Hour 1: David Stearns Presser

Summary

Don, Hahn & Rosenberg – June 26, 2026, Hour 1: David Stearns Presser

Overview

This episode centers on breaking news from the New York Mets: the firing of manager Carlos Mendoza, following a disastrous run of games. The trio—Alan Hahn, Peter Rosenberg, and Don La Greca—react in real time to Mets President of Baseball Operations David Stearns’ press conference. The hour unfolds in two major acts: first, airing and analyzing Stearns’ full remarks as he’s put under pressure by the media; second, the hosts dissect the meaning and implications of Stearns’ answers, including what’s next for the Mets and their leadership crisis.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. David Stearns’ Press Conference: Mets Leadership Takes the Heat

• Accountability for Firing Mendoza

  • Stearns takes responsibility for the decision, noting, “Ultimately, everything that occurs in baseball operations, including our major league record, is my responsibility... I also have a responsibility to push us forward, to look for solutions and to make difficult decisions and change when I think it's needed.” (01:24)
  • When pressed, he maintains the firing was an “organizational decision,” not made solely by him or ownership (07:51).

• Assessing the Current Situation

  • Admits the team’s underperformance: “Belief on its own does not lead to results... We need better play, we need better production.” (04:55)
  • Stresses the lack of “a magic bullet,” emphasizing small, day-to-day improvements instead of quick fixes (01:24).
  • States he hasn’t considered stepping aside: “I have not.” When asked why, responds, “We are building the foundation of an organization that can deliver what we all want.” (05:33–05:43)

• On Andy Green as Interim Manager

  • Green will take over as interim manager, but “is not in play for the job” after the season (15:47).
  • The move is framed as a chance for “a new voice,” with Green offering “new thoughts” and a “fresh perspective.” (02:53; 10:15)

• Long-Term vs. Short-Term Goals

  • Stearns insists the focus isn’t shifting away from competing this season: “We’re not turning the page... We all remain very focused on doing everything we can to win as many games this year.” (09:52)
  • Trade deadline isn’t his immediate focus, despite the team’s struggles (13:57).

• Leadership & Culture Questions

  • Stearns denies the move signals clubhouse issues: “No, I don't think Carlos lost the clubhouse.” (13:16)
  • On the impact of a revamped roster and coaching staff: “It's never just one thing... It’s probably a variety of things.” (14:46)

Notable Quotes – Stearns

• “We were steadfast in our support for Carlos... And we haven’t [turned it around]. And in some cases, it's gotten worse. And when that happens... you gotta make a change.” (03:03)
• “I understand fan skepticism. If I were sitting in the fan seat, I would share that.” (08:08)
• “Clearly what we are building only matters if you succeed at the major league level. Major league level is what matters.” (14:15)

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2. Hahn, La Greca & Rosenberg React: Whose Fault Is It Really?

• Stearns' Accountability Questioned

  • Alan Hahn: “This is all on him. This is all about the roster... that there's nothing else. He confirmed that this interim manager, Andy Green, does not have a chance to become the manager of this team moving forward. How often do you hear that?” (17:06)
  • There’s skepticism about Stearns’ sincerity: “It felt like one of the most disingenuous things he could possibly say... First you say it's my fault, and then you say we're still evaluating whether or not this is a crap roster.” (19:46, Hahn)

• Leadership Crisis and Organizational Foundation

  • Don: “They don't have a foundation at all, this franchise. There's no bedrock... Who’s the leader? Who’s the standard bearer?... That’s not there. And Stearns is the example of it.”
  • Hahn: “No one ever took the reins on that. So what the problem is with the Mets is simply they have no foundation of leadership at all. And you can't build anything sustainable or successful on a weak foundation.” (32:03–33:14)

• Ownership, Collective Responsibility, and Lack of Candor

  • The group debates whether Stearns or owner Steve Cohen really made the call and criticizes Stearns’ reluctance to own the decision publicly.
  • Don: “Wouldn't you have felt a little more respect for the guy if he said, no, I fired Mendoza?” (21:43)

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3. The Roster, Chemistry, & the “Lindor-Soto Problem”

• Discussion of a fundamental rift between stars Francisco Lindor and Juan Soto, with callers and the hosts both mentioning apparent clubhouse chemistry issues since opening day.
• “That moment during introductions where everybody else was dapping up and hugging and your two highest paid biggest stars barely say hello to each other... If you two clearly have a disconnect, this whole clubhouse will be disconnected all year. No one ever took the reins on that.” (32:24, Hahn)
• Rosenberg chimes in about the challenges of firing a manager you hired: “You may be the reason that guy is failing. And you still have to turn around and fire the guy because you're not volunteering to give this job up.” (20:28)

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4. The Callers: Mets Fans Want Answers

Key Caller Comments (43:35+)

• Kevin in Queens: “There's got to go pretty much. We all know this. It's his fault—he constructed his roster hasn't really been successful... The Lindor Soto thing... It's made to seem as if Soto is a bad guy, right? And Soto isn't the bad guy. Soto wants to win, right? Lindor doesn't seem like winning is his number one thing.”
• George in Manhattan: Pushes back on the anti-Lindor sentiment: “To get rid of Lindor, like, like I understand that people don't think that people think they don't get along with each other and I get that. But the main thing really is the roster that was put together.”

The hosts respond by reinforcing the point: Lindor isn’t easily moved due to his contract, and the blame really rests with leadership, not just individual players.

