I keep going back to the end of the 2023 season, as the Mets were on the precipice of the David Stearns era. It was the worst-kept secret that he was coming from the Milwaukee Brewers to take over as president of baseball operations, and by the final day of the regular season, illusions of grandeur that a savior was arriving in Queens had already begun to take form.
But before that could even happen, before he was officially hired on Oct. 2 of that year and before he could formally speak for himself and the organization, he had former general manager Billy Eppler give veteran manager Buck Showalter — just one year removed from a 101-win season — an ultimatum: Resign or be fired.
So before that final game of the 2023 campaign, Showalter took the chair in front of us in the press conference room at Citi Field, and laid the entire scenario out there, including the fact that he had never spoken to Stearns when being shown the door.
“I just had some things to contemplate,” Showalter said at the time. “[Eppler] gave me a couple of options, and the players know I would never quit or resign. I had four or five of them in my office, and they said, ‘We would’ve seen through that in about 30 seconds.’”
That sort of transparency and savvy leadership is missed around these parts nowadays, but it did serve as a preview, of sorts, of how this current regime is handling controversy.
The Mets entered Sunday’s series finale in Los Angeles against the Angels with the worst record in baseball at 11-22, and after Mendoza had to take the stand for days and answer ceaseless questions about his job, Stearns finally told MLB.com (and only MLB.com) that the manager’s job was safe.
The shred of transparency has a disingenuous air. An exclusive conversation with a league-owned site raises obvious questions — the first being why Stearns has not faced the entirety of the New York baseball writers to answer for the poor roster he has built. This writer does not travel, but there are diligent, brilliant beat writers who do, and they deserve the same opportunity to ask the president of baseball operations not only about his decision to keep the manager on, but also about a team that has the potential to become the worst that money can buy.
Stearns does deserve some credit. He makes himself available at Citi Field once every homestand. But for a team in free fall, there is something to be said about the president of baseball operations not hitting the road to show his support. It’s something that, for example, Atlanta Braves president and general manager Alex Anthopoulos has done plenty of times in the past. Stearns flying out to Los Angeles and speaking with the media there would significantly improve the optics.
Instead, Mendoza was once again forced to field questions about conversations between the two of them before the start of this series out west on the heels of another loss series against the Washington Nationals.
“I understand the situation. We all understand the situation,” Mendoza said. “It’s good to have that conversation with [Stearns]. But at the end of the day, we have a job, and we have a responsibility. Since Day 1, since I’ve been at this job, I feel the support from [owners] Steve and Alex [Cohen] and David. I love working for them. We have a really good working relationship here, but it’s about the results on the field, as well. Steve is not happy. Alex is not happy. David is not happy. I am not happy. All of us are frustrated. Together, we have to find a way to get these guys out of this funk.”
Mendoza is not blameless in all of this. He has had some pretty significant managerial whiffs throughout one of the worst starts to a season in franchise history, including a missed challenge opportunity in the first inning of Saturday night’s 4-3 loss in which Austin Slater’s throw from right field nabbed Jorge Soler at third before Nolan Schanuel crossed the plate for the final out of the frame. Mendoza and the replay room missed it, and it proved to be an all-important run.
But the third-year skipper has consistently faced the music on-site and in real time, regardless of how unpleasant it has been. He can’t continue to do so alone.
The Mets don’t get back home until May 12. Having to wait at least that long before Stearns takes the podium in any official capacity is far too long, especially if the team’s fortunes don’t improve.
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