WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT NEW METS INTERIM MANAGER AFTER CARLOS MENDOZA'S FIRING

Mar 30, 2026; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; New York Mets manager Carlos Mendoza (64) looks on before a game against the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images

Fans of the New York Mets can exhale now that Carlos Mendoza has been let go.

But who is the Mets’ new manager, and what is New York getting in interim manager Andy Green?

Green, the former Mets player who has been a coach since 2012, is taking over for Mendoza, who was fired Friday after the Mets went 34-47 in their first 81 games.

Mets fans of a certain age will remember Green from his one-season tenure in Queens (2009) or his three seasons as a player for the Arizona Diamondbacks. Or you may recall his three-plus years as the manager of the San Diego Padres.

Andy Green Played for the Mets and Managed the Padres

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New Mets interim manager Andy Green finished his playing career with the Mets and managed the San Diego Padres for four seasons between 2016-19.

Green came up in the D-backs system as a scrappy 5-9, 165-pound infielder who was chosen in the 24th round of the 2000 MLB Draft — a round that doesn’t even exist anymore.

So you can bet Green will want to push the Mets to be scrappier, hungrier and more intense over the second half of this season.

The Mets will be Green’s second role as a major-league manager. He spent three-plus seasons managing the Padres (2016-19) and finished with a .428 win% before he was fired with one week remaining in the 2019 season, posting a 69-85 record before being let go in September.

The Padres then made the playoffs in the COVID-19-shortened 2020 season, going 37-23.

Green only played 140 big-league games and finished his big-league career with a .547 OPS and two home runs. His attitude was enough to earn a job in the D-backs system as the manager in Missoula of the Pioneer League.

He won the title there in 2012 then was named Southern League manager of the year in 2013 and 2014 before being promoted to D-backs third base coach.

The Mets’ Manager Search is Officially on

Getty
Alex Cora is likely to be high on the list of candidates for the Mets’ manager role.

The Mets may have put Andy Green in place to ride out the rest of the season, but you can bet they will leave no stone unturned in their pursuit of their next manager.

Mendoza was well-thought-of candidate from the New York Yankees organization that pushed all the right buttons in 2024, when they went to the NLCS. But owner Steve Cohen has already flexed his financial might in signing Juan Soto and luring David Stearns from the Milwaukee Brewers.

You can be sure he’ll do the same when finding his next manager.

So Alex Cora immediately comes to mind as the top candidate for the Mets job. He, of course, was fired by the Boston Red Sox in April then turned down the Philadelphia Phillies role, which ultimately went to former-Yankees great and 2020 NL manager of the year Don Mattingly.

Cora could again be a candidate for the Phillies role, which makes it imperative that the Mets at least bring him in for an interview — especially with the Phillies playing well under Mattingly.

Cora, of course, won the World Series in Boston in 2018 and boasts a .534 win% over his 1,161-game tenure as a manager. Other candidates will arise, including Mattingly if he is not retained by the Phillies.

But Cora has to be the first option for the Mets.

- Pat Pickens

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WIFE OF LATE PADRES OWNER PETER SEIDLER SUES FOR CONTROL OF TEAM

Manny Machado and Sheel Seidler

Sheel Seidler, the widow of late San Diego Padres chairman Peter Seidler, sued two of his brothers Monday in an attempt to become the team's control person.

In a complaint filed in Texas probate court, Sheel Seidler claims she and her three children have been "effectively ostracized" from the organization since Peter Seidler's death 14 months ago. The suit names Robert and Matthew Seidler as defendants, accusing the brothers of "fiduciary breaches of trust, fraud, conversion and egregious acts of self-dealing" in their roles as trustees and executors of Peter Seidler's estate.

The Padres announced Dec. 21 that Peter's oldest brother, John Seidler, would become the team's control person, which Sheel opposed and claims went against her late husband's wishes. 

In a statement, Sheel called her complaint "a very last resort" to "protect my family and to continue to carry out Peter's legacy."

"[A]s the holder of the largest individual ownership stake in the San Diego Padres, and the sole beneficiary of the Seidler Trusts, which possesses exclusive rights with respect to control of the franchise, I am seeking to be named the control person for the Padres," Sheel Seidler wrote as part of her statement.

