David Stearns Has the Mets 22-33, and Carlos Mendoza Is Still Paying the Price

Alright, Emerald City! You gotta check out this mess brewing back East with the Mets. We're talking absolute disaster status, and it’s hitting manager Carlos Mendoza harder than a Seattle winter storm. This dude is leading a team that's clocked a brutal 22-33 record, stuck in the basement of the NL East. But here’s the kicker, the real gut punch: the source of all this pain isn’t Mendoza. Not even close. It's David Stearns, the president of baseball operations, who built this sinking ship, and Mendoza is looking like the designated fall guy.

Steve Cohen's Old Rule Gets Tested Hard

Listen, Mets owner Steve Cohen has been on record since 2023, saying he’s not about those impulsive midseason firings. He said, “Everybody says ‘Fire this person, fire that person,’ but I don't see that as a way to operate. If you want to attract good people to this organization, the worst thing you can do is be impulsive and win the headline for the day.” He even walked the talk three years ago, letting manager Buck Showalter finish out a 75-87 season, even when they were seven games under .500. But man, Mendoza might actually be *hoping* for that sweet release right about now. The Mets are fresh off getting swept by the Cincinnati Reds, staring down a six-game losing streak, and looking at being 2-7 in their last nine games, even with a win. They’re halfway to matching the 12-game skid they had from April 8-21. This team is reeling, and Cohen’s got an off-day opportunity on Thursday to make a move without a game hours later. What a mess!

The Real Architect of the Disaster

But let's be real, firing Mendoza would be just winning the headline for a day, just like Cohen said back then. It wouldn't fix the core problem. This squad is eight games behind the Arizona Diamondbacks for the last wild card spot, and the D-backs are playing at a 90-win pace. For the Mets to even *sniff* 90 wins, they'd need to go 68-39 for the rest of the season. That’s a 106-win pace! Is a team missing four Opening Day starters, including Francisco Alvarez and Francisco Lindor, plus ace Clay Holmes, really gonna pull that off? Nah. The real culprit? David Stearns. He didn't just tinker with the Mets’ core, he *detonated* it. You know those guys they dumped? Pete Alonso, Brandon Nimmo, and Jeff McNeil? They’ve crushed 18 homers combined and barely missed any games for their new teams, only 5 missed out of 164 combined. Meanwhile, the Mets have only hit 48 team homers and have *eight* position players on the injured list, including Jorge Polanco and Luis Robert Jr., who were brought in to replace Alonso and Nimmo. And Marcus Semien, the guy who took McNeil’s spot at second, is rocking a .575 OPS, almost 100 points worse than his career-low .669 last season. This ain't on Mendoza, folks, it’s on the guys who built this crumbling foundation. So, while everyone back in New York is focused on the NBA Finals-bound Knicks, and they’re getting ready to induct Lee Mazzilli and Bobby Valentine into the Hall of Fame on Saturday, a Mendoza firing would create some serious awkwardness. Valentine himself got canned two years after taking the Mets to the World Series, and Mendoza steered them to the National League Championship Series less than two years ago! The man deserves better than being scapegoated for Stearns' colossal screw-ups. This lost season isn't fair to him, and honestly, the relief of being booted might be the best thing for him. What a shame for a manager to be stuck in such a hopeless situation, watching the front office's mistakes unravel right in front of him. Next game up, the Mets need to figure out who's truly accountable, not just who gets the boot.

This article was created with AI assistance and reviewed by Seattle On Tap editorial staff. Always verify information with official team sources.