Baseball Wiretap

The New York Mets dismissed manager Carlos Mendoza on Friday with the club sitting at 34-47 and riding a six-game losing streak. Former San Diego Padres manager Andy Green will serve as interim manager for the remainder of the season.

Mendoza, 46, was in his third season with the club. The Mets declined to exercise a contract option for 2027.

"Carlos has led the organization with passion and grace and is beloved by everyone who works with him on a daily basis," said Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns. "Unfortunately, we know we are falling short and change is necessary to move forward."

Mendoza's tenure produced wildly inconsistent results. He guided the Mets to the National League Championship Series in 2024, rallying the club from one of the worst records in baseball in June to within two games of the World Series. His second season reversed course entirely, as the Mets owned the best record in baseball before collapsing over the final three and a half months and missing the postseason.

The current campaign has been equally dismal despite significant offseason investment. New York carries the second-most expensive roster in Major League Baseball, behind only the two-time defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers, yet ranks among the worst offensive teams in the league.

Stearns overhauled the roster extensively this past winter, acquiring Marcus Semien, Luis Robert Jr., Freddy Peralta and Tobias Myers via trade while signing Bo Bichette, Jorge Polanco, Devin Williams and Luke Weaver in free agency. The rebuild was constructed around cornerstones Juan Soto and Francisco Lindor.

Green, 48, joined the Mets organization in 2023 as senior vice president of baseball development. He previously managed San Diego from 2016 to 2019, posting a 274-366 record.

Major League Baseball has proposed capping free agent contracts at five years for players switching teams and six years for clubs retaining their own players under a new collective bargaining framework presented to the MLB Players Association on Thursday. The changes would take effect after the 2027 season.

The league's six-year retention provision, dubbed the Cornerstone Player Provision, mirrors the NBA's Bird Rights system, allowing teams to offer longer deals to keep their own free agents. Under the proposed salary cap structure, a free agent moving teams could sign for a maximum of five years and $202 million, while a team retaining its own player could offer six years at $265 million.

The league also proposed raising the minimum salary from $780,000 to $1 million in 2027 for players with at least two years of service time, the largest single-year minimum increase in MLB history. Players with fewer than two years of service would receive a $900,000 minimum plus an automatic $100,000 bonus from the Pre-Arbitration Bonus Pool upon completing a full season.

Additionally, MLB proposed allowing players who reach five years of service time by age 30 to become eligible for free agency, one year earlier than the current six-year threshold that has been in place since 1976. The league also proposed eliminating deferred contracts and the qualifying offer system.

The league has initially proposed a salary floor of $171.2 million and a ceiling of $245.3 million per team beginning in 2027.

The MLBPA pushed back sharply, rejecting both a hard salary cap and maximum contract lengths.

"These misleading offers are designed to look like 'improvements' but are of little or no value, given they are expressly conditioned on agreement to the league's cap system which eliminates the free market," the union said in a statement. "Owners' attempts to pit players against players are nothing new, but they've failed in the past and will fail again now."

MLB spokesperson Glen Caplin defended the proposals, saying the salary cap structure would level the playing field for small-market clubs and allow the league to share revenue with players on a 50-50 basis.

Bill DeWitt III was named chief executive officer of the St. Louis Cardinals on Wednesday after serving as team president since 2008.

The Cardinals also announced the promotion of Anuk Karunaratne to president of business operations as part of a restructuring following Chaim Bloom's appointment as president of baseball operations last September.

"In some ways, it's not that big of a change, as all of us up here have been working together closely for a couple years now," DeWitt III said. "But in formalizing these roles, we're just firming up the leadership structure that will lay the foundation for the next wave of organizational and team success."

The Chicago Cubs, desperate to bolster a starting rotation ravaged by injuries, agreed to acquire struggling New York Mets left-hander David Peterson in exchange for minor league infielder Cole Mathis on Wednesday night, sources told ESPN's Jeff Passan, hours after completing a doubleheader sweep of the Mets at Citi Field.

 Giants first baseman Rafael Devers apologized to manager Tony Vitello and said his actions at first base in the ninth inning of San Francisco's one-run loss to the Miami Marlins on Sunday are being "blown out of proportion."

Vitello backed his player, calling it a "nonissue."

After drawing a leadoff walk Sunday in Miami, Devers waved off pinch runner Jonah Cox and gestured angrily toward the dugout when the rookie came out. When first-base umpire Nate Tomlinson made the substitution official, Devers covered his face with his helmet and yelled into it. Upon reaching the dugout, he avoided a backslap from bench coach Jayce Tingler and headed directly for the clubhouse.

The Minnesota Twins have "no plans" to deal All-Star outfielder Byron Buxton, the team's general manager said on Tuesday, shutting down speculation the veteran could be moved.

"It's not something we're exploring. It's not something we plan to explore," Jeremy Zoll told reporters, according to MLB.com "We continue to have productive discussions with Byron. I think he was very clear on that point last week. But also just from my seat, from the Twins' perspective, that's not something that we plan to explore. Just wanted to hit that head on."

Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Kyle Tucker was removed from Monday's game against the Minnesota Twins in the second inning because of low back spasms.

Tucker walked with one out in the second and ran lightly to second base on Tommy Edman's single to right field. Then, Tucker was replaced by pinch runner Alex Call. Tucker stayed in the dugout, standing up next to dugout fence before heading into the clubhouse after the inning was over.

MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said in a letter to Republican Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri that the San Francisco Giants failed to properly explain to players that they were allowed to decline to wear rainbow-themed caps during the club's annual Pride Night earlier this month.

Several members of the Giants, including starting pitcher Landen Roupp, added Bible verses to the themed cap, prompting a warning from the league that writing on the caps is a violation of league policy.

The Marlins designated infielder Christopher Morel for assignment before their game against the San Francisco Giants on Sunday.

Expected to provide a power bat when he signed a $2 million, one-year contract in the offseason, Morel struggled with injuries and production in his short Miami stint. He was batting .162 and didn't have a home run in 22 games. Although on the active roster, Morel had not played since June 10.

"Chris is a real pro. He handled himself well through the difficult tenure here and wish him the best," Marlins manager Clayton McCullough said.

Justin Verlander will be sidelined for weeks with a left hamstring strain just days before the 43-year-old was set to return for the Detroit Tigers from a separate injury.

Verlander had been on the injured list since April with left hip inflammation and was scheduled to start Sunday before sustaining the hamstring injury during a bullpen session Wednesday.

"This is not a matter of days," said AJ Hinch. "It's a matter of weeks. We're going to need a full rehab process to get him back to throwing again. Obviously, frustrating news for him and for us, given the excitement that was building around his start on Sunday."

Verlander described the injury as sudden, cutting short a bullpen outing that had otherwise gone well.

"My hip actually feels fairly good," said Verlander, according to MLB.com. "All of a sudden, my hamstring was bugging me and I had to cut my bullpen short. Anytime I'm not able to get my work in, it means something's definitely off, so we decided to get it looked at, and there's a strain. Just really unfortunate, man. It just sucks. I don't know how else to say it."

The three-time Cy Young winner and 2011 American League MVP is the oldest active player in MLB. In his lone start this season, Verlander allowed five runs and six hits over 3⅔ innings in a loss at Arizona.

Detroit also placed outfielder Wenceel Perez on the injured list with facial fractures after he was struck by an exercise band that came unhooked during a postgame workout in Houston.