Hour 1: Mendoza Fired

**SPEAKER_1** (0:01)
MLBTV on Espn is your home for every auto market game, live or on demand. Get your favorite teams and players plus MLB network and Espn app features like multi view, syncing your stats, key place, bets and fantasy, all in one place. Sign up now for MLBTV in the Espn app. Separate subscriptions required blackouts and other terms apply. Visit stream.espn.com/mlbtv for more information.

**SPEAKER_2** (0:31)
This is The Michael Kay Show podcast.

**Michael Kay** (0:34)
I got to get more Kay.

**SPEAKER_2** (0:35)
Listen live weekdays at one on the Espn New York app and your smart speaker.

**Michael Kay** (0:41)
Good afternoon, everybody. This is indeed The Michael Kay Show. We thank you for joining us on this Friday, June 26, 2026, me and you for two. Those are the rules of engagement. You know the password to become a co-host 1-800-919-3776.
Now, as always, it's a free-for-all Friday. So you can ask me anything you like. And you know the number 1-800-919-3776, as I've told you. But there are specific things that we have to address today. And the first thing, obviously, is that the Mets have decided to fire Carlos Mendoza. And all of this is just David Stearns buying himself more time. The Mets' ineptitude, particularly of late, is not Carlos Mendoza's fault. The Mets' ineptitude is because of the inept way this roster was put together. They talked about run prevention. And all they did was put people in bad positions. They put a short stop at third. They put an aging defensive whiz at second. They put guys that have never played first base at first. You can't win that way. And the Mets didn't help themselves either. All of the players, they should be embarrassed. They should absolutely be embarrassed that a team with a 370 plus million dollar payroll is in last place in the National League East. It's disgraceful. It's disgraceful. Now, when they lost that doubleheader the way they did to the Cubs, you knew that Mendoza's days were coming to an end. That's all there is to it. Because the manager is always going to take the blame. But remember this one thing. The man he fired today, talking about David Stearns, is the man that he hired. He hired him. So, if Carlos Mendoza was indeed the problem, then the problem started when David Stearns fired him. But I don't think that Mendoza was the problem. Here's the problem. Most every move that David Stearns has made since taking over the New York Mets has been an abject unmitigated failure. Every single move except for Clay Holmes.
Having the foresight to take a reliever and make him a starter, that was smart, got him at a great price, $13 million a year, and all Holmes has done as a send to the level of the best pitcher on the Mets staff. Firing the coaches and leaving the manager, mind boggling dumb. Well, what were you doing? So it seemed like Steve Cohen told him, somebody is going to pay for the fact that I have a payroll, the size of the payroll that I have, that I just paid Juan Soto, a King's Rampson, and we didn't make the playoffs. Something's got to give. So the thing that gave was he fired all of the coaches, and the coaches that he fired in all likelihood, did not deserve to be fired. They did not deserve to be fired. We talked about this earlier in the week. Anton Richardson, really? You lost him because of money. Jeremy Hefner, why? Why? All, both of those guys have done is go to the Atlanta Braves and help the Atlanta Braves be in first place in the East. You let Pete Alonso go, and all Pete Alonso is gonna do, is hit 40 home runs again and drive in about 120 runs. And you were worried about years four and five on his contract, but you gave two years to Jorge Polanco, who throughout his career has not been able to stay healthy. And guess what? He's not healthy. You made a trade for Luis Robert Jr, which I at the time thought was a good risk. And he has not been able to be healthy.
And you have not been able to keep an absolute horse on the field. And that's Juan Soto. One thing about Juan Soto, he always plays. Well, when the Mets have Juan Soto in the lineup, they're 31 and 31 And when they have him out of the lineup, they're three and 16 And therein lies the problem. You just fired a manager who for only nine games this year had Lindor, Soto and Bichette in the same lineup. And you're going to blame it on the manager.