Just as the Mets wrapped up their season with a 3-0 loss to the Miami Marlins, officially missing out on the playoffs, the fallout was immediate. Steve Cohen wasted no time in dismantling the coaching staff. He parted ways with pitching coach Jeremy Hefner, hitting coaches Eric Chavez and Jeremy Barnes, and third base coach Mike Sarbaugh. While many New York veteran reports hinted that massive changes are incoming, few could’ve predicted the front office would go this far.

The Mets are likely to part ways with manager Carlos Mendoza if they suffer a slow start in 2026, per the New York Post.

That means things could get a little difficult for Mendoza moving forward.

For starters, he will have to rebuild the Mets’ coaching staff almost entirely from scratch. In fact, beyond hiring replacements, it’s about rebuilding trust and bringing back a sense of direction to a locker room.

Mendoza, too, realizes that it’s his responsibility.

“I’m responsible. Since Day 1, when you take this job, you are on the hot seat. When you are managing a team that has a lot of expectations and you go home, questions like this are going to come up, and that’s part of it.” He’s aware that his performance will fall under some serious scrutiny moving forward.

Mendoza has made quite a few questionable decisions, too.

He was largely called out by Mets Nation this season for pulling starters too early in games. But then again, it’s hard to blame him when his starters couldn’t go more than five innings.

All the while, his bullpen was unreliable. In fact, this Wednesday, the Mets’ already weak bullpen depth took another hit. The right-hander Reed Garrett underwent Tommy John surgery, which means he won’t be able to pitch again until 2027.

Now, we might as well say Mendoza only did so much with what he has at his disposal.

Mets to target this $56 million Marlins closer to overcome rotation collapse

The Mets are looking to make a big trade to fix their pitching woes.

Dan Bartels from the New York Post recently urged the Mets to bring in the following pitchers.

“The Mets should be all over Sandy Alcantara this winter. He’s making $17.3M in 2026 with a $21M club option for 2027. The Marlins have shown willingness to trade within the division in December when they dealt Jesús Luzardo to Philadelphia.” Bartels noted on X.

Marlins’ $56 million ace Sandy Alcantara is a two-time All-Star and the 2022 NL Cy Young Award winner. He showed that he was back to his old self after undergoing Tommy John surgery. He had posted an average ERA of 3.13 in his last 12 starts, which included seven games of seven innings or more.

The Marlins are said to have dangled him at the trade deadline, which shows that they are willing to trade the right-hander.

In return, the Mets could send their fourth-best prospect, right-handed pitcher Jonah Tong, and veteran infielder Jeff McNeil. This package would give Miami both a rising MLB-ready talent and a promising pitcher to rebuild the roster.

On the other hand, the Mets’ bullpen is not any better, and Edwin Diaz’s future is still up in the air.

The team needs to completely rebuild its relief corps, which makes it even more important for them to get Alcantara to stabilize their entire pitching system before 2026.