NEW YORK -- Despite a stunning 3 1/2-month collapse to miss the playoffs, Carlos Mendoza will return as manager of the New York Mets for the 2026 season, president of baseball operations David Stearns said Monday.
"I believe Carlos has all the same traits and assets that I believed [he had] when we hired him two years ago," Stearns said. "And I think over the course of his tenure here, he has demonstrated that. We had a tough year this year. There's no question. We are all disappointed. We were all frustrated -- Mendy, as much or more than anybody else. But I still believe he's a very good manager and I think he's going to demonstrate that."
Stearns said the team will evaluate the remainder of the coaching staff within the next week before making any further decisions.
Mendoza, who was hired in November 2023, went 172-152 over his first two seasons and led the Mets to the National League Championship Series last year.
This season, however, ended with a 4-0 loss to the Miami Marlins when a win would have sent the Mets to the playoffs for the second straight year. With the defeat, the Cincinnati Reds claimed the final National League wild-card spot despite losing to the Milwaukee Brewers.
The Mets and Reds finished tied in the standings at 83-79, but Cincinnati owned the head-to-head tiebreaker.
It was a stunning outcome for a club that entered the season carrying World Series aspirations with the second-highest payroll in the majors after signing Juan Soto to the richest contract in North American sports history. The team played accordingly, sporting the best record in the majors on June 12, but then the Mets went 38-55 for the rest of the season. Only four teams were worse.
"Mets fans everywhere, I owe you an apology," owner Steve Cohen posted to X on Monday. "You did your part by showing up and supporting the team. We didn't do our part. We will do a post-mortem and figure out the obvious and less obvious reasons why the team didn't perform up to your and my expectations.
"We are all feeling raw emotions today. I know how much time and effort you have put into this team. The result was unacceptable. Your emotions tell me how much you care and continues to motivate the organization to do better. Thank you to the best fans in sports."
Mets fans everywhere. I owe you an apology . You did your part by showing up and supporting the team. We didn't do our part. We will do a post-mortem and figure out the obvious and less obvious reasons why the team didn't perform up to your and my expectations
— Steven Cohen (@StevenACohen2) September 29, 2025
We are all feeling...
Stearns opened his news conference at Citi Field by highlighting three issues that led to the downfall: the front office not adequately bolstering the pitching staff when injuries surfaced; poor team defense; and the offense's perplexing inability to supply consistent run production despite strong individual years.
"Tremendously disappointing season," Stearns said. "Not nearly good enough. I think we all know that. We came into this year with -- deservedly so -- very high expectations and we didn't come close to meeting them. And I'm keenly aware of that. I'm the architect of the team. I'm responsible for it."
At the center of the Mets' downturn was the team's starting pitching. The Mets owned the best starter ERA in the majors as late as June 28 despite Sean Manaea and Frankie Montas -- veterans signed for a combined $109 million during the offseason -- not throwing a pitch after beginning the season on the injured list.
At the time, Mets starters ranked just 18th in innings pitched by starters and the shortcoming continued. Over a 62-game stretch from June 7 until August 22, David Peterson was the only starter to complete six innings in a game. The light workload consistently pushed the onus onto the bullpen, which led to relievers tiring during the summer and forcing Stearns to overhaul the bullpen at the trade deadline.
"We need more innings out of our starting staff," Stearns said. "We were on the edge for the first two-and-a-half months this year where we were getting five-plus innings per start pretty consistently. And that worked because it was happening every night. The minute you then get your 2 1/3-inning start, you get into trouble. And so that got us into trouble this year when we stopped getting the consistent five-plus inning starts."
Injuries further hampered the staff. Kodai Senga landed on the injured list with a strained hamstring on June 13, the last day the Mets held the best record in the majors. Tylor Megill was placed on the IL with an elbow injury on June 15 and ultimately required Tommy John surgery. On June 27, Griffin Canning ruptured his Achilles' tendon. Frankie Montas, after a demotion to the bullpen, underwent Tommy John surgery in August.
Peterson, an All-Star, fatigued down the stretch. Clay Holmes, a converted reliever, was not signed to deliver long outings. Manaea and Senga, the Mets' projected top two starters, both returned the weekend before the All-Star break but did not perform to expectations.
Manaea, who logged just 1 2/3 innings in Sunday's season-ending loss, had a 5.64 ERA in 15 outings in the first season of a three-year, $75 million contract.
Senga, with a 1.47 ERA in 13 starts, was one of the best pitchers in the majors before his hamstring injury, but he returned to record a 5.90 ERA in nine starts. The struggles -- and the Mets' precipitous decline in a playoff chase -- were enough for Senga, who was in the third year of a five-year, $75 million deal, to accept a minor league option in early September.
He rejoined the team over the weekend in Miami but was never put back on the roster.
"Kodai's had two very inconsistent, challenging years in a row," Stearns said. "We know it's in there. We know there's potential. We're going to do everything we can to help get it out of him, but can we put him in ink as making 30 starts next year? I think that would be foolish."
Ultimately, the Mets, after not acquiring a starting pitcher at the trade deadline, placed a heavy burden on three promising prospects -- right-handers Nolan McLean, Jonah Tong and Brandon Sproat -- to lift the starting rotation over the final six weeks.
The trio of rookies figure to play prominent roles in 2026 and beyond. Ideally, at least one emerges as a bona fide ace. Adding one externally doesn't seem likely considering Stearns has refused to pay the expensive prices required to acquire premier starting pitching in free agency or the trade market, but he acknowledged he could have been more proactive this season.
"I think we have to be open to everything," Stearns said. "My continued emphasis is doing everything we can to support our development infrastructure and developing starting pitchers. Ultimately, that is where we're going to have sustained success and get to the organization to a consistently good spot from a run prevention perspective.
"But going into this offseason, I'm not going to take anything off the table."