On Friday, the New York Mets fired manager Carlos Mendoza amid a disastrous 2026 season.
While the Mets have indeed been pretty terrible under Mendoza’s watch over the last season and a half, many were quick to point out that he was the “least culpable” for the state of the franchise when compared to others in the front office.
Even the TV voice of the crosstown Yankees agrees that there’s someone else much more at fault for the Mets’ woes.
“They have the richest single owner in baseball. The Dodgers are a consortium. This is Steve Cohen. He of the $22 billion fortune. And he handed the keys to the kingdom to David Stearns and said, work your magic, David,” Kay said on Friday’s episode of The Michael Kay Show.
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“David has not pulled a rabbit out of a hat,” he continued. “He has pulled a steaming sack of poop out of the hat. That’s the Met team that he’s put together. Every single decision that he has made other than Clay Holmes— tell me the ones that have been good. What am I missing? What am I missing?
“Every time he’s tried to spend Steve Cohen’s money, he’s gotten zoinked. He tried to spend Steve Cohen’s money on Edwin Diaz. Diaz elected to go to the Dodgers. And by the way, he got lucky, didn’t he? He got lucky because it ends up that Edwin Diaz got hurt.
“Then he tried to spend Steve Cohen’s money and bring in Kyle Tucker to the Mets. How would that have worked out? Kyle Tucker is being overwhelmed by Los Angeles. Can you imagine how overwhelmed he’d be by Flushing, New York? And again, he lucked out because Kyle Tucker is not worth $60 million a year, but David Stearns thought so.
“And the guy is so dead set about giving long-term contracts to pitchers, so he makes a trade for Freddy Peralta. Did he not know Freddy Peralta is a 5-inning pitcher? He gave the money to [Sean] Manaea. How’d that work out? Hasn’t been that good, has it? He gave that money to [Frankie] Montas. How did that work out? Not that good, has it?”
Kay doesn’t see a reason why Steve Cohen isn’t on the phone with former Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora to not only replace Mendoza but also usurp Stearns.
“Why isn’t Steve Cohen on the phone right now for Alex Cora?” asked Kay. “Give him whatever he wants and give him decision-making power over David Stearns. There’s no way a smart guy like Steve Cohen actually believes that David Stearns has done a good job. He’s done the opposite of a good job.
“He is a laughingstock. The Mets are a laughingstock.”
Kay did add at the end that Mets fans are “unbelievably great,” which may or may not prevent them from telling him to mind his own business on the matter.
About Sean Keeley
Along with writing for Awful Announcing and The Comeback, Sean is the Managing Editor for Comeback Media. Previously, he created the Syracuse blog Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician and wrote 'How To Grow An Orange: The Right Way to Brainwash Your Child Into Rooting for Syracuse.' He has also written non-Syracuse-related things for SB Nation, Curbed, and other outlets. He currently lives in Seattle where he is complaining about bagels. Send tips/comments/complaints to sean@thecomeback.com.