LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – APRIL 15: Manager Carlos Mendoza of the New York Mets looks on against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium on April 15, 2026 in Los Angeles, California. All players are wearing the number 42 in honor of Jackie Robinson Day. (Photo by Luke Hales/Getty Images)
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The New York Yankees have hit a bit of a rough patch.
After emerging as the best team in the American League once roughly one-quarter of the season had concluded, the Yankees were swept by the Milwaukee Brewers then lost their series to the Baltimore Orioles. Now they head into a highly anticipated Subway Series with the crosstown rival New York Mets with a bit of a shadow looming over them.
“Two things can be true at the same time: The New York Yankees are one of the best teams in baseball, but a few concerns are starting to arise for a team that had the best record in the American League as recently as last Friday,” as Chris Kirschner put it for The Athletic.
New York Mets Manager Carlos Mendoza Sees Job Status Speculation
But even as the Yankees hit a rough patch, they won’t be as desperate for a series win as the Mets, who have emerged as one of the worst teams in all of baseball following a playoff miss last year and then a roster overhaul in the offseason.
And with a crop of new players and most of the coaching staff replaced after last season’s debacle, plenty of attention has surrounded Mets manager Carlos Mendoza.
“He’s heard the rampant speculation about his job status,” ESPN’s Jorge Castillo wrote of Mendoza. “He knows what happened to Alex Cora and Rob Thomson — two widely respected managers who were fired … after their big-market, high-payroll Northeast clubs floundered to start the season — could happen to him. And he is cognizant that his team must start winning in order for him to avoid joining them.”
Publicly, at least, Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns has defended Mendoza and indicated that the team has no plans to fire him. But if the season doesn’t turn around, he may have to change that tune sooner or later.
New York Yankees Superstar Aaron Judge Sends Carlos Mendoza Message Before New York Mets Series
In the meantime, though, it appears that Yankees franchise slugger Aaron Judge is still confident that Mendoza is the right man for the job in Queens.
“They’ve got a great manager with (Mendoza) over there,” Judge told Kirschner ahead of the Subway Series. “They’ve got a great lineup, a great pitching staff. It’s baseball.”
Judge has a personal relationship with Mendoza from the Mets’ skipper’s time with the Yankees, where he was a member of the coaching staff between 2009 and 2023. However, even though few would argue that Mendoza is not a good manager, the Mets might have little choice but to move on from him in the near future.