A spokesperson for the Padres declined to comment, citing the team's stance regarding pending legal matters. Representatives for Robert and Matthew Seidler could not immediately be reached for comment. A Major League Baseball official also declined comment.

Peter Seidler, a two-time cancer survivor, died from complications of an infection on Nov. 14, 2023, leaving behind Sheel and their children, now ages 4, 9 and 11. Eric Kutsenda, a longtime friend and business partner, was named interim control person before essentially turning responsibilities over to John Seidler 13 months later.

Sheel Seidler's complaint claims assurances from Peter's brothers that they would act for the benefit of Sheel and the children have "shown to be hollow" in the wake of his death.

Matthew and Robert Seidler "not only disregarded the clear terms and purpose of the will and trust instrument that Peter created, but they also have intentionally schemed to take for themselves the estate and Seidler trusts' value rights and assets," the complaint states. "They have done so by misleading Sheel, engaging in conflicted transactions and egregious acts of self-dealing, and when Sheel began expressing concern and questioning their actions, they responded by demeaning and attempting to intimidate her -- including by using trust assets to pay lawyers to threaten her into submission and silence."

"They are trying to erase Peter's vision and legacy," another part of the complaint reads, "as well as falsely cast themselves as Peter's true heirs."

Under Peter Seidler, the Padres became a financial juggernaut, signing and retaining stars and placing themselves alongside big spenders such as the New York Yankees and the Los Angeles Dodgers. Fans rallied around the team, setting attendance records at Petco Park.

Peter Seidler, grandson of prominent former Dodgers owner Walter O'Malley, was part of a group that purchased the Padres in 2012 and assumed the role as chairman eight years later, becoming the organization's largest stakeholder. The pinnacle of Peter's ownership tenure arrived in October 2022 when the Padres defeated the rival Dodgers -- once deemed by Peter as "the dragon up the freeway that we're trying to slay" -- in the National League Division Series, before being eliminated the following round.

In the first offseason after Seidler's death, the Padres, who by that point had lost their local media contract through Diamond Sports Group's bankruptcy proceedings, decreased payroll by about one-third.Padres general manager A.J. Preller nonetheless fielded a competitive team in 2024 that won 93 games, made the playoffs for the third time in five years and almost defeated the Dodgers in the NLDS once again.

Seidler often expressed his hope to bring San Diego, a city that lost its NFL team, its first championship. Sheel Seidler believes she is the person to help bring that dream to fruition.

"While the children and I feel Peter's absence every day, our collective devotion to this team is stronger than ever," Sheel Seidler wrote. "Peter and I always planned, one day, to leave the team to the children. That remains my steadfast commitment. In the meantime, it is my intention to build upon the many recent successes, investing in both the short-term and long-term future of the franchise, and ensuring our dream of multiple championships is fulfilled.

"John Seidler's appointment as control person is still pending the approval of three-quarters of MLB's owners. A vote hasn't been scheduled but could take place as early as the upcoming owners meetings in February.

Sheel Seidler's complaint alleges that she and her three children are not welcomed at the ownership suite during games and that Robert and Matthew Seidler have gone as far as to "inform Padres employees that Sheel is not an owner of the team, and that her presence and input are not welcome in interacting with free agents and current players.

"Sheel Seidler also claims to have been excluded from charitable events meant to mark Peter Seidler's legacy.

The complaint includes what is said to be a handwritten note from Peter Seidler listing the priorities for control person in the event of his death, with Sheel and the children at the top.

Sheel Seidler and the children own approximately one-quarter of the Padres, fulfilling MLB's requirement of at least a 15% stake to qualify as a control person. But Matthew and Robert Seidler have "frozen Sheel out," according to the complaint, and "deprived her of the benefits of being the largest beneficial owner of the baseball team, while themselves enjoying the benefits."

- ALDEN GONZALEZ ESPN

PADRES FINISH OFF BRAVES IN NL WILD CARD; DODGERS AWAIT IN NLDS

 SAN DIEGO -- The latest stop of the San Diego Padres' redemption tour led them into a layer of champagne and beer Wednesday night, after they dispatched the Atlanta Braves with a 5-4 win to complete a two-game sweep in their NL Wild Card Series.

The floor of the Padres' clubhouse was covered in a sheen of alcohol, and underneath a thump of salsa music, Luis Arraez stood amid a circle of teammates and danced. When he was finished, Fernando Tatis Jr. stepped in and took a turn, and they kept it going like this for a while.

