Welcome back to the Mets Beat newsletter! Anthony DiComo has covered the Mets for MLB.com since 2007, including the past 17 seasons full-time on the beat. |
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TORONTO -- The Mets have now played six games without Carlos Mendoza and are 2-4 in those contests. One can draw no grand conclusions from that sample. If the team’s recent track record says anything, it’s simply what most Mets types, including those at the highest levels of the organization, already believed: Mendoza was not the problem. President of baseball operations David Stearns didn’t see Mendoza as the club’s primary issue any more than his players in the clubhouse did. That’s not to suggest Mendoza is blameless in what’s occurred over the past 13 months. It's just to lay bare the reality that Mendoza's dismissal wasn't due to his personal flaws so much as to a systemic organizational failure. This was on the players and on the front office and Stearns, as all those parties admitted in the days following Mendoza's ouster. “I failed Mendy,” shortstop Francisco Lindor said in one of the most cutting quotes to come out of the clubhouse last week. He added: “At the end of the day, this is not about him. It’s more on us, the players, that we didn’t perform to our capabilities.” |
Those weren’t the same types of comments that surfaced after the dismissals of Buck Showalter or Luis Rojas or Mickey Callaway or even Terry Collins. They were the comments of a team that felt it had let down its leader -- not the other way around. Yet a reality of Major League Baseball is that for several reasons, it’s a lot easier to fire managers than it is to move on from top players or GMs. Stearns will be here next year. Lindor will probably be here too, alongside many other underperforming Mets. The team cannot churn its entire roster in a year. As owner Steve Cohen put it in recent comments to the New York Post, Stearns’ track record has been mixed since arriving before the 2024 season, but he’ll at least get another Draft, another Trade Deadline and another offseason to prove he can untangle the mess he helped create. Unlike Mendoza, Stearns will have a chance to correct his mistakes. While the president of baseball operations’ reputation has taken a hit, Cohen spent years hoping to land him for this role. He wooed Stearns with a lavish, five-year contract. The owner is not about to default on that now, especially with no obvious better replacement at large. |
As for Mendoza, his days in baseball are surely not done. Well-liked in the clubhouse and around Citi Field, Mendoza navigated the challenges of being a first-time manager in New York City with grace. While no Mets skipper since Bobby Valentine has managed again after leaving New York, Mendoza, at age 46, stands a reasonable chance of being the next one to do so. That’s because largely, this wasn’t Mendoza’s fault -- something upon which Cohen, Stearns, Lindor and others can all agree. Regardless, the Mets will move on without him. |
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MLB MORNING LINEUP PODCAST |
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Who was the only Met with multiple home runs during the 1999 National League Championship Series against the Braves? A) Edgardo Alfonzo B) Melvin Mora C) John Olerud D) Mike Piazza |
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Asked this week about Luke Weaver, catcher Luis Torrens pursed his lips and whistled. Weaver on Tuesday became the third Mets pitcher to compile at least 22 consecutive scoreless appearances, joining Mark Guthrie (33 straight in 2002) and Aaron Loup (23 straight in 2021). The Major League record, for those wondering, is 40 consecutive scoreless appearances, shared by Josh Hader of the 2021-22 Brewers and Ryan Pressly of the 2018-19 Astros. The single-season record is 38, held by old friend Craig Kimbrel of the 2011 Braves. Of the 165 Major League pitchers to have compiled scoreless streaks of at least 22 consecutive games, the vast majority have achieved the feat this century, in the age of specialized, high-velocity relief arms. Though Weaver is barely halfway to Hader, there seems to be little reason why he can’t keep this going. Weaver hasn’t allowed a baserunner in three consecutive outings. He hasn’t allowed a hit in seven straight appearances. He’s walked one batter in the last six weeks and hasn’t given up an extra-base hit since April. “It’s attack. It’s confidence. It’s filling up the strike zone with his fastball early, and then the changeup can really play at that point in time,” interim manager Andy Green said. “His stuff is good. I just think he’s had elite command with elite stuff, and that usually leads to really good results.” Earlier this month, Noah Yingling wrote about how Weaver’s increased fastball velocity and better command of his changeup had led to more success. The result, in Torrens’ words, has been “one of the best pitchers in the game.” “It’s been incredible,” Torrens added. “To be able to have him on our side, I think it’s really special to be able to use him in those big moments and in those high-leverage games.” |
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C) John Olerud Olerud went deep in NLCS Games 4 and 5, both Mets victories. |
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