Jason Burgos
In the offseason, despite a disastrous collapse to their 2025 season, the New York Mets chose to retain manager Carlos Mendoza. However, they completely cleaned house of his staff. Meaning that while he kept his job, the skipper needed a quick start to the new season to avoid fresh speculation about his future with the team. Well, that has not been the case.
Heading into their game on Tuesday night against the defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers, the Mets own a 7-10 record, have lost six straight, and are dead last in the National League East. Unsurprisingly, there has been a bunch of new talk on New York sports radio that when the club returns from their road trip on Apr. 21, Mendoza will no longer be on the bench.
If President David Stearns did take the bold step of firing Mendoza less than a month into the 2026 season, let’s look at five potential replacements.
Kai Correa
The person most likely to replace Mendoza as manager of the Mets would be his new bench coach, Kai Correa. The 37-year-old has been viewed as a future manager in MLB circles for the last couple of years after stints as an assistant for the San Francisco Giants and the Cleveland Guardians.
Even in February, there was speculation that he was specifically hired as the backup plan if Mendoza’s struggles continued early this season. Of all the potential options, Correa is the likely choice of Stearns.
Joe Girardi
It is possible that Stearns feels Correa is not ready to be thrust into such a high-pressure situation, or owner Steve Cohen steps in to bring in a big name to serve as interim manager for the rest of the season. That is why former New York Yankees and Philadelphia Phillies manager Joe Girardi could be an option.
Although he had a disappointing run in Philly, he still has a World Series title on his resume (2009 with the Yanks) and is well-versed in handling the New York media. Girardi is one of the few managers available who could jump into such a tough situation and succeed.
Carlos Beltran
In 2019, Mets legend Carlos Beltran was hired to be the team’s manager. However, his involvement with the Houston Astros‘ sign-stealing scandal cost him the job. Yet, he remains a part of the organization as a special assistant and has been linked to other managerial jobs over the last couple of years.
Beltran is a well-respected mind around the game, and his knowledge of the Mets organization at the moment is a benefit. Furthermore, he may be able to connect with the team’s Latin stars better than Mendoza has since he was once an elite star in MLB.
David Ross
The managerial options for the Mets are slim, with the season having just started a few weeks ago. However, one intriguing veteran skipper that could be in play if the team fired Mendoza is former Chicago Cubs manager David Ross.
While he wasn’t amazing in Chi-Town, he was still rock solid, and the team posted an 83-79 record before he was replaced by Craig Counsell. If New York is interested in giving a former manager the rest of the season to prove they can do the job long-term, Ross is a sensible option.
Buck Showalter
Yes, Stearns ousted Buck Showalter after he first took over as president in 2024. But New York sports fans have seen managers or coaches fired and return in the same role or with the other NYC team before. Plus, desperate times call for desperate measures, and of the veteran coaches that could jump into such a messy situation and turn things around, Showalter can.
Let’s not forget that in 2022, he led the team to their first 100-plus win season since the 1980s. The biggest issue is that this is a team built to get to the World Series this fall, and over 22 years as a big league manager, that is something the soon-to-be 70-year-old has never achieved.
