The Mets’ season may have gone off the rails months ago, but in the wreckage, a young core kept flashing enough promise to change the conversation around the club’s future. Now the manager who helped nurture that group is sticking around to see where it goes.
On Tuesday, the Mets removed the interim tag from Andy Green and gave him a three-year deal, a move that ties the team’s next phase to the same voice that guided several of its emerging players through the minors and into the majors. That group includes rookies Carson Benge, A.J. Ewing, Nolan McLean and Zac Thornton, along with Christian Scott, and Green’s promotion means their path forward will continue with the same steady hand that has already been in their corner.
President of baseball operations David Stearns made clear why the organization wanted that continuity.
“Andy brings an ability to connect to the organization in ways that very few people could,” Stearns said Tuesday. “He allows us to connect front office to dugout.
He allows us to connect minor leagues to major leagues. And he provides us a level of continuity that we need right now and a level of stability and belief for our entire organization.”
Green took over when the Mets were 13 games under .500 at the halfway point and the club decided to move on from Carlos Mendoza. Since then, he has steered them through the trade deadline selloff and into a 39-39 record after Thursday’s 3-1 loss to the Rangers in Arlington, Texas.
The more important story, though, has been the way the young players have responded under him.
Benge was 1% better than average in wRC+ when Green took over and has been 27% better since, entering play Thursday. Ewing went from 8% better than average to 18% better.
On the pitching side, McLean’s ERA dropped from 4.03 before the change to 2.27 after it. Scott has held opponents to a .216 average after they hit .236 against him before.
Thornton, who allowed two runs in five innings in Thursday’s loss, made his second start of the season the day Mendoza was fired and is 5-5 with a 3.15 ERA in his 14 starts since.
That development matters even more in the context of what owner Steve Cohen said when he bought the team: building a sustainable winner. The Mets have leaned into the draft to do that, and four of the five young names in this group were selected in 2023 and 2024, with Scott coming in 2021.
Stearns said Green has been there for the whole arc.
“Andy has seen all of these younger players from the outset of their professional careers, through inevitable struggles in their developmental arc [and] to ultimately getting . . . to the big leagues,” Stearns said. “Then, in certain cases, was able to help guide them through the inevitable bumps of . . . an initial major league season.”
Green said that kind of history matters.
“I'm thankful for that history,” Green said. “That's not necessary to build a winning culture.
It is an advantage and something we're capable of using and have used with these guys. I was a young player in the big leagues wondering if the big league manager believed in me.
Zac Thornton's never had to worry about that for a day since he's been here. . . . I think that has value and I'm glad to have been able to bring that value [from] what I did the last few years.”
That approach has resonated beyond the rookies, too. Veterans in Texas had praise for the way Green handles the room.
“He’s very honest but also very encouraging - that’s a good mix,” Bo Bichette told reporters in Texas on Tuesday. “All you want from a person is honesty . . . but you combine that with knowing he wants the best from you and sees the best in you.”
“He communicates it in a way that you know you react to well,” Marcus Semien said. “You want to work as hard as you can for that guy.”
Green said his thinking has changed since his time managing in San Diego from 2016 through 2019. He said then that he leaned on honesty and challenge, but not enough on belief. Over time, including four seasons as bench coach for David Ross with the Cubs, that part of his style developed.
Now, with a young Mets group still taking shape, it’s become part of the job description. Green summed up his outlook simply: “The greatest joy you'll have in life is if you give your life to elevating everyone else around you.”
For the Mets, that could be a useful formula for what comes next.
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