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Memorable Moments & Quotes (with Timestamps)

• Stearns on accountability: “We haven't been able to get this going this year, and I take responsibility for that.” (01:24)
• On Greene as interim: “Andy, annual return to the front office following this year.” (15:47)
• On fan skepticism: “If I were sitting in the fan seat, I would share that.” (08:08)
• Alan Hahn: “This is all based on firing the manager right now with the target directly at his chest is David Stearns. And what happens moving forward is all about whether he stays or goes and for him to say, not focused on the trading deadline. It should be your Christmas, it should be the 4th of July...” (17:06)
• Don: “There's no bedrock, there's no core... Who's the leader? Who's the standard bearer? ...That's not there. And Stearns is the example of it.” (31:36)
• On clubhouse leadership: “Our players loved Mendy and Mendy deserved to be loved. So this hits them, but they're also professionals and they're going to go out and compete...” (11:13, Stearns)
• Alan, on Lindor vs. Soto drama: “That moment during introductions where everybody else was dapping up and hugging and your two highest paid biggest stars barely say hello to each other... No one ever took the reins on that.” (32:24)
• Caller Kevin: “The Lindor Soto thing... It's made to seem as if Soto is a bad guy, right? And Soto isn't the bad guy. Soto wants to win, right? Lindor doesn't seem like winning is his number one thing... Consistency. We don’t have a leader, we don’t have a foundation.” (43:35)
• Peter Rosenberg: “One of the hard parts with this job is, like he said, you brought in a guy, you may be the reason that guy is failing. And you still have to turn around and fire the guy because you're not volunteering to give this job up.” (20:28)

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Important Segment Timestamps

| Segment | Timestamp | |------------------------------- |:----------:| | Stearns calls press conference | 01:24 | | Stearns grilled on why now | 03:03 | | Stearns on partnership & accountability | 03:59–05:36 | | Asked about stepping aside | 05:33–05:43 | | On ownership’s support | 06:09 | | On identifying the Mets' problem | 10:15 | | Stearns on Andy Green’s role | 15:47 | | Hosts’ in-depth reaction begins| 17:06 | | Leadership “bedrock” debate | 31:36–33:14| | Callers’ reactions | 43:35+ |

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Overall Themes & Tone

The mood throughout is sharp, frustrated, and unsparing. The hosts and most callers are skeptical that firing Mendoza addresses the Mets’ real issues. Leadership, both in the front office and on the field, is seen as starkly lacking, with Stearns’ answers viewed as insufficiently honest or decisive. The chemistry between stars is questioned, and the long-term direction of the franchise appears uncertain.

In sum: This hour captures a pivotal moment for the Mets—a widely expected but still seismic managerial firing—while laying bare the deeper problems of leadership, strategy, and identity plaguing the organization. The hosts’ commentary both reflects and amplifies the frustrations of the fanbase, making clear that answers, and hope, remain elusive.

Transcript

[A]

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[A]

Don, I was fighting with obesity. I wore.

[B]

You were losing.

[C]

Don.

[B]

Don.

[D]

Peter.

[B]

Thank you, Alan.

[D]

I hope you make the team.

[E]

And Rosenberg, Richard, have you ever heard of Brazzers?

[D]

No.

[A]

This isn't North Dakota. This is New York.

[B]

This is Don Hahn and Rosenberg.

[D]

The best threesome I've ever heard on

[B]

ESPN New York and streaming live on YouTube. Big news today. Three o', clock, of course, in the big city with Don legreck and Peter Rosenberg. I'm Alan Hodd. And big news today for sure. And not a big news of surprise, of course, but still a headline. Carlos Mendoza, if you've been under a rock today, you haven't heard this yet, but we're telling you. He was fired as manager of the Mets. Andy Green, his interim replacement, and David Stearns, the president of baseball operations for the Mets, is now at the podium to address the media.

[C]

I enjoyed working with him and I'm going to miss him. Despite all of our efforts, Mendy's included, we haven't been able to get this going this year, and I take responsibility for that. Ultimately, everything that occurs in baseball operations, including our major league record, is my responsibility. I also have a responsibility to push us forward, to look for solutions and to make difficult decisions and change when I think it's needed. I understand there's no magic bullet here. There's no one change that immediately is going to turn this around. This is incremental. This is day to day. This is doing the work every single day to get us back on track. I've asked Andy Green to help us with that work for the remainder of the season. He'll be our interim manager through the rest of the season, and at that point we'll conduct a full managerial search. I think Andy's got a wealth of experience to help us in this role in a variety of different positions. His familiarity with our players, some of our players and our processes will help. And he's going to provide a fresh perspective, new eyes, some new thoughts, and I'm happy to take any questions. Steve.

[B]

David, the results haven't been there since day one this year, but you've remained steadfast in your support for Carlos what changed that made this happen?

[A]

Right now?

[C]

I don't think there's one thing, you know, we. We were steadfast in our support for Carlos. I was steadfast in my support for Carlos because we believed in Carlos, and we believe that collectively, with him helping us lead this, we are going to turn it around. And we haven't. And in some cases, it's gotten worse. And when that happens, at some point, you got to make a change. So there's not one moment or one thing or one observation, but it was time, and so we did this.

[B]

You can correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems as though you're pretty emotional about this. Just what. What are you feeling on a personal level that's leading to that right now?

[D]

Look,

[C]

in these roles, you're a partner with the manager. Carlson and I spoke almost every day for the last two and a half years. So these are very difficult decisions. I have a ton of respect for them. At the same time, this is my job, and I have a responsibility in the best of my ability and the best of my judgment to lead the organization. That includes making difficult decisions. It includes making change when change is needed. In my estimation, our estimation, change is needed right now.

[B]

You last one.

[C]

For me.

[B]

You had also said that ultimately it

[A]

falls on you, the record.

[B]

You remade this entire team this off season. You were very confident in what it could do. As you have evaluated what's happened, where do you think your initial projections and thoughts fell short?

