What is the story about?
Good morning.
- The Mets fired manager Carlos Mendoza. Former Padres manager Andy Green will take over on an interim basis for the rest of the season. And yes, getting swept by the Cubs was the last straw for management. Or maybe making six errors in one game against the Cubs was the final straw.
- Jake Mintz thinks that the firing of Mendoza had little to do with Mendoza.
- Will Sammon talks to Mets players anonymously and concludes that the problems with the Mets go far beyond Carlos Mendoza. (The Athletic sub. req.)
- Sammon also calls the firing the Mets’ “white flag” for 2026. (The Athletic sub. req.)
- Dayn Perry agrees and looks forward to what the Mets might do to right the ship in 2027.
- Jorge Castillo and David Schoenfield also look at what’s gone wrong in Queens and what the next steps are.
- Mark Feinsand gets the official line from the Mets front office that firing Mendoza and trading David Peterson are not signs that the Mets are approaching a fire sale for this year.
- Mr. Met seems happy Mendoza is gone.
- Gabe Lacques looks at the candidates to be the new Mets manager.
- Mike Axisa looks at candidates to be the new Mets manager.
- Will Sammon and Ken Rosenthal look at the candidates to be the new Mets manager.
- Another disappointing team also
found a scapegoatfired someone. The Angels fired general manager Perry Minasian after six disappointing years. Former Cardinals GM John Mozeliak will take over on an interim basis. - Molly Knight explains that Angels owner Arte Moreno fired Minasian because he can’t fire himself.
- Sam Blum writes that Minasian left a big mess to clean up. (The Athletic sub. req.)
- Dayn Perry and Mike Axisa look at what’s next for the Angels, including a possible trade of Mike Trout.
- So far, Giants team president and manager Tony Vitello have jobs. But Julian McWilliams examines how San Francisco’s season has gone south in a hurry.
- Mark Feinsand thinks that the Tigers could control the trade deadline.
- Thomas Harrington has ten intriguing trade candidates from teams that might not be selling.
- Orioles president Mike Elias insists that the Orioles will be buyers at the Trade Deadline.
- Russell Dorsey argues that the mediocre American League will control the Trade Deadline.
- Chandler Rome looks at the Astros approach to the Trade Deadline and if they’ll have to chose between pitchers and outfielders. (The Athletic sub. req.)
- Jordan Schusterman has eight draft prospects who stood out at the Draft Combine.
- Mike Axisa has yet another mock draft.
- David Schoenfield looks back some of the great draft debates in history and whether the teams make the right pick.
- Sarah Langs has ten wild stats from the past week.
- Jayson Stark has his weird and wild stuff from June. (The Athletic sub. req.)
- Mike Petriello looks at how Paul Goldschmidt is having a career renaissance this year.
- Ben Clemens writes that Tigers’ catcher Dillon Dingler is the new best catcher in baseball.
- A quick detour to softball, where the AUSL’s Jocelyn Erickson is a left-handed catcher.
- Paul Casella looks at Phillies sluggers Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper and the paths to 400 career home runs.
- Royals rookie Carter Jensen has a 19-game hitting streak, which is a team rookie record.
- Tyler Kepner profiles Cardinals catcher Riley O’Brien and how he’s building on the legacy of his grandfather and great-uncle (The Athletic sub. req.), both major league pitchers. His great-uncle is in Ball Four, which makes him a legend in my mind.
- Tom Hawthorn has a feature piece on the interesting 75-year history of Vancouver’s Nat Bailey Stadium.
- And finally, former White Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski met with Pope Leo XIV and gifted him the ball from Game 1 of the 2005 World Series that the Pope attended. The Pontiff was honored to receive the memorabilia, but he also mentioned he was at Game 2 as well but no one knew that because he wasn’t caught on camera.
