Today’s TBNL includes the Mets making a manager change; an unfortunate NPB injury; and a former KBO home run champion being released and signing elsewhere immediately.

Ahead of the 2005 season, Yankees bench coach Willie Randolph was hired as the new manager of the Mets. The club started that first season 0-5, made a surprising run to the NLCS in the second (losing in seven games to the Cardinals), and then suffered a huge Sept. collapse the following year, missing the postseason.

Randolph was fired midway through the next season. The Mets were 34-35 at the time.

Ahead of the 2024 season, Yankees bench coach Carlos Mendoza was hired as the new manager of the Mets. The club started that first season 0-5 and made a surprising run to the NLCS (losing in six games to the Dodgers), and then suffered a huge Sept. collapse the following year, missing the postseason.

Mendoza was fired on Friday. The Mets were 34-48.

Similarities aside (h/t to Reddit for this one), dismissing Mendoza was likely the right move for the Mets. It shouldn’t be the last one the organization makes, though.

New York has unquestionably been one of the most disappointing teams in baseball this season. The Mets entered the year expecting to challenge for a World Series title — The Athletic predicted the team would go 94-68, win the NL East, and reach the WS against Seattle — but entered play on Saturday with a 34-49 record (losing their first game post-Mendoza on Friday), 16.0 games behind the Braves in the NL East. Just two teams in the National League have won fewer games.

Mendoza, who was in the final season of a three-year contract, takes the blame, despite president of baseball operations David Stearns attempting to admit otherwise.

Few of Stearns’ offseason additions have proven to have made an impact. Bo Bichette (three years, $126 million) is hitting .254/.299/.390 (93 OPS+) in 358 PA. He’s been worth exactly 0.0 bWAR on the year through 82 games, while the Mets are paying him $42M. There’s little to suggest that Bichette will opt out of the final two years on his deal after the season (he’ll never match two years, $84M on the open market with this level of production), which was once thought to be a near-certainty.

Marcus Semien (Stearns traded Brandon Nimmo and cash considerations to Texas) has had the worst offensive season of his career, hitting .214/.271/.341 (72 OPS+) in 318 PA, totaling -0.6 bWAR while earning $26M this year. The Mets still owe him $26M in 2027 and $20M in 2028.

Jorge Polanco was given a two-year, $40M deal in free agency to play first base and replace Pete Alonso. Persistent wrist issues have limited him to just 61 PA and 14 G, in which he’s batting .179/.246/.286 (50 OPS+). He hasn’t played in a game since April 14 and will only start his rehab assignment this weekend.

Luis Robert Jr. hit .224/.327/.329 (86 OPS+) in 98 PA before landing on the IL in late April due to a herniated disc in his back. As of late June, Robert had started taking light swings again, but there was still no timeline for his return. Ultimately, he only cost Stearns money ($20M this year, plus a $2M buyout on a 2027 option that will surely be declined), as the two players he traded to Chicago — out of options INF/CF Luisangel Acuña (.222/.262/.259, 47 OPS+, 147 PA) and minor league RHP Truman Pauley (1-7, 6.07 ERA, 59.1 IP at Class-A) — have provided even less value.

Right-handed relievers Devin Williams (three years, $51M) and Luke Weaver (two years, $22M) have offered mixed returns. Williams has 11 saves, but a 4.44 ERA (93 ERA+) and a career-worst 12.6 BB%, totaling -0.4 bWAR. Weaver, at least, has been reliable, posting a 2.12 ERA (195 ERA+) across 34.0 IP, already totaling 1.4 bWAR.

It didn’t help that Francisco Lindor missed nearly two months after breaking his hamate bone at the end of spring training and Juan Soto has missed games due to a calf strain, hand and elbow pain.

There’s more, but the point is the Mets’ entire season to date has not gone according to plan. And there is little to suggest that a fire sale is coming at the trade deadline to make roster adjustments. A.J. Minter ($11M), Freddy Peralta ($8M), Brooks Raley ($4.4M), and Tyrone Taylor ($3.8M) are all pending free agents after the season. None of the group is playing well enough to bring back a substantial return.

Andy Green, the Mets’ senior vice president of player development for the last three seasons, was named the team’s interim manager through the remainder of the season. The club has already announced that Green will return to his player development role at that point.

Green, 48 next month, hit .200/.282/.265 (41 OPS+) in 265 PA (140 G) over four seasons during a brief MLB career. He also previously managed the Padres from 2016 to midway through the 2019 season, totaling a 274-366 (.428) record.

Naturally, speculation has already started about who the Mets will hire to manage the team after this season.