[C]

Yeah, I think that evaluation is ongoing and will continue to be ongoing. Clearly, we've fallen short. I still have confidence in the talent that's in our room. I believe in the talent that's in our room. But belief on its own does not lead to results. And I understand that. We need better play, we need better production. And my focus right now and Andy's focus right now is going to be doing everything we can to put our guys in the best position to succeed. Mike David, you said you consider a partnership with Mendy. That said, have you considered stepping aside?

[A]

Is that something you've thought about?

[C]

I have not.

[A]

Why not?

[C]

I

[D]

believe

[C]

that we are building the foundation of an organization that can deliver what we all want. I don't believe that our record on the field this year is indicative of some of the advancements that we've made in the organization, but clearly our record is nowhere good enough.

[B]

And do you believe you have ownership

[A]

support to continuing this job?

[C]

Yes. What makes you think that? Steve and I are talking on a regular basis, and he certainly indicated That I have his support.

[B]

Bruce

[A]

David, are the players that you brought in, do you think the wrong players for this ball club, or do you think this.

[C]

Or do you think these players have underachieved? I think. I think regardless of which side of that paradigm you fall on, the end result is we have not been good enough. And we need to evaluate not only why that is, but in the moment right now, do everything we can to get our players, our roster, our team as a whole moving forward. We've talked about, you know, why, right?

[E]

Why? Why?

[C]

When you go through a half a season like this with players that in the past have performed at a really high level, it's never just one thing. There are multiple things that are contributing to this, and we need to address all of them. What is your message to your passionate fan base right now? I understand our fans frustration and anger. I think I share that. And we will do everything we can to improve.

[B]

Joe David, here in the middle. Was the decision solely your decision or was ownership involved in the decision?

[C]

Any decision like this, of this magnitude for an organization is an organizational decision, and we were aligned that this was the right thing to do.

[B]

And why should fans have confidence in you? Because you mentioned the team's current performance to be able to help turn this around.

[C]

Yeah, I understand fan skepticism. If I were sitting in the fan seat, I would share that. From my perspective, what I can do and what I will do is for as long as I'm sitting in this seat, work as hard as I can with the people around me to do everything we can to push this organization forward. And I think we're going to be able to do that. Laura, just given last year's collapse, the reconstruction of the roster and the new coaching staff, do you personally feel that you put Carlos Mendoza in a position to succeed this season? I think when you look at our record right now, this is not where we want to be. We all came into the season believing we were going to have a better year. I thought we were going to have a better year. Our players thought we were going to have a better year. Certainly Mendy thought we were going to have a better year. We haven't.

[B]

And just in terms of the last calendar year, how much of those failures

[C]

do you put on Carlos Mendoza? This is never on one person, certainly not all on Carlos. As I said, I take responsibility for our record on the field. I take responsibility for the entirety of our baseball operations group.

[B]

Chelsea, you had kind of talked about

[C]

believing in the talent and trying to get things started to put guys in position to succeed. When you look at where you are

[B]

now, are you thinking about still kind of trying to turn this around in the immediate future or how much of this switch can we take as a signal that you're kind of thinking longer term?

[C]

I understand we have a uphill battle ahead of us this year, but we're not turning the page. We all remain very focused on doing everything we can to win as many games this year while recognizing where we are in the standings. Abby, do you think that Andy Green is going to be able to get more from these players than what they've

[A]

already given this year?

[C]

And why is he the guy who can get more out of them? In what ways can he? I think sometimes a new voice, a new perspective, a new view helps, and sometimes it's really difficult to explain why or how. But at this point, it was. It was time to try. I think Andy, just by virtue of his experiences both before he got here and during his time with the Mets, is going to bring something a little bit different. And I think for us, it was time to try something a little different. Isha, how is this news delivered to the clubhouse and how did they handle it? Yeah, I called a number of our players. We had a number, a couple of other senior executives call some players, and then we just held a team meeting. Our players loved Mendy and Mendy deserved to be loved. So this hits them, but they're also professionals and they're going to go out and compete at a very high level at 7pm tonight.

[B]

Joel, I appreciate you said it's a organizational decision, but did Steve come to you to fire Mendy or did you go to him?

[C]

I'm not going to get into the specifics of Steve and my conversations. We talk pretty much every day about the performance of our team, and we came to the decision that this was the right move.

[B]

And is it particularly tough to do this because there is a chance, There's a pretty strong chance you're playing for the future. At some point this year, you are removing your farm director to do this job. That dynamic, how tough was it?

[C]

We have confidence in the executives who are leading our organization. I have confidence in the leadership of our player development group.

[D]

Tyler.

[B]

David, what was it about this group that gave you confidence initially that it could win?

[C]

Yeah, we believed and still believe we have a lot of really talented players in that clubhouse, a lot of players who have performed at a high level throughout their careers, and we just haven't gotten that going yet this year.

[B]

You look back on because it was

[A]

A big remake over the off season

[B]

and letting go a lot of guys who had been here for a while. Do you second guess any of that? I mean, you hear fans chanting for Pete Alonso the other night. What did that feel like for you?

[C]

Yeah, I think my focus continues to be on how do we get the most out of this present group. And that's where my. That's where my energy is going to be spent.

[D]

Peter.

[B]

David, when did you inform Carlos of the news and how did he take the conversation?

[C]

Yeah, Carlos and I spent some time together this morning. Carlos is the ultimate professional and. And he took it as the ultimate professional does.

[B]

All right. David, you mentioned it's gotten worse.

[C]

You know, the six errors on Wednesday, the ugly losses here the last week. Do you think Carlos just lost the clubhouse? No, I don't think Carlos lost the clubhouse. And do you think Andy Green come in and change the trajectory of this particular group? Look, as I said, I don't think, I don't think there's a flip of a switch. I don't think there's a magic bullet. I think Andy will come in and provide different perspective, a different style. And at this point, I thought a change was needed. When it comes to the trade market,

[B]

is there a possibility that you add to win this season in the next few weeks or are you.

