Last year, the New York Mets decided to fire their coaching staff just after they failed to secure a postseason berth. While the manager, Carlos Mendoza, saved his job, enough overhauls were made. Pitching coach Jeremy Hefner, hitting coaches Eric Chavez and Jeremy Barnes, and third base coach Mike Sarbaugh were all dismissed.

However, despite the Mets rebuilding their coaching panel in 2026 and bolstering a rather expensive roster, a 34-47 start couldn’t save Mendoza as well. And now, Chavez has come forward to share some uneasy Mets clubhouse secrets.

“So Stearns decides to fire Mendoza. Why not the whole staff? He’s already used that bullet in the chamber. He’s running out of bullets. This was inevitable. This was the next step. But Carlos wasn’t a problem,” Mets2026 shared Chavez’s TikTok video. “I’ve said it before, none of the moves that he has made or have made have worked out. Carlos wasn’t a problem.”

The news broke Friday morning that the Mets have fired Mendoza after two and a half years with the club. The way the team has performed, though, his firing was inevitable. For the final few months, Senior Vice President for Player Development Andy Green will be the team’s interim skipper. But according to Chavez, it wasn’t Mendoza’s fault to begin with.

While Mendoza can escape responsibilities for the Mets’ woes, managers have limited say in the team’s offseason decisions. In New York, Stearns decided to dismantle its core and rebuild from the ground up. The result so far has been terrible.

They let go of Pete Alonso, who is currently hitting .252 and has 18 HRs with the Baltimore Orioles. Instead, Stearns signed Jorge Polanco, who has been in the IL since April and could only score one homer at .179.

Same with Brandon Nimmo, who is putting up good numbers with other clubs, while the Mets’ 2026 additions like Marcus Semien and Bo Bichette have yet to offer their best. There’s nothing Mendoza could have done in this case.

Now, Stearns has no one left to fire if the Mets continue to travel south.

Last year, after Chavez was fired as part of the Mets’ overhaul, he opened up about the difficulty in working with multiple voices in the clubhouse. The Mets had Chavez and Barnes as the two hitting coaches last year, and as per Chavez, the players had difficulty taking directions from both. While he confirmed that he had no issues with Barnes, he will no longer work such in the future.

“You cannot have two co-hitting coaches, two voices. Ultimately, one person needs to have the voice. Jeremy and I made it work. We had a good working relationship, but it definitely was not ideal,” Chavez said back then.

However, Chavez has since then stayed critical of the Mets president.

Last December, one fan asked Chavez, “Do you think Stearns is [in] over his head in managing a big market team as I do?” “Yes, I do,” Chavez replied, hinting at a rough offseason.

Since Stearns took over as the Mets’ president in 2023, the Mets have secured a 157-170 (.480 winning percentage) record so far. Advancing to the NLCS in 2024 is the best mark for Stearns. So, next time, if the Mets’ woes continue and a call for a front office overhaul rises, Cohen might keep David Stearns in front of the firing squad.

Before joining the Mets, Mendoza was with the Yankees’ minor league organizations, securing a 200-165 record. So, maybe Mendoza couldn’t be blamed solely for the Mets’ debacle, and Chavez wonders who will be the next to take the blame.