SNY’s John Harper reported on Friday that Albert Pujols “had let friends know he’d very much want the Mets’ manager job if and when they moved on from Mendoza.” Pujols, as Harper notes, has a longstanding relationship with Juan Soto and was the manager of the Dominican Republic team during the World Baseball Classic. Pujols also led his D.R. Winter League team to a championship over the winter. He was briefly linked to the manager openings with both the Angels and Padres over the offseason. Pujols’ strong interest in getting an opportunity to manage an MLB team is hardly a secret, so it’s really no surprise to see his name come forward here.

The seemingly obvious candidate, however, is already working in the organization as an advisor to the front office. And he has a history with the club.

Carlos Beltrán spent seven seasons with the Mets during a 20-year playing career, hitting .280/.369/.500 (129 OPS+) with 208 2B, 149 HR, and 100 SB while totaling 31.1 of his 70.0 career bWAR. His stretch in New York included five All-Star appearances, three Gold Glove Awards, and a pair of Silver Sluggers.

Beltrán was hired to manage the Mets in Nov. 2019, his first managerial job and the team’s choice to replace the dismissed Mickey Callaway. Beltrán never actually got the opportunity to get started. As the only player directly linked to the Astros’ sign-stealing scandal (Beltrán’s final season as a player was in 2017), the two sides ultimately agreed to “mutually part ways” in Jan. 2020.

Beltrán has seemingly moved past the public backlash that the scandal sparked. He’s worked as an analyst for the Yankees’ YES Network broadcasts and was ultimately hired by Mets owner Steve Cohen as a front-office advisor in 2023. The two, reportedly, have a close relationship. Beltrán, like Pujols, has made no secret about his desire to get into a dugout again. Beltrán will be inducted into the Hall of Fame in late July and will then have his No. 15 uniform retired by the Mets in Sept.

The Softbank Hawks entered play on Saturday with a 41-28 (.594) record, just 1.5 games behind the Seibu Lions for the lead in the NPB’s Pacific League. Softbank lost a piece of its lineup this week when second-string catcher Soichiro Ishizuka was hit in the face by a pitch from Orix Buffaloes closer Andrés Machado (who was immediately ejected from the game). Yahoo! Japan reports that Ishizuka has been diagnosed with a fractured mandible (lower jaw).

Ishizuka, 25, had been 4-for-11 in four games for the Hawks, but was hitting .321/.429/.554 in 140 PA with their farm team. It’s unclear how much time he is going to miss.

Matt Davidson was among the more highly-scouted prep prospects ahead of the 2009 Draft. The slugging corner infielder was among the top amateur talents in California (Yucaipa, CA) and was committed to play at USC before the Diamondbacks selected him with the 35th overall pick.

Davidson made his MLB debut in 2013, starting a somewhat nomadic career. Between 2013 and 2022, he played in parts of six seasons with four franchises, appearing in 306 games, with a .220/.290/.430 (94 OPS+) line across 1112 PA. Still 31 years old when he was released at the end of 2022, Davidson headed overseas to continue his career, first spending a year in the NPB with the Hiroshima Carp before signing with the KBO’s NC Dinos.

On Friday, Davidson played his final game with the Dinos. The team, which entered the day seventh in the 10-team league with a 34-38-1 record, made the decision to “make the club more competitive in the second half of the season”, per what team officials said to Yonhap News Agency’s Jee-Ho Yoo.

Davidson’s debut season in Korea was solid; he slashed .306/.370/.633 in 567 PA with 25 2B, 119 RBI, and a league-leading 46 HR. He followed it up with a .293/.346/.619 line and 36 HR in 439 PA the year after. This season, however, the production has slipped further, .286/.364/.452 with just 8 HR in 247 PA, and the Dinos simply ran out of patience.

Blaine Crim was released from the Rangers’ Triple-A affiliate earlier in the week, reportedly to sign with the Dinos. It appears he will be taking Davidson’s place on the roster.

Not even 24 hours after playing in his last game with the Dinos, The Chosun Daily reported that Davidson will sign with the Kiwoom Heroes and remain in the KBO at least through the end of the season. The Heroes are 27-50-1 (.351), the worst record in the league.

Hoping he’d serve as their staff ace, the Doosan Bears brought Chris Flexen back to Korea — he was 8-4 with a 3.01 ERA in 116.2 IP for the team in 2020 — this season. The right-hander was able to make just two starts, leaving the second after issuing a leadoff walk due to shoulder discomfort. Further evaluation discovered that Flexen had a partial tear in his subscapularis muscle (part of the rotator cuff). According to The Chosun Daily, Flexen suffered a setback during his rehab, prompting him to return to the U.S. for a second opinion.

The Bears are expected to release Flexen, who’ll turn 32 next week.

Doosan brought in left-hander Wes Benjamin as a temporary injury replacement when Flexen first went on the injured list. The 32-year-old has a 2.90 ERA in 68.1 IP through his first 12 starts. The Bears will look to retain him through the end of the season.