[C]

Is that only a, you know, August

[B]

3rd, we'll sell if needed if we

[D]

decide to do that?

[C]

Yeah, I'm not focused on the trade deadline at all right now, Jerry.

[B]

David, you said you've. You're building the foundation of the organization and get to where you want it to be long term. How do you juxtapose that with the most visible part of the organization being on pace for its worst season since 2003?

[C]

Yeah. Clearly what we are building only matters if you succeed at the major league level. Major league level is what matters. Wins and losses at the major league level at the end of the day is what this is all about. That's why I'm here. And we need to get better there.

[D]

Gary.

[B]

David, you not only made a lot of changes with your players in the off season, but you basically revamped your entire coaching staff. Do you think that the lack of continuity has had any thing to do with the performance of the team?

[C]

I certainly think it's possible. I think it's possible. As I said before, I think when you have a first half like this, you play like this for a prolonged stretch, it's never just one thing. It's probably a variety of things. And that is possible.

[D]

Roger.

[B]

David, I'm asking because I didn't really feel like we got a very clear answer earlier. Do you, in what ways do you think that Mendoza was given the right thing, put in the right position to succeed?

[C]

Yeah, I think we all felt as though we had a talented team coming into this year. I still feel we have a talented team and we haven't played well enough. I would certainly admit that. I think many would admit that as well.

[B]

Joel. David, two things are possible. You're calling Andy Green an interim. Is he in play for the job? Is he auditioning right now?

[C]

No. Andy, Annual return to the front office following this year.

[B]

And do you have any feel right now off of what you saw out of Mendy and having gone through a cycle in New York, qualities that you think you want to emphasize in whoever does take this job next?

[C]

I'm not going to speculate on that right now.

[D]

Jerry.

[B]

David, this is the third managerial change of the year. Philadelphia has some media success. Boston did not. Do you feel like you may should have made this move sooner?

[C]

We, as I said before, we had faith in Mendy. We had faith collectively that we were going to turn this around. We haven't. And it got to the point where we're, we felt as though a change was, was necessary.

[B]

All right, so we're going to cut in here now at this point because first and foremost, fellas, I, I, I want to first of all applaud the New York media. They put him on the, they put him absolutely on the grill. He earned every moment of that. And they asked all the questions that needed to be asked, fair questions that needed to be asked. And it's amazing to me some of the answers that we received. John, I'm going to leave the floor to you as the resident Met fan for your initial reactions to the move and to what you just heard from David Stearns.

[A]

I mean, where to begin? There's just so much to dive into. You know, when he says that it was just time for Carlos, I get that. I don't think there was any intention of him of firing Mendoza. I think he wanted to keep him on for the rest of the season, but it was just so ugly over the last six games, specifically the six errors in the second game of the doubleheader, losing six in a row, swept at home in a four game series by the Cubs. Sometimes there are moments you just can't get up from before you start to feel bad for Mindy. And I think there are a lot of people that do remember he was A part of a collapse last year and an awful start this year. So that's going to eventually cost you your job. Now, how does this move the needle moving forward? It doesn't. Because you don't have a manager here that's doing anything, I guess, other than evaluating the talent. David Stearns won't say it, but every action, every that he said, every gesture during the press conferences, this is his fault. This is all on him. This is all about the roster, that there's nothing else. You, you have the president of player personnel now leading the show to evaluate what the heck's wrong with this roster. That's what this is. He confirmed that this interim manager, Andy Green, does not have a chance to become the manager of this team moving forward. How often do you hear that? I think that's because they probably want to give it to Carlos Belcher and Carlos won't take it. Why would he take over this mess? Wait till the beginning of the season. Let's see the roster, be done, have a spring training with this team. So I think the fact that who's the interim manager, where he comes from, he's telling you this is a roster problem. So this is all based on firing the manager right now with the target directly at his chest is David Stearns. And what happens moving forward is all about whether he stays or goes and for him to say, not focused on the trading deadline. It should be your Christmas, it should be the 4th of July, it should be everything to you, because this is where you get a chance to correct all your errors, all your mistakes. This should be what he's consumed with by now. But he's so convinced this roster actually works, guys, that he's going to double down on it. Today's press conference was basically him introducing the media to the fact that this is his mistake, this is his problem, and we'll see if he's going to have a chance to correct it. And now it's just about whether Steve Cohen is going to believe in it or not. Because they are in this mess because of him. I don't think there's any other way around it, Peter.

[B]

I think he's on borrowed time. And I think it's amazing that even when asked about the roster, which he probably has to be careful because you know you're going to lose the room even more now. But for him to say that, you know, this roster you, you put together and said that the roster this year will be better than the one we ended the season with last year. And he said the evaluation is still ongoing for this team. That felt like one of the most disingenuous things he could possibly say without. First you say it's my fault, and then you say we're still evaluating whether or not this is a crap roster. Like, I don't. This feels like a guy, a who's got a ton of guilt because he had to fire somebody that's a good man and be knows he's on borrowed time.

[E]

Yeah, I think all of those things are true. I don't think he's lying about the fact that he hasn't considered stepping. Stepping aside. He probably hasn't. He doesn't want to do that. He wants to keep going. One of the hard parts with this job is, like he said, you brought in a guy, you may be the reason that guy is failing. And you still have to turn around and fire the guy because you're not volunteering to give this job up. Because David Stearns, who came in here as a commodity, his value, if he were to step aside now, and I appreciate the question from Gelbs, but, like, if he were to step aside now, he's leaving with hugely diminished value to wherever he's going next. He wants to see this thing get turned around. But he also knows perfectly well what's the likelihood of anything happening over the next four months, three and a half months that's going to change that. So it's one of those things where you listen to someone talk and at a certain point, as Anthony Edwards joking, it's just words being spoken now because something had to be done. It was done. Not quite sure how it's going to get better, but we're going to hope it gets better.