A year ago, the Padres were regarded as the most disappointing team in baseball, a working model of clubhouse dysfunction. Now, after a makeover of culture and personnel, they will face the Dodgers, baseball's No. 1 seed in this postseason. That best-of-five series will start in Los Angeles, and between the massive Dodger Stadium crowds and the parties that the Padres engender at Petco Park, it could draw a quarter-million fans in person and many millions in the broadcasts.

"We fought tooth and nail to get to the end of the season, for the division. But now we're in the part of the season where winner moves on and we wouldn't want it any other way," Padres manager Mike Shildt said. "It's going to be a wonderful series. We're super excited about it. Can't wait."

Right after the San Diego players sprawled on the mound here for a team picture, third baseman Manny Machado said, "This is what everybody wanted."

Maybe not everybody. It's hard to imagine that anyone would openly wish for a series against the Padres, who have played better than just about any team since the All-Star break: 45 wins and 19 losses, including the two games against the Braves, a 113-win pace since the middle of July. Their lineup is deep, their rotation is deep and talented -- although there is concern about Joe Musgrove, who had to depart the game Wednesday with elbow trouble -- and their bullpen is as good as any, following the in-season additions of Tanner Scott, Jason Adam and others.

The Padres ambushed the Braves' Max Fried, who was making what might turn out to be his last appearance in an Atlanta uniform. Tatis Jr. smashed a 99.8 mph line drive back to the mound, with the ball smashing into Fried's backside and ricocheting away. Fried grimaced, and after a visit from manager Brian Snitker and an athletic trainer, he decided to continue. He then struck out Machado to help him pitch out of a bases-loaded jam.

But in the aftermath of Tatis' line drive, Fried would tell reporters later his bruised buttocks tightened, and in the second inning, Fried's command vanished. With two outs, Kyle Higashioka hit a solo homer, his second in two days, and after three consecutive singles, the bases were loaded for Machado again.

As Machado watched this rally build, he kept telling teammates in the dugout to give him another chance, to get him another opportunity -- and when Fried left a slider over the plate, Machado blistered it into the left field corner for two runs. Merrill followed with a two-run triple, and it was 5-1 San Diego.

"That's a band of brothers right there," Merrill said. "First inning, we get bases loaded, no outs and we don't score. But we don't look back, we move forward. Six straight two-out hits! I don't think that happens very often. That's what you call a band of brothers, just working together trying to pack on the runs."

Said Higashioka: "This team's always shown the ability to be resilient and never quit. That's a credit to all the guys. Just putting together good at-bats no matter what."

For the Braves, who have been hammered all year by injuries and have been without Ronald Acuna Jr. for most of the season and without Austin Riley in recent weeks, this was a mountainous deficit. Fried was finished, and this game mirrored the Braves' season in how it was defined by injury.

The Braves plated a few more runs, but lacking lineup firepower -- after leading the majors in runs last year, they finished 15th this season -- they would fall short. Travis d'Arnaud popped out to end the game, and the Padres rushed to the middle of the field.

Later, before the San Diego players flooded their clubhouse with champagne, Shildt and others spoke loudly about how this was just the first step, that they needed 11 more wins in this postseason.

Just before that, Machado had talked during and after the game about how this is a team that fights and pushes, which was not something that was said about the 2023 Padres, a star-laden club that just fell flat. Manager Bob Melvin left the Padres right after the regular season, jumping to the Giants. Juan Soto was traded to the New York Yankees in return for a clan of pitching and Higashioka. Shildt, who had been fired by the St. Louis Cardinals after the 2021 season and was uncertain about whether he would get another chance, was hired -- and shortly thereafter, a conversation began between the new manager, staffers and players about how to make the work experience better for all of them.

As infielder Jake Cronenworth described it, the players wanted to get back to caring about each game, each bit of result and, perhaps most important, to get back to having fun. Shildt wanted the players to enjoy coming to work each day, and some adjustments were made with the schedule.

"I'm pleased with the way our guys are going about this postseason," Shildt said after Wednesday's game. "You're just playing baseball, man. They're not making it any bigger than it is. They're just going out and playing and balling out."

Along the way, Merrill emerged as the center fielder, at age 20. "A superstar," Cronenworth said. "A freak."

