ESPN’s Jeff Passan: Mets’ Don’t Appear Close to Turning Around Dreadful Season

Two managers are already gone in 2026. Alex Cora is out in Boston. Rob Thomson is out in Philadelphia. And Carlos Mendoza, despite a public vote of confidence from his front office, is the next name on the watch list.

ESPN's Jeff Passan joined Rich on The Rich Eisen Show to walk through the dominoes, and the conversation kept circling back to the same idea. Modern baseball does not tolerate a misalignment between the dugout and the front office.

"There were philosophical differences between Alex Cora, the manager, and Craig Breslow, the chief baseball officer," Passan said of the Red Sox firing. He noted that similar friction existed when Chaim Bloom held the role, and that this time Boston's front office did not like how hitting philosophies were being implemented at the big league level.

The slow start was the pretext. The decision had been brewing since the offseason.

Passan reached back more than a decade to make the structural point. When A.J. Hinch was hired in Arizona without prior managerial experience, the front office used a phrase that got laughed at, organizational advocacy. The principle, Passan argued, holds up.

"The lines of communication need to be clear, and the philosophies need to be aligned," he said. "In Boston, that simply wasn't there."

From Boston, Rich pivoted to the bigger story for New York fans. What is the Mets' plan?

Passan did not have a clean answer, because he does not believe the Mets have one.

Francisco Lindor is on the shelf. Jorge Polanco is not playing to his contract. Bo Bichette is not playing to his contract. The team, he said, looks like it has no identity.

"This Mets team is still talented," Passan said. "But between the injuries and the bad start and just the vibes there, it's not a team that seems like it's on track to be able to turn things around."

The context cuts deeper. It has been 40 years since the Mets won a World Series. When Steve Cohen took over right after COVID, he committed publicly to winning one within five years. That window closed without a parade.

Passan's read is that the franchise is stuck between two postures. In baseball, you commit. You commit to a rebuild, or you commit to going all in. The Dodgers integrate young players well. The Brewers build and win at the same time. The Mets, in his view, have not figured out how to do either at once.

Rich pointed to a brutal stretch on the schedule. The nine-game road swing started decently with a 2-of-3 win in Anaheim, but Colorado already swept the Mets at home a week ago, and Arizona is up next. After that, six at home, three against Detroit and the start of the Subway Series with a Yankees team currently 12 games over .500.

If that series goes the way the Yankees have been playing, Passan said, the calls will get loud.

David Stearns has publicly backed Carlos Mendoza, but Passan was blunt. A vote of confidence does not immunize a manager from anything.

"If the Mets continue to lose, Carlos Mendoza will be fired," Passan said. "It's nothing against Carlos Mendoza or the job he's doing. It's just the expectation in New York."

He traced the slide back further than this season. In June of last year, the Mets were 45-24 with the best record in the major leagues. Going on five months of bad baseball later, with names like Pete Alonso, Jeff McNeil, and Brandon Nimmo gone, Steve Cohen is unlikely to stay patient while $400 million sits on a team that cannot win.