Welcome to The Pregame Lineup, a weekday newsletter that gets you up to speed on everything you need to know for today’s games, while catching you up on fun and interesting stories you might have missed. Today's edition is brought to you by David Adler.
Another big-time manager is out. But how much of a difference can it make?
The Mets dismissed Carlos Mendoza this morning, at the halfway point of one of their most disappointing seasons in recent memory.
Is it too little, too late for the Mets? We'll see.
Through 81 games, the Mets are a season-worst 13 games below .500 at 34-47. New York is firmly in last place of a National League East division where every other team is .500 or better, and 9 1/2 games back in the Wild Card standings.
This is the first time the Mets have let a manager go mid-season since Willie Randolph in May 2008, and the move comes less than two years after Mendoza led the team to the 2024 National League Championship Series. Taking over as interim basis is Andy Green, the former Padres manager who was serving as New York's vice president of player development.
Maybe Green can give the Mets a spark over the second half of their season. Managerial changes have led to playoff runs before, but the Mets have a steep uphill climb ahead of them.
Really, the biggest immediate result of the Mets' managerial move could be pushing the team toward selling at the Trade Deadline.
Two other teams before the Mets had already dismissed high-profile skippers this season. The Red Sox fired former World Series-winning manager Alex Cora in late April, with Chad Tracy stepping in in Boston. Days later, the Phillies dismissed manager Rob Thomson despite four straight playoff appearances entering this year. Don Mattingly took the helm in Philly.
Those two firings have produced different results. The Red Sox, even after their shakeup, are still in a similar spot to the Mets -- they're 13 games under .500 at 33-46 and in last place in the American League East.
But the Phillies? They've surged under Mattingly. The Phils are 36-17 since Donnie Baseball took over and are now in control of the top NL Wild Card spot. They're also just four games back of the Braves in the NL East.
Green's first game as Mets manager will be against those very Phillies -- the Mets open a rivalry series against the Phils tonight at Citi Field (7:10 p.m. ET, MLB.TV).
The Mets don't have the runway that the Phillies had, but maybe they can get something, anything, going under Green. They at least finally have both of their superstar hitters back in the lineup going forward, Juan Soto and Francisco Lindor. Those two have played precious few games together in 2026, as both have dealt with injuries at various points of the season.
"Our commitment to bringing our fans a championship-caliber team has not changed," Mets owner Steve Cohen said in a statement today. "There is no sugar-coating it: This season has been a disappointment and our fans deserve better than what we’ve delivered."
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