General manager A.J. Preller, long known for his aggressiveness, landed Dylan Cease from the White Sox in a spring training trade, and made the first big deal of the regular season, swapping for batting champion Arraez, who reinforced the team's newfound dedication to making more contact and striking out less in their spacious park. Coach Victor Rodriguez termed it Petco Park hitting.

And at the deadline, Preller made more deals to stack the Padres' bullpen. On Wednesday morning, a rival executive talked about filing a vote for Preller as executive of the year.

The pool of champagne and beer had already started to grow by the time Preller walked into the room. Shildt saw him, pulled his boss into a bear hug with his right hand and emptied a bottle over Preller's head with his left hand, laughing.

- Buster Olney, ESPN Senior Writer

MLB BANS TUCUPITA MARCANO FOR LIFE OF BETTING ON BASEBALL ⚾, FOUR OTHERS GET ONE-YEAR SUSPENSION

AP

 NEW YORK (AP) — San Diego Padres infielder Tucupita Marcano was banned from baseball for life for betting on the sport and four others were suspended for one year by Major League Baseball on Tuesday in the game’s biggest gambling scandal in decades.

MLB said Marcano placed 387 baseball bets totaling more than $150,000 in October 2022 and from last July through November with a legal sportsbook. He became the first active player in a century banned for life because of gambling.

Oakland Athletics pitcher Michael Kelly was suspended for one year for betting on baseball while in the minor leagues and three minor leaguers also were banned for one year for betting on big league games: pitchers Jay Groome of San Diego and Andrew Saalfrank of Arizona, and infielder José Rodríguez of Philadelphia. Each of those four players wagered under $1,000. Saalfrank and Rodríguez played previously in the majors.

“The strict enforcement of Major League Baseball’s rules and policies governing gambling conduct is a critical component of upholding our most important priority: protecting the integrity of our games for the fans,” baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement. “The longstanding prohibition against betting on Major League Baseball games by those in the sport has been a bedrock principle for over a century. We have been clear that the privilege of playing in baseball comes with a responsibility to refrain from engaging in certain types of behavior that are legal for other people.”

Marcano is the first active major leaguer banned for life under the sport's gambling provision since New York Giants outfielder Jimmy O'Connell in 1924. Pete Rose, baseball's career hits leader, agreed to a lifetime ban in 1989 after an investigation concluded he bet on Cincinnati Reds games while managing the team.

Major League Rule 21, posted in every clubhouse, states betting on any baseball game in which a player, umpire, league official or team employee has no duty to perform results in a one-year suspension. Betting on a game in which the person has a duty to perform results in a lifetime ban.

Marcano became the second North American athlete banned for gambling in recent months. The NBA gave Toronto's Jontay Porter a lifetime ban in April after concluding he disclosed confidential information to bettors and wagered on games, including on the Raptors to lose.

MLB said it was tipped off in March about the betting activity by a legal sports betting operator. None of the players punished played in any games on which they wagered, and all players denied to MLB they had inside information relevant to their bets or the games they gambled on – testimonies that MLB says align with the data received from the sportsbook.

In its announcement, MLB detailed the bets alleged for each player,

Marcano’s 387 baseball bets included international games and 231 MLB-related wagers for $87,319 between Oct. 16, 2022, and last Nov. 1. Twenty-five of those bets included wagers on Pirates games while he was on the team’s major league roster. Now 24, Marcano, has not played since tearing his right ACL last July 24 and was receiving medical treatment at PNC Park last year.

Marcano bet almost exclusively on the outcomes of games and lost all of his parlay bets involving the Pirates, winning just 4.3% of all of his MLB-related bets.

Marcano made his major league debut on April 1, 2021, and has a .217 average with five homers, 34 RBIs and seven stolen bases in 149 games. He has played in both the infield and outfield.

“While the thorough investigation revealed no evidence of any games being compromised, influenced or manipulated in any way in this case, protecting the integrity of our game is paramount,” the Pirates said in a statement.

The other four players did not bet on games involving their assigned teams.

Kelly placed 10 bets on nine major league games from Oct. 5-17, 2021, while a minor league player assigned to Houston's Triple-A Sugar Land farm team. The bets included wagers on outcomes, over/under on runs and an individual pitcher’s strikeout total. Three of the nine games involved the major league Astros. His wagers totaled $99.22 and resulted in $28.30 of winnings.

