Carlos Mendoza endorsement from NY Mets front office is meaningless

It would be an understatement to say things haven't been going well for the Mets. Last place in the NL East and ten games below .500 before the end of April is a tough pill to swallow for any team, but especially for a team that had its sights set on contention like the New York Mets. That's led to questions about Carlos Mendoza's future as Mets manager, understandably. Alex Cora was already fired by the Red Sox, and the Phillies followed suit by moving on from Rob Thomson.

Given those firings, fans are already wondering if Mendoza might be the next skipper on the chopping block. President of baseball operations David Stearns recently tried to pour cold water on that possibility, with comments to reporters (including Danny Abriano of SNY) expressing confidence in his manager. Stearns said Mendoza is "doing a really good job" but, even if he truly believes that, it's hard to take him at his word given previous votes of confidence he's offered.

Fans need not think back further than this past offseason to find examples of Stearns giving players votes of confidence and going back on them shortly thereafter. Perhaps the most memorable of those was with utility man Jeff McNeil, who he called a "real asset" to the team in comments to reports (also relayed by Abriano). McNeil, of course, was traded to the Athletics less than a month after those comments in a salary dump for an unranked prospect.

That's not the type of trade you deal a "real asset" away in, and that wasn't the only time Stearns praised a player not long before trading them away. Young infielder Luisangel Acuna was lauded by Stearns as a "unique" player in comments made to reporters (including those at SNY) back in November. Acuna, of course, was the centerpiece of the return Stearns sent to Chicago in order to acquire center fielder Luis Robert Jr. back in January.

One thing makes David Stearns' vote of confidence in Carlos Mendoza notable: he's not a player

Even though Mets fans should have learned by now not to take Stearns at his word when he expressed confidence in or support for members of this organization, that doesn't mean a vote of confidence in Mendoza rings entirely hollow. That's because the Mets organization had a clear incentive to hide the ball on their plans for McNeil and Acuna.

Publicly ripping on a player you plan to trade is a surefire way to fail in getting proper value for that player. While Stearns ultimately was unable to find a trade that offered much more than salary relief for McNeil, the fact that Acuna was a major piece in the Robert deal shows the value in putting on a brave face in public when talking about players who aren't long for the organization. Perhaps if Stearns had spoken of Acuna differently, the White Sox would've asked for another piece.

By contrast, there's no such gamesmanship at play when discussing the future of the team's manager. No MLB club is calling up Stearns to work out a trade for Mendoza, so he can be a bit more honest in his assessment of the manager's performance. Even if Stearns didn't want to directly call out his manager in public, he didn't have to offer such a full-throated defense of Mendoza if he didn't truly believe he's the right man for the job.

That doesn't mean Mendoza is safe, of course. A 2-6 record since Stearns made those comments only puts more pressure on the Mets to make big changes, which could certainly start in the manager's office. Both Cora and Thomson were far more accomplished with their clubs than Mendoza is with the Mets, and Mendoza is arguably easier to part ways with given that he's in the final year of his contract at the moment.

Ultimately, only time will tell if Mendoza has enough support from Stearns, the players in the clubhouse, and owner Steve Cohen to stay in his role as manager without a massive turnaround in on-field performance. Stearns' comments in support of his manager aren't likely to quiet the calls for his head among some fans, even if they aren't adding additional fuel to the fire either.

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