Mets don't plan to fire manager Carlos Mendoza despite holding MLB's worst record, says POBO David Stearns

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Despite losing for the 17th time in 20 games Thursday and owning baseball's worst record at 10-21, the New York Mets do not plan to fire their manager, president of baseball operations David Stearns said on Friday. Carlos Mendoza's job is safe for the time being.

"We know our record is not what we want and we know we are capable of more," Stearns told MLB.com. "We don't view this as a manager problem and we don't intend to make a change."

The Boston Red Sox and Philadelphia Phillies have both made managerial changes within the last week and the immediate results are mostly positive. The Red Sox are 2-2 since Chad Tracy replaced Alex Cora, and the Phillies are 3-0 since Don Mattingly replaced Rob Thomson. There is more to it than the new leader in the dugout, of course, but it's progress.

Mendoza, 46, is in his third year as Mets manager and it was not a guarantee he would return this season after the club collapsed out of a postseason berth last year. The Mets were 45-24 last June 11, the best record in baseball, but they went 39-55 the rest of the way and missed the playoffs on a tiebreaker with the Cincinnati Reds.

In their last 162 games, Mendoza's Mets are 72-90, which is frankly unforgivable given the team's near-$400 million payroll. The run prevention has been mostly middle of the pack this season. The offense, however, is scoring only 3.42 runs per game, second fewest in baseball. The Mets are dead last with a team 79 OPS+. Their 10-21 start, which included a 12-game losing streak, is the fourth worst in franchise history after the month of April, behind just the 1962, 1964 and 1981 Mets.

Injuries to Francisco Lindor (hamate, calf), (wrist), and (calf) have played a role in the poor offense, but a few injuries don't explain it entirely. When a team is this bad, the manager always shares some of the blame, but Mendoza did not put this roster together. It's on Stearns more than anyone.