Carlos Mendoza laughs off question about reported reason for Mets' clubhouse issues during 2025 season

Alleged clubhouse issues that impacted the New York Mets during their brutal collapse last season have generated articles and local sports-talk radio discussions throughout the winter and the early days of spring training. 

One report from December claimed that Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor and then-Mets outfielder Brandon Nimmo may have had a chilly relationship due to differences in political ideologies. During a Tuesday interview on New York sports radio station WFAN, Mets manager Carlos Mendoza laughed off the notion that politics had something to do with why his club went from 45-24 to missing the playoffs in 2025. 

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"That's a first for me about politics," Mendoza told host Craig Carton. "I got to laugh. I've been pretty consistent with the messaging. It's not that the guys didn't get along. We just didn't win games on the baseball field. ...When you don't start winning as many games, it's hard. I think the biggest thing is, we didn't have fun." 

Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns traded Nimmo, a homegrown talent who had played only for the Amazins since 2016, to the Texas Rangers for second baseman Marcus Semien in November. Stearns also parted ways with closer Edwin Diaz, first baseman Pete Alonso and utility man Jeff McNeil in different ways this offseason. 

Earlier this week, star outfielder Juan Soto interestingly said that whatever clubhouse problems impacted the Mets last season are now "in the past." Lindor later suggested that not all the guys previously on the roster were "best friends." 

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"We just need to play good baseball," Mendoza added during the segment. "It became a clubhouse where, you know, when you're not winning, especially in New York...I think the mentality was, 'We're going to be fine, we're going to be fine.' Until, you know, we came up short. But it was very professional. Guys respected each other, and we all had the same goal. We just, you know, fell short." 

Along with Semien, third baseman Bo Bichette, first baseman Jorge Polanco, center fielder Luis Robert Jr. and ace Freddy Peralta are among the new faces in the Mets clubhouse this February. If nothing else, it will be interesting to see what is and/or isn't said about the chemistry inside the Mets clubhouse over the next handful of months.