[A]

You know what I didn't like, and I never advocate lying, but I think sometimes bending the truth could be helpful in a position that he's in. Just own the fact you fired Mendoza.

[D]

Own it.

[A]

Did Steve Comey?

[D]

No.

[A]

You know, everything's a collective. Everything is a collective. So nobody ever has to stand forward and say, I'm the guy that did it. Wouldn't he have felt a little bit more respect for the guy if he said, no, I fired Mendoza?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And even if you didn't want to lie and say it was a collective, say it was a collective, but my vote was to let him go. Right. Because now it feels like now, I don't know now. Did Steve make you fire him? Did you all get together and say, what should we do? In like a panic meeting? And say, well, we gotta throw some chump to the media. So let's make Mendoza go to me. You wanna show that you're in charge. You're the bulldog. You're the guy that's gonna be able to fix all these problems. I mean, take ownership of it.

[B]

This is how you do that, though. The owner comes to you and said, after last night's abomination, right, we showed a little fight, still lost. And probably you have a conversation at the end of the night where he goes, we got to do something. Well, I don't know. There's really not a lot we can do. There's no trades to be made out there right now. Well, then we got to do something. So we got to let Mendy go. We got to do something. I shake the room up, you know, and then you're saying, I know what that means, because that was the only thing. That's why. Like, when asked, why didn't he do it sooner? It was because then he'd have nothing left. But what's next? So. So to me, I do believe this came from ownership. And I believe he said, all right, if that's you want to do. And that's the. That's the collaboration. There's your collective decision. Owner wanted it. And I said, okay. But I don't want to say the owner wanted it, because now it's on him. So I have to say we both decided this.

[D]

Right?

[B]

But that's what I think happened here.

[A]

But he gave a clearer picture on why he didn't let him go early. He thought. He thought there was still time, that they could still turn it around. He owned not firing him 30 games in, but won't own firing him now. I just found that it could have been.

[B]

You know, here's the thing, Don. At least he met him today and did it face to face because he didn't have the courage to do that and the respect to do that. The buck shovel.

[A]

That's right. Absolutely. But to me, I just think this is all. It's a press conference announcing the firing of Mendoza, but it's not really, to me, addressing the issue.

[B]

Of course not.

[A]

And now the issue is clear. Now the issue is clear. Now it is all on him. So I thought. I thought maybe there was a chance that Green could, you know, have a good second half, maybe part of. No, he's. He's. It's all evaluating the problems in that room, and then eventually they're going to come with a manager. They're going to have a search. My theory is it's probably Beltran. Beltran probably doesn't want to take. Why would he. Why would you want to take over today with a team that's 13 games under.500 in complete disarray in last place? You know, give it to me during the off season when I see what it looks like ahead of time. But even if that's not the fact, it's still. He's not a part of the future in the sense of being the manager of this team. He is part of the future of what you think will be a rebuild. But the question is, will there be a rebuild or will it just be a doubling down of this roster and hoping to tweak? What's wrong? I don't see a championship team in any kind of future here. I don't see any of the young players contributing in any kind of a clip. That makes me believe there's a great future here. I mean, McClain has not looked great.

[B]

He could be the victim of what's happening around him, right?

[A]

Yeah, he could be the victim of that. Right. And.

[B]

But what he said, Don, when he said that he feels as this is again, the answer to the stepping down. He feels like, you know, we've laid the foundation of future success. I would have followed up with. Give me that evidence. Yeah, Well, I feel like the media did a great job in grilling him with the right questions. But follow ups, which maybe we're missing them now, I don't know. But follow ups are simply. Can you just provide some evidence of why you feel like there's a foundation of success here? Can you give us specifics? Because he gave no specifics in trying to defend anything that he's done. All he can't defend it is that we feel like, you know, we put together a good roster and they're just not playing up to up to potential. Which is, by the way, the passive aggressive way of saying let's blame the players for why the managers fired. And that's a problem he's going to have to deal with, which is why Andy's in there, because he needs eyes and ears in that room now. That's what he needs. Number one, you're not finding somebody to be a manager, an interim manager in the middle of a season that's not happening, when you know he's not finishing, when he finishes the season, he's no longer the manager. So you bring in somebody that is an ally that is in your front office who's going to be eyes and ears of what's going on in that room so we can make better decisions going forward. And that should Include trade deadline. The message he should have sent was, and now my focus is solely on the trade deadline because we're going to. We got to fix this. And we're going to watch things now closely these next couple of weeks because I got some big decisions to make. You want to shake a room up, you start putting stuff like that, that out there.

[A]

I don't. I don't think he believes the roster is as big a problem as we do. And to me, that's a problem.

[B]

Then what is it?

[A]

That's what I think he's putting in there.

[B]

I know exactly what the Mets problem is.

[A]

That sounds like a great tease.

[B]

I brought it up yesterday, but I can go even deeper into the conversation today and I defy both of you to disagree with me. Anybody else's challenges? 800 now, 7, 6 to get calls going. We already got calls coming in to react to this right now. So did the wrong guy get fired today? That's number one. Number two, what is the one problem if you can find it? The most critical issue with the Mets right now is what? I will fill in the blank, see if you agree with me. We'll get to calls, that conversation and more. Fraud alert Friday. What a perfect day for it. Yeah, fraud alert Friday coming up as well. Your calls, plenty to get to today. Of course. Peter, do you have something for me here, though?

[E]

I do hear about it.

[B]

You can always just wait.

[A]

No, no, no.

[E]

Well, it's very important, though, so I'd rather say it because.

[B]

Say it now, then. Get it off your chest.

[E]

I have to. Because it's the biggest stage in the world.

[D]

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[B]

Thanks for listening to the Don Hahn and Rosenberg podcast.

