Names Here

[Edgy MD]

I neither particularly advocate for nor predict the dismissal of Carlos Mendoza, but I think we're at the point in this losing streak where the morning after each loss leaves him tangibly closer to the edge than he was the morning before.

They flipped over the team.  They flipped over the coaching staff.  If they cannot change direction, there aren't a lot of other flips available to upper management.

That said, it's also hard to shake the idea that this lineup — at least the non-Juan Soto version of this lineup — may actually be this bad.

I mean, they probably aren't this bad, but maybe. 

So last night I went to sleep not counting sheep, but counting alternative managers:

• Carlos Beltran — A Hall of Fame election has perhaps or perhaps not completed his professional rehabilitation, and now it's perhaps time to take the job his downfall cost him and complete his public rehabilitation.  The other side of that is the open question of whether he ever should have been offered the job in the first place.
• JD Martinez — Because if one SAttPoBO is a candidate, then the other should be.
• Edgardo Alfonzo — Fan favorite former infielder forced to grind out his managerial ambitions in the indy minors despite said fan-favorite status, and he's not Wally Backman.
• Joe Girardi — The guy always strikes me as a nut, but probably is at the top of any list for teams seeking an experienced manager.
• Reid Brigniac — Managed Binghamton into one of the all-time great Mets minor-league teams in 2025, and would presumably be a familiar person to manage those players as they become big leaguers.
• Don Mattingly — Outside of Bud Black, I don't know anybody who does better holding a job a long time without any outward signs of success.  Apparently the industry likes him.  It'd be another theft right out of Philly's pocket and he's a back-page guy.  And, of course, winning with him would be an embarrassment for the Yankee brand — but the trick would be winning with him.
• Skip Schumaker
• David Ross
• Scott Servais
• Buck — he'd probably do it for triple what he was being paid when he got the axe.

For what it's worth, they actually haven't faced a division opponent yet.  I'm not sure what to glean from that, but you can glean what you will.

For what it is also worth, fixing things on a veteran team is an assignment usually handed to an experienced manager, and the Mets are a veteran team.  If it is a first-time manager, it is usually going to be a highly regarded guy with All-Star juice like Beltran or Martinez — a guy the Alex Castellanoses of the world can respect, and not an out-of-left-field minor league whiz kid like Mendoza or Luis Rojas.

But usuallys are just usuallys.

Anyhow, put your names here, and hopefully they go on a 24-game tear that makes this thread look silly.

[Benjamin Grimm]

A year ago I would have been saying John Gibbons. I suppose Beltran has a shot. I have no idea who would be a good choice. 

[Gwreck]

I also like Skip Schumacher as a candidate but he is currently managing the Rangers, so that might result in a tampering charge.

JD Martinez seems like an obviously choice and checks a lot of boxes (including Spanish fluency).  
 

[metirish]

From that group I wouldn't mind having Joe Girardi 

[seawolf17]

There's only one correct answer, and you all know it.

[Radar]

1 hour ago, Edgy MD said:

I neither particularly advocate for nor predict the dismissal of Carlos Mendoza, but I think we're at the point in this losing streak where the morning after each loss leaves him tangibly closer to the edge than he was the morning before.

They flipped over the team.  They flipped over the coaching staff.  If they cannot change direction, there aren't a lot of other flips available to upper management.

That said, it's also hard to shake the idea that this lineup — at least the non-Juan Soto version of this lineup — may actually be this bad.

I mean, they probably aren't this bad, but maybe. 

So last night I went to sleep not counting sheep, but counting alternative managers:

• Carlos Beltran — A Hall of Fame election has perhaps or perhaps not completed his professional rehabilitation, and now it's perhaps time to take the job his downfall cost him and complete his public rehabilitation.  The other side of that is the open question of whether he ever should have been offered the job in the first place.
• JD Martinez — Because if one SAttPOBO is a candidate, then the other should be.
• Edgardo Alfonzo — Fan favorite former infielder forced to grind out his managerial ambitions in the indy minors despite said fan-favorite status, and he's not Wally Backman.
• Joe Girardi — The guy always strikes me as a nut, but probably is at the top of any list for teams seeking an experienced manager.
• Reid Brigniac — Managed Binghamton into one of the all-time great Mets minor-league teams in 2025, and would presumably be a familiar person to manage those players as they become big leaguers.
• Don Mattingly — Outside of Bud Black, I don't know anybody who does better holding a job a long time without any outward signs of success.  Apparently the industry likes him.  It'd be another theft right out of Philly's pocket and he's a back-page guy.  And, of course, winning with him, would be an embarrassment for the Yankee brand, but the trick would be winning with him.
• Skip Schumaker
• David Ross
• Scott Servais
• Buck — he'd probably do it for triple what he was being paid when he got the axe.

For what it's worth, they actually haven't faced a division opponent yet.  I'm not sure what to glean from that, but you can glean what you will.

