Earlier today, Andy Green officially became the 25th manager in Mets history (26th if you count Carlos Beltrán’s ill-fated tenure) after the team fired Carlos Mendoza. We did learn via David Stearns’ press conference that Green will strictly serve as an interim manager and will return to his previous role of Senior Vice President for Player Development, which he’s held since 2024, when the season concludes.
Andrew Mulligan Green is not really a household name around these parts, though he’s hardly
new to the Mets. Green was born in Lexington, Kentucky on July 7, 1977 (7-7-77, for those of you who love numbers) and is a former major league infielder who played parts of four seasons with the Diamondbacks and the Mets. He was picked in the 24th round of the 2000 MLB draft and ended up having a great minor league career, earning the Pacific Coast League MVP award in 2005. That success did not translate at the major league level with the Diamondbacks, as he hit .199/.280/.265 in 136 games from 2004-2006. During his time, he played a little bit of second, short, third, and even got some chances in the outfield.
After his stint with Arizona, he bounced around from Japan in 2007 with the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters to the Reds’ farm system in 2008. He briefly re-emerged in 2009, playing four games with the Mets and picking up one hit in four at-bats. The hit was enough to get his career batting average over .200 and give him one more hit as a Met than Jed Lowrie. He was invited to spring training in 2010 but was ultimately released by the Mets.
From there, he spent a lot of time in the dugout, managing the Missoula Osprey to the Pioneer League Championship in 2012, and leading the Mobile BayBears to first and second half division titles, which led to him being named the Southern League’s Manager of the Year in 2013. He served as the Diamondbacks’ third base coach in 2015, and used that to catapult himself to the managerial ranks in 2016 for the Padres. His tenure came during a rough patch for the Padres, who had averaged 74.8 wins between 2011 and 2015 and had not had made the playoffs since 2006.
He unfortunately failed to lead the Padres to glory, finishing with a 274-366 record as their manager. The club went 68-94 under his leadership in 2016, 71-91 in 2017, and 66-96 in 2018. Halfway through the 2017 season, he was extended through 2021, but he was ultimately fired in September 2019 with the team owning a 69–85 at the time of his dismissal. He joined the Cubs as a bench coach, where he stayed under manager David Ross until Craig Counsell was hired brought in his own staff.
Since leaving the dugout, a move he said during today’s press conference he made intentionally to give him more time to spend with his family, he has entered the front office to serve as David Stearns’ Senior Vice President for Player Development. In this role, he oversees the club’s farm system and minor league operations. As Stearns made abundantly clear, this is a temporary role, and Green will ultimately go back to the front office following the season. Green also made it clear during his introductory press conference that he will not be handling anything related to his old job while he is managing.
The Andy Green era, which will last exactly 81 games barring anything unforeseen, begins tonight, with the Mets taking on the Phillies to begin a three-game series at Citi Field.
