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The Mets overhauled their coaching staff after their catastrophic collapse in the second half of last season, but they stuck with Carlos Mendoza as manager.
Now, in the final guaranteed year of his contract, Mendoza is managing a revamped roster that has underperformed, posting a league-worst 9-19 record.
Will the Mets continue to stand by the third-year skipper after this dreadful start to the 2026 season?
The reality is that Mendoza is far from the Mets’ biggest problem. New York has a clubhouse full of players who are not producing. As that continues, fingers must be pointed at the architects of this roster (those in the front office). With the second-highest payroll ($370 million) in baseball, they’re in no position to sit back and wait for this nightmare to end. That’s where a drastic change — like firing Mendoza only one month into the regular season — could come into play.
The Mets got swept by the Rockies this weekend, and they enter play on Tuesday trying to reverse the second-worst start to a season in franchise history.
If the Mets decide to fire Mendoza, they have a handful of internal candidates who are positioned to take over. There are a few intriguing options outside the organization, as always.
Here are six potential replacements and a few bonus names the Mets could consider if the Mendoza era in Flushing ends soon ... starting with the experienced manager everybody has been talking about since Boston’s bloodbath a few days ago:
Alex Cora
It’s rare that a skipper of Cora’s caliber becomes available at this point in the year.
There’s a case to be made that the Mets should act swiftly. Cora won’t be unemployed for long if he wants to take another managerial job.
Cora won a World Series with the Red Sox, and he’s respected throughout the industry. He wouldn’t be the cheapest candidate here, but in the Steve Cohen era, a price tag won’t hold this team back from getting its guy.
Kai Correa
Viewed around the league as a rising star and a manager in the making, Correa has had a first-hand look at all that’s gone wrong with the Mets throughout these first four-plus weeks of this season. Promoting Correa from bench coach to manager would be the smoothest transition on this list because the players in the Mets’ clubhouse are already familiar with how he operates.
Carlos Beltran
Second time’s the charm? Beltran was hired to manage the Mets before the 2020 season. Less than three months later, Beltran was fired due to his involvement in the 2017 Astros sign-stealing scandal.
Beltran, who is currently working as a special assistant to Stearns in New York’s front office, has a busy summer ahead of him. Not only will he be inducted into the Hall of Fame (with a Mets hat on), but the Mets are retiring his No. 15.
Andy Green
Green, the Mets’ senior vice president of player development, was the Padres’ manager from 2016 through September 2019. He also spent four years as the Cubs’ bench coach for the entirety of David Ross’ tenure in Chicago (2020-23).
With the job that Green has done with the Mets’ minor-league system — along with his experience as a player, coach and exec — he could get another shot as a manager, whether it’s with New York or elsewhere.
Dick Scott
The Red Sox replaced Cora with their Triple-A manager, Chad Tracy. Could the Mets take a similar approach?
Scott is in his fourth season as the manager with Triple-A Syracuse. This marks Scott’s 13th season within the organization — he’s worked in a variety of roles, like director of player development and big-league bench coach.
Joe Girardi
Girardi managed the Yankees for a decade, winning a World Series in pinstripes in 2009. The ex-catcher was a rookie manager with the Marlins in 2006 and he also spent three years at the helm of the rival Phillies.
Philadelphia fired Girardi 51 games into the 2022 season, replacing him with bench coach Rob Thompson. The Phillies went on to win the National League pennant that year.
Surely he would pounce at another opportunity to manage in New York, right?
More potential candidates: Rocco Baldelli, George Lombard, Yadier Molina, Albert Pujols, Mike Shildt
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