day after a season ends, I’m certainly not going to commit to what [things will] look like in Spring Training or on Opening Day, but I’ll say it again: Our run prevention this year was not good enough.”
Support from owner Steve Cohen
Stearns said he believes he still has the full support of Cohen, who apologized to fans earlier Monday for the Mets’ inability to make the postseason.
“Steve expects excellence from our organization, and we did not display excellence this year,” Stearns said. “And we’ve got to do better.”
Overall, Stearns’ tone was one of disappointment that he could not deliver a better season than in 2024, when the Mets made it to within two games of the World Series. That resulted in the largest season-long attendance in Citi Field history in 2025, but no additional playoff games.
“A day after the season, I’m not going to speculate on a carryover effect into next year,” Stearns said. “Right now, I think everyone’s pretty damn motivated to get going and ensure that we can do better.”