New York Mets Manager Carlos Mendoza Officially on Hot Seat

The Boston Red Sox fired manager Alex Cora this past week, and the Philadelphia Phillies did likewise with Rob Thomson, not even bothering to wait for May flowers to bloom. Your team’s manager might be next. At least five other Major League Baseball teams have managerial situations ripe for change.

The manager of the team with the worst record in the league has been on most short lists for the next manager to be canned, but it didn’t happen Friday. Instead, New York Mets president David Stearns gave manager Carlos Mendoza what some cynics call the “dreaded vote of confidence.”

Sometimes when a team struggles, the front office makes a point to express confidence in the manager’s job security. Reporters long ago identified such talk as the “dreaded vote of confidence,” because the struggling team frequently would fire the manager anyway. Maybe not that day or that week, but relatively soon.

Stearns told MLB.com as the Mets had approximately 99 things wrong with them, but Mendoza was not the one at fault.

“We don’t view this as a manager problem,” Stearns said.

OK.

“And we don’t intend to make a change,” he added.

Oof, there it is. The Mets don’t intend to make a change. Intentions are about as stable as momentum, which in baseball is only as good as your next starting pitching performance or horrendous injury. Stearns’ intentions are liable to flip 180 degrees if the Mets have one too many arduous nights at the ballpark.

Apparently not wanting to risk telling a lie to the New York media, Stearns couldn’t even bring himself to say: “We won’t make a change.” Instead, he should have phrased it: “We’re not considering making a change.” After all, nobody can publish what Stearns was considering unless he confirms it.

Regardless, a vote of confidence gives Mendoza more time. Only, more time for what? Juan Soto is back in the lineup and raking, but Francisco Lindor remains out because of a calf strain, and Jorge Polanco and Luis Robert Jr. also remain sidelined. Mendoza won’t have a full complement of players for weeks. In the meantime, the Mets lineup and bullpen remain full of holes, no matter if it’s because of injuries or not.

The Mets, heading west on a road trip to Anaheim and Denver, probably banked on getting healthy against weaker opponents. They got the upper hand in the series opener against the Los Angeles Angels after falling behind by three runs early. Showed some grit and gumption. A good show for the perception of Mendoza’s motivational profile.

But the Mets remain 11 1/2 games out of first place in the NL East already. It’s possible Mendoza gets a full season to get the Mets back to the playoffs. But it’s more likely Stearns schedules another Mendoza vote in about a week, and he’s the next manager to go.