[C]

I didn't listen to anything you just said.

[B]

Catch the show on demand whenever you want. Just subscribe to us wherever you get your podcasts. All right, John Han, Rosenberg. We have tons of calls to get to at 809-3776. But before we do, as David Stearns had just addressed the media, he got grilled and it was the right thing. He deserved every minute of it. He earned every minute of it, I should say, as Carlos Mendoza has been fired as Mets manager, interim Andy Green in place, he's already made it clear Green is not going to be considered a long term solution at manager. It's just for now, likely to the end of the season and then they'll reassess everything at the end. And I think when they reassess everything, it includes the general manager spot. But with that in mind, when you ask what is, what's. How do you fix the Mets? What's wrong with the Mets? What's the issue with the Mets? I said it yesterday, I'm going to repeat it. It starts right there at that podium. They don't have a foundation at all, this franchise. There's no bedrock, there's no, there's no core and when I say that, I mean, who's the leader? Who's the standard bearer? Who's the person that upholds? This is what we're about. And that's not there. And Stearns is the example of it. The owner is not a. It's not a true baseball guy. He's a new owner in the sport. Was he a fan, fine. But he doesn't really have that personality about him, that magnitude about him, that he walks into the clubhouse and everybody's like, okay, the boss is here, right? So then you look to your president of baseball operations, which is the highest position you can hold in the organization underneath the owner, and you would think maybe that's the guy that has that. The presence, the voice. Walk in the room and everybody stops. But he doesn't have that either. He doesn't have the ability to communicate with players or talk at their level. They don't respect him. He's a numbers guy. He knows it deep down. So he doesn't bother ever, A, challenging a player or B, confronting a player or just walking into the clubhouse when things aren't going well and saying what's going on in here and having conversations with the guys. I just gave a lot of money to the guys that I believed in to build this team. None of that doesn't exist. The manager in his own words. Our players love Mindy and many deserve to be loved. They loved him, but did they respect him? Could many?

[E]

Could.

[C]

Could.

[B]

Could Carlos Mendoza have those conversations? Could he be the guy that. That confronts the clubhouse when. When you have six errors?

[E]

Well, we already said, Alan, we already knew. I mean, listen, I'm not saying we can put it all on him, but we know that he was not able to really make any headway in the Lindor Soto situation, which is ultimately on him as well.

[B]

Thank you, Peter. Because that's the last thing I was going to say is that day one of this season, that's the red flag. That moment during introductions where everybody else was dapping up and hugging and your two highest paid biggest stars barely say hello to each other. Day one. And that's when as manager or even as president of baseball operations, this is my freaking team. We got a problem that didn't look good. I don't like that. We need to fix it, and we need to fix it right now and figure it out. So, because it's a long season and we can't have this, because if you two clearly have a disconnect, this whole clubhouse will be disconnected all year. No one ever took the reins on that. So what the problem is with the Mets is simply they have no foundation of leadership at all. And you can't build anything sustainable or successful on a weak foundation. That's my take. Disagree or agree?

[A]

You're not wrong. The only pushback I would give you is that baseball's at fault with this because it's the analytics that tell you there's no such thing as hot, there's no such thing as clutch. And you wonder if they even think about leadership. You take a look at the Yankees, the gold standard, right, of being a consistent winner. Who's their leader? Their leader is Aaron Judge. He's their judge. He's their leader because he's the best player on the team. He's an historic player. That's what makes him a leader. But when you're a team that doesn't really have that guy, Soto is supposed to be that guy, and the stats show it. But he's not built to be that kind. He's been here for five minutes, and the only reason is here is he got sweets that the Yankees weren't gonna give him. Okay, so he's a merc.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

All right. Lindor, you know, can't stay on the field this year, always gets off to slow starts. When he was the leader of the team in 2024, he was. Why? Because he was among the best players on the team. Pete Alonso, that just wasn't his thing either.

[B]

But. But to be fair, Don, from. From what I know, from what I understand, you're right. And Lindor was playing well. The Mets had their run late that season, and obviously it carried into the postseason, and there was some kind of good energy around Lindor, that guys attracted to him, and that team sort of had something special going. But don't think for a minute, though, that that Alonzo and Nimmo, while they might have been a little outside that clique, did also hold each other accountable. As goofy as Alonzo.

[A]

No, I agree.

[B]

Like, if Jeff McNeil was, you know, was bristling about the fact that, hey, we might have won the game, but I was over three. Alonzo and them would look at them like, hey, you know, are you worried about you or the team success? They held it. You know why? Because they all grew up together. They all knew each other. They've been around enough together to be able to do that. So for me, it still existed in some ways, even though it wasn't traditional. Right? It wasn't. But Judge, we've seen him call guys out. We've seen him go to Jazz and say, we don't do that around here. We've seen him talk to young players about the right things to do. Somebody that's there that says, this is not our way, the Mets don't have that guy.

[A]

Now, I was going to say that, listen, Alonzo started to become a little bit more of a leader, but these guys were all shown the door and their speculation. The reason they were shown the door is they didn't get along with Lindor. We gotta make the guys that are under contract forever happy. Remember, the general manager of this team doesn't like to give out long term contracts. He didn't give the contract to Lindor, he didn't give the contract to Soto. But these guys aren't going anywhere. And now there's rumors that maybe they'll bring in Albert Pujols. Why? Because he coached Soto during the World Baseball Classic. All about keeping the guys that are under contract long term happy. And then the guys that are short term contracts show them the door. There's no conversation about leadership or, or continuity. I don't think that's in the baldiwick of anybody that worries about the analytics. Yankees are analytically driven. The reason Judge can do those things is because he's the best player on the planet. Unless you're the best player and want to do that, it's not going to happen. Soto doesn't want to do it. Lindor's got his issues, so. But they don't think about these things. That's the problem.

