Alex Rubinson - Mets Need to get Everyone onto One Timeline

Patience is a virtue…or so they say. That saying doesn’t really apply to sports anymore and hasn’t for quite some time. Owners across the sports landscape are growing more and more impatient by the year. 

Remember when owners were willing to give the people they hired a full opportunity to see their plans through? Gone are the days of the five-year rebuild. That used to be standard in baseball. Now, we have managers fired after making the postseason. 

Executives are under more pressure to win on a yearly basis than ever before, especially with three wild car spots in each league. We are used to seeing turnover in football, but just this past offseason, MLB saw a third of its league undergo a managerial change. 

As we enter July and are fewer than two weeks from the all-star break, three managers and one general manager have already been let go. Baseball used to be the game without a clock. The pitch clock changed that. For executives and managers, the pitch timer isn’t the only thing that is constantly ticking down. 

We are now one week into the Andy Green era as the New York Mets Manager. I don’t expect that time period to last past the early fall months. After a lot of speculation going back to the middle of April, the Mets relieved Carlos Mendoza of his managerial duties. The move wasn’t a surprise by any stretch. 

It was only a matter of time. Mendoza certainly wasn’t to blame for all of the Mets woes and should be able to find a job somewhere lower on the totem poll elsewhere. Having said that, it had become abundantly clear that Mendoza’s message was not registering with the rest of the team. 

The clubhouse was not responding and didn’t appear to play with a sense of urgency unlike what transpired back in 2024. Overall, I don’t have a huge problem with making midseason changes. It has become commonplace in sports in the year 2026. What is puzzling is what transpired in the offseason that may have led to this very moment. 

As I outlined last week, the Mets may have made a giant mistake letting go of pitching coach Jeremy Hefner, who has enjoyed success early in his tenure with the Atlanta Braves. Of course, Hefner was far from the only coach let go after a second half collapse last year. The Mets completely overhauled their coaching staff under Mendoza. 

I am not saying that Mendoza deserved to be fired this past offseason, as he was only one year removed from being two wins away from a World Series berth, but the key to an organization is alignment. Most people look at alignment between the top decision-maker in an organization (David Stearns in this case) and the manager, but it’s just as important to have alignment between the manager and the rest of the coaching staff. 

This isn’t to say that there was mixed messaging in New York’s clubhouse, but typically you want everyone on the same timeline. As soon as you part ways with the coaches but keep the manager, you are separating the timelines. 

When the Mets hire their next manager, I don’t expect any coaches to be forced onto his coaching staff. We should see the manager and coaches re-aligned next season, but where does that leave the current batch of coaches? Most of them will most likely be fired and be forced to seek employment elsewhere. Some might be able to return to their former organizations, but others will be on the outside looking in. 

If you’re a coach on another team and the Mets approach you about an opening as an assistant, would that job be appealing? The Mets won’t have any trouble filling their vacancies given the lack of supply in the market, but if you were an up-and-comer with multiple teams showing interest in your services, would the Mets be the dream destination? You just saw a whole bunch of people that the franchise targeted get let go a season later. 

Maybe I’m on an island, but I still believe David Stearns is a smart baseball man, sometimes he might even be too smart for his own good. I think there is a healthy debate to be had on if he should keep his job beyond this season. Although I would have no problem keeping Stearns, you would be running into the same problem outlined above. 

An incumbent head executive bringing in a new manager. Stearns and the new manager might share a similar philosophy, but the two timelines would not be aligned. 

As of now, what is the direction of the organization? A sinking team with a robust payroll and a mediocre farm system. Yes, Carson Benge and A.J. Ewing have shown they can be staples of a big league roster. Them along with Francisco Lindor and Juan Soto should form a very good core, but the team needs more than that. 

Stearns came from an organization that could develop pitching like it was nothing. They could self-scout so well that they knew every member of their entire organization like the back of their hand. This Mets team has yet to show that. With everyone’s focus being on the future of Stearns (along with Mendoza before he was fired), not many have looked at what 2027 will look like…assuming we are playing baseball. 

If you keep Stearns, you are most likely trying to double down on a flawed roster with a brand new manager. Would Stearns get at least two years, or would you fire him and keep the new manager and have both men on opposite timelines? 

Stearns is more than qualified and competent enough to lead a big league organization, but the Mets need to get everyone on the same page, and more importantly, the same timeline. They need to pick a clear path and avoid being directionless, which is where the organization currently stands. Steve Cohen is entering a crossroads once the Citi Field lights shut off for the final time in 2026. His ensuing decisions will dictate the direction of the franchise for years to come. Forget about trying to win a championship in the next three to five years (of course that's still the ultimate goal), right now, it’s just about everyone’s three-to-five year timeline all on one level field.