Andrew Mulligan Green has a difficult job ahead of him as the New York Mets manager in 2027.
The Mets have missed MLB’s postseason for a second consecutive season.
After Sunday’s season finale on the road with the Washington Nationals, at 74–88, the best New York’s National League club could muster was finishing in the basement of the Eastern Division. Last place.
Armed going into the 2026 season with the game’s highest team payroll ($357,626,125) among all 30 franchises, at the very least respectability was forecast for the lineup in Queens.
Somewhere along the 162-game schedule, the wheels fell off of this year’s Mets.
Some believe that the team was destined for foul territory before Opening Day came in March.
David Stearns, Mets president of baseball operations, dismantled the club’s roster of highly familiar names and leaders in the field during the offseason. A fresh start apparently was in the cards for 2026.
Gone were prolific home run thumper Pete Alonso, versatile fielder and former batting champion Jeff McNeil, relief pitcher extraordinaire Edwin Diaz, and the always hustling outfielder Brandon Nimmo.
Carlos Mendoza was entering the 2026 season in the final year of a three-year contract. His hiring by the Mets in 2024 came with no dugout leadership experience.
Coming over from the New York Yankees, where he served as a bench coach, in each of the past two seasons Mendoza’s team’s win totals plummeted.
At the time of Mendoza’s dismissal on June 26 as the Mets’ 25th manager in the club’s history, half the season was in the books.
The Mets were at 34–47.
Stearns and Mets chairman, CEO, and owner Steven Cohen hit the brakes on the ongoing skid the club was enduring and reached back into their front office pool to select Mendoza’s successor.
Andy Green, who had a four-year run skippering the San Diego Padres (2026–2019) and never finished above fourth place in the National League West, was by all accounts content serving the club as its senior vice president for player development.
It was a role that Green liked, and management appreciated and understood he would “mind the store” just until this weekend. Then, Green planned to return to the executive offices at Citi Field by Monday.
“There’s no magic words I get to utter on Day One that completely flips the script. It’s what we can do to help make them feel 10-feet tall and bulletproof in a world where they get bullets shot at them all day long,” Green told reporters on June 26 when he switched Mets assignments.
Plans changed.
The club responded to Green’s leadership. The Mets were 40–40 as their bus pulled into Nationals Park on Sunday morning.
On Sept. 22, Stearns and Cohen removed the interim manager tag for Green.
“Thrilled to announce Andy Green will be our manager going forward and that we have signed him to a three-year contract extension,” Stearns said at a press conference at Citi Field.
“Simply put, I think Andy is the perfect person for the job. His experience throughout his career, in the game, his experience in our organization over the last three years, our relationship that we’ve developed and his ability to lead our clubhouse makes him the right choice.”
Juan Soto of the New York Mets anticipates a pitch during a game against the Texas Rangers at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, on Sept. 22, 2026. (Stacy Revere/Getty Images)
Identifying with players up and down the roster at all levels of individual production, Green’s strength is as an evaluator of talent.
Over the winter and leading into spring training, Green is sure to have one of the loudest voices when forming next season’s starting lineup and pitching staff.
Decisions will need to be made on whether there are futures for catcher Francisco Alverez and infield/outfielders Brett Baty and Mark Vientos.
Where can newbie Nick Morabito fit between Juan Soto in left field and 2026 rookie sensations A.J. Ewing, pegged for center field, and Carson Benge counted on for right field?
Come 2027, Bo Bichette will be in his second of a three-year deal as the Mets’ every-day third baseman.
His 18 home runs and 78 RBIs in 2026 came after a slow start to the season.
For Green’s club to get off to a fast start in 2027, a hot bat from Bichette, beginning in March, will be key to the Mets offense.
Starting shortstop Francisco Lindor isn’t the same run producer and slick fielder that the Mets signed to a 10-year contract extension in April 2021.
His home run production in 2026 (20) is down by 11 from the 2025 season, and 13 since 2024.
Lindor played 50-plus fewer games in 2026 than the previous season. If Lindor’s play declines noticeably next season, do the Mets have a Plan B for shortstop leading into training camp?
Juan Soto, armed with a 15-year, $765 million deal secured in December 2024, has to be inked for right field, day in and day out.
Being physically available daily and free from nagging injuries could be a tall order for New York’s training staff.
For the Mets to be contenders again, Soto needs to be the leader—both in the field and inside the clubhouse.
Forget talk of a lockout of players by owners come Dec. 1. The Mets have enough gloom and doom to deal with internally to smooth over.
Traveling back from Washington on Sunday—ending seven months of competition along the National and American League circuits—for Green and his staff, the wait until next year is more than a slogan but a mantra for happier days in Flushing, Queens.