[B]

All right, and there you go. So if I'm Steve Cohen or anybody close to him and he's now, right now, and you know, he's been in somebody's ear that's not in the organization about like what's going on with his team because he needs help. Because there's got to be a little part of him already, if not a bigger part of him that realizes, you know, this guy Stearns, I don't think he's it. And if he's not, I got to figure it out. Somebody's got to be telling him, listen, Steve, you still need some people that can be leaders and you don't have any. You got to find that. And maybe it's got to be your manager and, and could that be a Beltran or maybe, maybe that's what it. But somebody. It doesn't have to be a player. Somebody though, has to be someone that is willing to challenge people when they're not playing up to their potential or acting up to their potential. What has to that moment on opening day. Well, that was a bunch of that, right? I'm not going to. You know what I mean? There's no way that in my organization, there's no way we're doing that on opening day.

[A]

Of course not. But nobody could talk to Soto when you're giving the guy a suite and giving him a 15 year contract. That's the problem with baseball. Now where's he going?

[B]

Why can't you? Where's he going? Where's he going?

[A]

Well, he could go somewhere in five years when he can walk.

[B]

All right, fine, let him walk.

[A]

I'm just ridiculous.

[B]

So I'm. So I'm selling out my organization because I'm afraid of losing a guy that I've got for five years?

[A]

Well, tell me I'm wrong, because the point is, is that Lindor is probably somebody that wants to be able to, you know, get Soto on board. Can't do. Why do you think there's a rift between those two? Lindor is the leader, Soto goes in, all of a sudden, Soto neuters, Lindor completely neuters the guy. So now one of your leaders is out, the other leader you let walk. And Alonzo. Tell me they're not catering to Soto. The Mets, with all the money in the world, had to give a suite to get the guy to come here. And now you're talking about possibly hiring Albert Pujols. Why? To appease your best player. So how could I possibly lead? Let's say I'm a big tough guy and I decide to go in there and lead Juan Soto. If I don't have the organization's back, then I can't be a leader of a team if he's going to win every face off because they're gaga over keeping Soto happy. How am I supposed to have any kind of leadership? I could walk in there and be the king of New York and bat.500, but if I'm not allowed to talk to Soto, where's my leadership? If I don't have the back of my manager, my general manager and my owner to maybe go to Soto and say, sit down, shut up, this is my team, and then lose that face off because management doesn't have my back, then I can't lead.

[B]

Maybe that's why you bring in a Pujols, because you say I need to make Soto, who is serious about the game, who I can't lose. Because if he doesn't like what's going on around him, you could see him get disillusioned and that's looks like he is. He's kind of disconnected. Because, look, wouldn't you, like, Don, you're you, Peter. You guys are elite talk show hosts, right? If you went. If you got to some other station or some other shows and they put with you guys that, like, aren't really that serious about it, don't really try, maybe not that good, wouldn't you get disillusioned when you be like, what am I doing here? Like, what am I working with? Like. Like this. This show's going nowhere. You'd be disillusioned. So instead, I bring in somebody like a Pujols. Now I know you're connected to Soho Soto. And now I make Soto feel a little more, like, empowered. Like, all right, I've got a guy now in the manager. It's got my back. I start to kind of, like, become a bigger presence and let everybody get attracted to me as a worker. He's not a vocal leader. He's never going to do all that stuff. But if you're going to pay him all that money, I need to get everything I can out of him. And if that means empowering him a little more with a manager, A, that I could trust, but B, that can be the leader that I need, because he can't, maybe that's the direction you go in.

[A]

Well, if that's the reason you're bringing him in or you're bringing him in just to make him happy and just embolden him even further to not be bothered with anybody, well, that's fine.

[B]

As long as he performs and the manager can be the guy that handles the room, then I'm good. But this right now, where there's no leadership, that ain't working. It's not working. When you finally find your thing, you want the whole world to know about that thing, so you use a thing called Canva to make it an even bigger and better thing. Whether you want to create flyers for that thing, make presentations for that thing, or design merch for that thing, you can do anything so people can see your thing, feel your thing, love your thing. The next thing you know, it's a thing. Canva. The thing that makes anything a thing. Today, summer belongs to the super.

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[C]

I didn't listen to anything you just said.

[B]

Catch the show on demand whenever you want. Just subscribe to us wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, soccer fans, join RJ Santillo, Ray Santiago of Dpietro and Rothenberg, the great producers, this Monday, June 29th for a watch party presented by Rattedberger pilsner. Watch the 4:30pm match in the. In the end, how do you say this? Please, Don, you've been doing this. Read Radeburger. What's the.

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[D]

What's going on, guys? Thanks for taking a call. Listen to the station all day. I mean, you know, you got a great station. Everybody's been hitting it on the head ever since the news came out. All the talking points have really been really 100% on mark. There's got to go pretty much. We all know this. It's his Fault he constructed his roster hasn't really been successful. I mean, even 2024, we need a magical run to like turn it around to make the nlcs, right? To get to nlcs. And then it's been nothing after that. But one thing that you guys spoke about that I really want to touch base on, right? And people are really saying what it is, right? Is the Lindor Soto thing, right? And it's made to seem as if Soto is a bad guy, right? And Soto isn't the bad guy. Soto wants to win, right? Lindor doesn't seem like winning is his number one thing, right? Great player. He's changed the culture. Many Mets have come in. Pedro Martinez and of the likes to change the culture, right? He's just not a winner. You guys talk about this, right? Like, certain guys in certain sports are just not winners, great players. He's not a winner. That's the rift. And if that's the rift, I'm cool with it. I've been saying it. Lindor gotta go too, right? Maybe the big contract. That's the risk. I don't think that's a problem. The problem, Alan, you hit it on the head. Consistency. We don't have a leader, we don't have a foundation. And if they want to do that around Soto, then go ahead. Because all he wants to do is win. He wants to take his $750 million to the bank and win and bring us a ring. And if I think we got a bit of the wrong players, it should have been Lindor. Alonzo should have been tapped. Nimble should have been tapped, right? These are foundational guys that we developed that cared about winning and maybe weren't as vocal, right? Lindor's a bigger star. We got rid of the wrong guy. And Mendoza shouldn't have been fired. But whatever Stearns is next, he's got to go well after next year.

