ARLINGTON -- About three weeks ago, Andy Green placed a call to Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns. Green, the Mets’ interim manager, had succeeded Carlos Mendoza out of a sense of obligation to his employer, despite it contradicting his sense of obligation to his family. Back when Green’s three daughters were newly teenagers, he told them he would not take another managing job until they had graduated high school.
But two-plus months in the dugout had altered Green’s outlook. Conversations with his family had opened doors that he assumed were closed. During and after a trying Trade Deadline, Green realized how much he enjoyed walking players through what he called “difficult chapters” in their careers.
“I started thinking if I have such a passion for the hard times,” Green said, “I’m looking forward to the good times.”
With all that as a backdrop, the Mets on Tuesday dropped the interim tab from Green’s title, signing him to a three-year contract as their full-time manager. Green’s new deal runs through the 2029 season.
“Simply put,” Stearns said, “I think Andy is the perfect person for this job.”
After reluctantly taking over for Mendoza in June, Green guided the Mets to a 37-38 record as interim manager, achieving relative success despite a comprehensive Trade Deadline sell-off. Many of Green’s accomplishments revolved around young players like Carson Benge, A.J. Ewing, Nolan McLean and Zac Thornton, all of whom Green -- in his previous role as vice president of baseball development -- supervised from Draft day through their big league debuts.
“That familiarity is helpful,” Stearns said, adding: “It has to be the right voice, and I think we have the right voice with Andy.”
It’s one layer of the continuity Green brings to the Mets. Another is the fact that the Mets no longer need to conduct a search for their manager, instead leaning on the one they have in-house. Major pillars of the organization will remain intact. Although Stearns and his front office had begun performing due diligence on the availability of external candidates, their October will now be spent on other matters.
Green, 49, joined the Mets to lead their farm system after the 2023 season. He previously managed in San Diego from 2016-19, but the Padres dismissed him after he produced a 274-366 (.428) record.
That experience, combined with his work in player development, altered the way Green communicates with players. Though he has always strived for honesty in his interactions, Green leaned on more of a tough-love approach earlier in his career. Now, he believes he has achieved a better balance of challenging players while also making his belief in them clear.
“There’s a confidence about him, an honesty about him,” third baseman Bo Bichette said. “I just think overall, he’s a great leader who everybody in the clubhouse respects.”
“He can be a guy that blends in,” added shortstop Francisco Lindor, “and he can be a guy that stands out as well.”
Despite the opinions of Stearns, Cohen and various players, Green would not have agreed to return full-time to the dugout unless his family signed off on the decision. For weeks after Green accepted the interim title, Mets officials assumed he would return to a front-office role after the season -- if not back to his player development position, then perhaps to a general manager role underneath Stearns. But conversations with his wife and daughters changed that mindset.
The oldest of those daughters, who is in college, was enthusiastic enough that she edited Green’s contributions to a press release the Mets released on Tuesday. The younger two daughters, who are twin high school seniors, also signed off on the decision. Green will miss a game or two next season to attend their graduation.
“To see them go from 13-year-olds who thought about themselves first to almost 18-year-olds who think about what makes dad happy and want him to do what he is passionate about -- it’s been really cool to watch them grow up,” Green said. “And it’s been amazing to have them not just be OK with this, but encourage me to do this as well if the opportunity was presented.”
Unaware that all these conversations were taking place, Stearns said that when Green finally called him to express his interest in the full-time job, it “got my head spinning a little bit.” Less than a month of deliberation was all Stearns needed to recommend Green to team owners Steve and Alex Cohen, who signed off on the hire.
“Andy has connected with and pushed our players to perform, despite the disappointment of the season,” the Cohens said in a statement. “Over the last several months he has brought discipline, accountability and positivity to the clubhouse, attributes we were seeking in our next manager.”
From the perspective of the Mets’ front office, hiring Green was the easy part. The hard part will be translating the team’s relative success over the second half of this season into something more permanent. So far, Green’s Mets have benefited from a lack of expectations, given their Trade Deadline sell-off and the fact that they were already well out of the playoff race when he took the job. Next year will bring new pressures and heightened expectations. It will be up to Green to manage all that.
“It’s why I was so hungry to just get this announcement out of the way and move forward,” Green said, “so we can have player meetings and talk to them individually about, ‘Where’s your next drive? Where’s your next step? How do you get back to your best level of greatness?’ And then try to set up an offseason where we’re all collectively pushing in that direction.
“So, for me, there’s a lot of work ahead.”