For the first time in his tenure as Mets president of baseball operations, David Stearns was forced to put his tail between his legs and take responsibility for much of the mess that has befallen this organization over the last calendar year.
A five-game losing streak was the last straw for Stearns to fire his hand-picked manager, Carlos Mendoza, after two-plus seasons at the position, firing him on Friday morning.
Mendoza was the man to help lead the Mets to an unlikely NLCS berth two years ago, but after a blistering start last season, they collapsed in the second half to miss the postseason. This season, they are amongst the worst teams in the National League.
Stearns had ample opportunities to shake things up sooner. The Phillies parted ways with Rob Thomson after a 9-19 start in late April and are now knocking on the door of first place in the NL East, while the Mets sit in dead last.
“I don’t think there’s one thing. We were steadfast in our support for Carlos, I was steadfast in my support of Carlos because we believed in Carlos,” Stearns said. “We believed collectively that with him helping us lead this, we were going to turn this around, and we haven’t. In some cases, it’s gotten worse. When that happens at some point, you gotta make a change… It was time, and so we did this.”
A laissez-faire vibe when things were nosediving certainly did not help with optics, as calls for Mendoza’s job understandably began during an early 12-game losing streak. But the roster the ex-skipper had to work with was nowhere near complete, and he was left with a shocking lack of depth despite a $380 million payroll.
That falls on Stearns, and it was something he finally took blame for on Friday
“Despite all of our efforts, Mendy’s included, we haven’t been able to get this going this year. I take responsibility for that,” he said. “Ultimately, everything that occurs in baseball operations, including our major-league record, is my responsibility. I also have a responsibility to push us forward, to look for solutions, and make difficult decisions, and change when I think it’s needed. I understand there’s no magic bullet, there’s no one change that immediately is going to turn this around. This is incremental, this is day-to-day, this is doing the work every single day to get us back on track.”
There are understandable rumblings that Stearns’ resume, built by helping build the Milwaukee Brewers into a perennial postseason contender, was inflated by working alongside Matt Arnold, who has been the GM of the NL Central club for 11 years now.
While he has tanked a team with unlimited funding, Arnold and the Brewers sit atop the NL Central with a 7.5-game lead. It prompted one to even question if he has considered stepping down from his role with the Mets, to which he quickly shot down.
“I believe that we are building the foundation of an organization that will deliver what we all want,” Stearns said. “I don’t believe that our record on the field is indicative of some of the advances that we made in the organization, but clearly, our record is not good enough. Steve [Cohen] and I are talking on a regular basis, and he’s certainly indicated that I have his support.”
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