[B]

Kevin just dropped the mic there when you said Lindor should have been the one that they let go. Do you agree with that, Don?

[A]

Well, yeah, but good luck trying to get rid of him. I mean, the reason he was able to get rid of Alonzo is because his contract was up, right? You know, Nimmo McNeil, those are movable, easy, movable pieces. You can't move. The two guys you can't move don't get along. So what do you to defend Stearns on this? What is he supposed to do? I'm sure he looked at Lindor and said, I don't think this is going to age well either. This contract he had his worst defensive metric last year. Always gets off to slow starts. Now, I'm not going to go as far as the callers say he's not a winner and Soto's a winner. One guy's got one World series when he's 18 years old and the other guy was part of the reason why the Mets were able to go as far as they were able to go a couple of years ago. But if you want to get who's going to take Lindor in that contract,

[B]

but you never know. There's always somebody that we don't know.

[A]

He didn't try.

[B]

You might, I'm sure he just couldn't move them. You think he tried?

[D]

Okay.

[B]

All right.

[A]

Well, I don't know. But how are you moving that contract?

[B]

No, I understand it's a massive contract for a player that this year has been hurt way too much. George Manhattan continues. George,

[D]

hello?

[B]

Gotcha. George, go ahead.

[D]

Oh, hey. Oh, thanks for taking the call. I can I just piggyback off the guy said before about getting rid of Lindor. Like I, I find that that's a little strange to me because I understand, I mean to say he's not a winner and he. The only reason they even got to the postseason last year, I know, was the run was because of him. And the reason only reason they got that far in the players was because was was on his back too. So like to get him getting rid of Lindor, like, like I understand that people don't think that people think they don't get along with each other and I get that. But the main thing really is the roster that was put together. I wasn't a huge fan of what they did as far as like the Roberts thing and the Polanco thing, but because we always knew those guys were injury prone. So it's like you could argue with what he did as far as putting those guys together, bringing guys that don't stay on the field and letting guys walk that stay on the field constantly. But the truth is with guys like Alonzo, Nimmo and even McNeil when they were on the team, the Mets never really won. They won games, never won. We never went to the Mets never went to back to back playoffs and that's never been made a more series with them.

[B]

Let me ask you this.

[D]

And that's the one thing I said.

[B]

I get the point. I totally get the point and thanks for the call. But the one thing that I will ask and Don, jump in here. Peter. You guys have seen enough Mets baseball last couple of years. Were those guys the reason why they didn't win at a high level? Were they? Why, like, would you point to them? Well, you know, because he wasn't good enough and he was like, Alonzo produced, Nimmo produced and was a hustle guy. Was his skills diminishing? Yes. But was he, like, a reason why they weren't winning?

[A]

No, but again, it just came down to who could I move and who I can't. I don't think he loved the roster at all. Clearly, you know, and the caller is right. This team went to within two games of the World Series, added one of the best players in baseball and took

[B]

a huge step back and got worse.

[D]

Right.

[A]

And that's why I was kind of in favor of like, hey, if you want. If you want to blow it up, fine, because these guys haven't won anything and they took a step back, but this can't be the pivot. 13 games under.500. Midway through the year, I was for maybe making some changes. I wanted to keep Pete. But if you, if you felt that maybe McNeil and Nimmo freshen things up a bit, getting better defensively, remember, run prevention, all that, none of that happened. So as much as you maybe wanted to make changes and maybe there should have been changes, the changes were complete and utter failure. They haven't prevented runs, they haven't won games. His philosophy with the pitchers that I agreed with at the time have blown up completely in his face.

[B]

Nope.

[A]

Yeah, none of these guys have really worked out or they've gotten hurt. So I think both could be true. Peter, maybe there needed to be a change, but the change was catastrophic.

[E]

Listen, if you decide to let go of someone who granted was going to cost you some money, but also, clearly, let's not pretend, in spite of his representation, let's not pretend like Pete Alonso was in a cost. This was not going to play ball with the Mets. We know Pete Alonso wanted to be a Met. He would have been a career Met, no question. If you are going to aggressively move on from a beloved homegrown guy who's responsible for the best moment in the team in the last decade is it has to pay off. It has to.

[B]

Like, it has to lead to a player. Think about this. It has to lead to a player that can replace him. And what they did was try to get Cody Bellinger. That didn't happen. They tried to get Kyle Tucker. That didn't happen. And instead you go with a guy that never played first base before and always gets hurt. So that didn't work out at all. So this whole off season that was supposed to be out remaking the Mets ended up being destroying the Mets. And now they're in a place like this right now where their fans are frustrated and they are calling in like crazy to get their comments in. Thanks for listening to the Don Han and Rosenberg podcast. I don't want to know how the sausage is made, man. I just want to know it's good. Hear more of Don Allen and Peter Weekday afternoon starting at 3 on 8 80, ESPN, the ESPN New York app and your smart speakers. This episode is brought to you by Google Chrome. You think you know a browser, but Gemini and Chrome? That's new. It can help you with practically anything on the web, like restoring a vintage motorcycle from a 50 page restoration block. Or finally break down that long article you've had open for weeks. Gemini and Chrome is here for it, ready to make anything online make sense. There's no place like Chrome. Check responses Setup required compatibility and availability various 18 plus.