For what it is also worth, fixing things on a veteran team is an assignment usually handed to an experienced manager, and the Mets are a veteran team.  If it is a first-time manager, it is usually going to be a highly regarded guy with All-Star juice like Beltran or Martinez — a guy the Alex Castellanoses of the world can respect, and not a out-of-left-field minor league whiz kid like Mendoza or Luis Rojas.

But usuallys are just usuallys.

Anyhow, put your names here, and hopefully they go on a 24-game tear that makes this thread look silly.

If the lineup is bad as you state then it seems to me the problem is more the GM than the manager. If you on the other hand think the lineup is good and underperforming then we can look at the manager. My inclination is to look at Stearns who in rebuilding the team was good at the tear down a d thus far looks like poorly performing the rebuild.

[Edgy MD]

44 minutes ago, Radar said:

If the lineup is bad as you state then it seems to me the problem is more the GM than the manager. If you on the other hand think the lineup is good and underperforming then we can look at the manager. My inclination is to look at Stearns who in rebuilding the team was good at the tear down a d thus far looks like poorly performing the rebuild.

I don't state it so much as confess an impression.  Nothing I wrote blames the manager for the personnel.

I don't know how to make clearer that I am not advocating here, except to state I am not advocating.  If I was advocating, I would advocate the manager, PoBO, and owner all be dismissed and I be given the keys to the team free of charge.

1 hour ago, seawolf17 said:

There's only one correct answer, and you all know it.

Though I think he's, like, 100 now.

[Edgy MD]

Hey, I left out Jose Iglesias — the only man with the proven ability to turn around a Mets season.

[metirish]

Stearns has been on Radar's radar for a good while 

[seawolf17]

51 minutes ago, Edgy MD said:

Hey, I left out Jose Iglesias — the only man with the proven ability to turn around a Mets season.

"Ahem. You rang?"

[Edgy MD]

11 minutes ago, seawolf17 said:

"Ahem. You rang?"

Hell, that's some sexy shit.

I guess I meant to specify turning around the team with intangibleness, but your point is well taken.

Notable that both turner-arounders were Cubano-Americanos.

 

[Johnny Lunchbucket]

The problem with being the Mets manager is there's really nothing to do except get out of the way and let the "talent" take over. That's how they designed this and it seems to be Mendy's game. 

Naming Beltran manager would be crazy given how they are alreday blowing him. Can you imagine if your boss had his name on the building and you didn't get along? And then how is the front office ever going to fire him? 

I think taking over this group would be best for an experienced manager, maybe Buck II.

 

 

[Centerfield]

I’m on record saying I think Mendy is not the right guy. 
 

problem is I’m so discouraged by what I’m seeing that I don’t think it will make a difference. 

[Gwreck]

Bad in-game decision-making cost the Mets a couple games this year. That’s squarely on Mendoza, but it also was only a couple games.

Bad fielding/mental errors suggests a lack of preparation, which is at least partly on Mendoza.

But the complete inability to hit?  I have a harder time putting that squarely on Mendoza.
 

 

[Benjamin Grimm]

I'm pretty confident that Lindor and Bichette are going to hit. And that Soto will too. I'm much less confident about Semien, Polanco, and Robert. That's too many question marks. Stearns looked very smart when he rebuilt the roster on the fly during the 2024 season. I think that's the last time he's looked particularly smart.

[Edgy MD]

To me, part of good managing is getting use out of guys when their bats aren't particularly loud.

But they seem to be in wait-'til-I-get-it-goin' mode, and that's not a happy show to watch.

[Centerfield]

One of the intangibles of managing is figuring out how to get the most of the guys that are suiting up. In almost every MLB game, the team you field has a chance to win. Multiple long losing streaks suggest a manager that does not know how to stop the bleeding and rally his guys to get one win, take a breath, and play to their ability. 
 

For far too long, four months and counting, the Mets have played below their ability. 
 

I said in one of the game threads that it was a bad sign that the team just rolled over when they got down early. But then they fought back (I think this is the Saturday A’s game). But then the next day, when it was a close game, the bats went silent again. 
 

nothing is definitive, but this appears to me like a team that is pressing, and can only score when the pressure is lifted. Kinda like the 9th inning yesterday. 
 

A good manager, in my book, finds a way to left that pressure, even when the stakes are high. 

[Centerfield]

49 minutes ago, Benjamin Grimm said:

I'm pretty confident that Lindor and Bichette are going to hit. And that Soto will too. I'm much less confident about Semien, Polanco, and Robert. That's too many question marks. Stearns looked very smart when he rebuilt the roster on the fly during the 2024 season. I think that's the last time he's looked particularly smart.

There are four reliables on this team. Lindor, Soto, and Bichette you figure will be good. Semien you can assume will be bad. Everyone else is a question mark. 
 

Polanco, Baty, Alvarez, Vientos, Benge, Robert. All of them could have a .650 OPS or an .850 OPS or anywhere in between. 

[MFS62]

Fonzie- he has managing experience, speaks Spanish, no major scandals and has metly pedigree .

later

[metirish]

Mendoza speaks Spanish, hardly a requirement