Kelly, 31, was 3-2 with a 2.59 ERA in 28 games this season, last pitching on Saturday at Atlanta. The former first-round draft pick appeared in 46 games over the past three seasons.

Groome, a 25-year-old who had been on a minor league injured list since mid-April, placed 32 MLB-related bets from July 22, 2020, through July 24, 2021, including 24 on the Boston Red Sox major league team while he was assigned to Boston's High-A team in Greenville, South Carolina. The sport detailed he wagered $453.74 on 30 MLB games and had a net loss of $433.54, receiving payouts on only two wagers. His betting included parlays.

Rodríguez, 23, has been at Double-A Reading this season. He placed 31 bets on baseball on Sept. 30, 2021, and from June 5 through July 30 in 2022, including 28 on MLB and three on college baseball. The total included seven involving the Chicago White Sox at the time he was assigned to their Double-A team in Birmingham, Alabama. Two of the White Sox bets involved outcomes and the others were on runs scored. He bet $749.09 on baseball, of which $724.09 was on MLB-related bets that included parlays.

Saalfrank, 26, pitched in 21 games for Arizona last year between the regular season and postseason, including three World Series games, and two this year before he was optioned to Triple-A Reno on May 1. He placed 29 baseball bets from Sept. 9 through Oct. 29 in 2021 and on March 9, 2022, including 28 on MLB and one parlay on college baseball. He placed four bets on the big league Diamondbacks while on the injured list of their Low A farm team. His baseball bets totaled $445.87 on baseball, including $444.07 on MLB, and lost $272.64 on MLB bets and $1.80 on the college wager. He won just five of 28 MLB bets, which included outcomes, runs and pitcher strikeouts.

- RONALD BLUM

BASRBALL SUPERSTAR SHOHEI OHTANI AND HIS WIFE ARRIVE IN SOUTH KOREA 🇰🇷 FOR DODGERS-PADRE OPEBER

AP Photo 

 SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Shohei Ohtani and his wife arrived in South Korea with his Los Angeles Dodgers teammates on Friday ahead of their season-opening games with the San Diego Padres next week.

Ohtani, wearing a black training suit and a cap backwards, was the first Dodgers player who showed up at the arrival gate of Incheon international airport, west of Seoul. His wife, Mamiko Tanaka, walked several steps behind him.

As a crowd of fans, many wearing Dodgers jerseys, shouted his name and cheering slogans, Ohtani briefly waved his hand and Tanaka smiled, but neither said anything before they took a limousine bus. Fans held placards that read like “GOATANI (Greatest Of All Time is Ohtani) GO" and “Baseball genius Ohtani.”

Before departing for South Korea, Ohtani, a two-way Japanese phenomenon, revealed the identify of his wife by posting a photo of him and Tanaka, an ex-professional basketball player, on his Instagram account. Japanese media had already speculated that Ohtani’s wife was likely Tanaka.

METS HIT WITH RECORD $101M LUXURY TAX

Steve Cohen. USA TODAY Sports 

With the league's highest ever tax payroll, the New York Mets top the list of an unprecedented eight Major League Baseball teams that owe a luxury tax for the 2023 season, according to multiple reports.

Owner Steve Cohen's Mets owe a record luxury tax of almost $101 million, according to numbers finalized by MLB this week and obtained by the Associated Press. The Mets' $374.7 million tax payroll tops the previous high of $291.1 million by the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2015.

The money spent didn't help the Mets, who finished at 75-87 and in fourth place in the National League East.

It would have been even worse for the Mets if not for their selling bonanza over the summer, trading Max Scherzer, Justin Verlander, David Robertson and Mark Canha. Those moves reportedly saved the team $18 million and prevented them from jumping past the next tax threshold and owing an even higher luxury tax.

OHTANI BECOMES THE FIRST JAPANESE PLAYER TO HAVE TOP-SRLLING MLB JERSEY

Reuters 

Los Angeles Angels two-way standout Shohei Ohtani had the top-selling jersey in Major League Baseball this season, marking the first time a Japanese player topped the list, according to data released by the league and MLB Players Association on Friday.

Ohtani, who is considered a favourite to be named the American League's most valuable player for the second time in three years, appeared in the top 10 after two prior seasons (2018 and 2021) but until now had never headlined the list.

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