NEW YORK (AP) — Carlos Mendoza will return as manager of the New York Mets next season, after his high-priced team faded badly in the second half this year and missed the playoffs.
At a news conference Monday to discuss the collapse, President of Baseball Operations David Stearns said Mendoza is definitely coming back. Anything else would have been a surprise, considering Mendoza was a huge hit last year in his debut and remains under contract through 2026 with a club option for 2027.
“I believe Carlos has all the same traits and assets that I believed in when we hired him two years ago, and I think over the course of his tenure here he has demonstrated that,” Stearns said. “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.”
Coming off a rousing and unexpected trip to the 2024 National League Championship Series, the Mets added free-agent slugger Juan Soto last offseason and began this year with a major league-high $322.6 million payroll on opening day.
They built the best record in baseball at 45-24 through June 12, then went 38-55 the rest of the way to finish 83-79. Needing a victory Sunday to earn the final NL wild card, they missed the postseason with a 4-0 loss at Miami.
Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.