ARLINGTON — About three weeks ago, Andy Green called Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns. Green, the Mets’ interim manager, had succeeded Carlos Mendoza out of a sense of obligation to his employer, even though it contradicted his sense of obligation to his family. When Green’s three daughters were just teenagers, he told them he wouldn’t take another white-collar job until they graduated high school. But more than two months on the bench had altered Green’s perspective. Conversations with his family had opened doors that he assumed were closed. During and after a difficult trade deadline, Green realized how much he enjoyed guiding players through what he called “difficult chapters” of their careers. “I started to think that if I have that much passion for the hard times,” Green said, “I’ll be looking forward to the good times.” With all that as a backdrop, the Mets on Tuesday removed Green’s interim title bill, signing him to a three-year contract as their full-time manager. Green’s new deal runs through the 2029 season. “Bottom line,” Stearns said, “I think Andy is the perfect person for this job.” After reluctantly taking over Mendoza’s job in June, Green guided the Mets to a 37-38 record as interim manager, achieving relative success despite a widespread selloff at the trade deadline. Many of Green’s accomplishments revolved around young players such as Carson Benge, AJ Ewing, Nolan McLean and Zac Thornton, whom Green, in his previous role as vice president of baseball development, oversaw from draft day to their major league debut. “That familiarity is helpful,” Stearns said, adding, “It has to be the right voice, and I think we have the right voice with Andy.” It’s a layer of continuity that Green brings to the Mets. Another is the fact that the Mets no longer need to conduct a search for their manager, but instead rely on the one they have internally. The main pillars of the organization will remain intact. Although Stearns and his office had begun conducting due diligence on the availability of external candidates, they will now dedicate October to other matters. Green, 49, joined the Mets to lead their farm system after the 2023 season. He previously managed in San Diego from 2016 to 2019, but the Padres fired him after he produced a 274-366 (.428) record. That experience, combined with his work in player development, altered the way Green communicates with players. Although he has always strived to be honest in his interactions, Green leaned on a tougher, more loving approach early in his career. Now, he believes he has struck a better balance between challenging players while making clear his confidence in them. “There’s confidence in him, honesty in him,” third baseman Bo Bichette said. “I think overall he’s a great leader that everyone in the clubhouse respects.” “He can be a guy that fits in,” shortstop Francisco Lindor added, “and he can also be a guy that stands out.” Despite the opinions of Stearns, Cohen and several players, Green would not have agreed to return full-time to the dugout unless his family approved the decision. For weeks after Green accepted the interim title, Mets officials assumed he would return to a management role after the season, if not to his player development position, then perhaps to a general manager role under Stearns. But conversations with his wife and daughters changed that mindset. The eldest of those daughters, who is in college, was so enthusiastic that she edited Green’s contributions into a news release the Mets issued Tuesday. The two youngest daughters, twin high school seniors, also approved of the decision. Green will miss a game or two next season to attend graduation. “Watching them go from 13-year-olds who thought of themselves first to almost 18-year-olds who think about what makes dad happy and want him to do what he’s passionate about… it’s been really cool to watch them grow,” Green said. “And it’s been amazing that they were not only okay with it, but encouraged me to do it too if the opportunity presented itself.” Unaware that all of these conversations were taking place, Stearns said that when Green finally called him to express his interest in the full-time job, “my head was spinning a little.” Less than a month of deliberation was all Stearns needed to recommend Green to team owners Steve and Alex Cohen, who approved the hire. “Andy has connected and pushed our players to perform, despite the disappointment of the season,” the Cohens said in a statement. “Over the last few months, he has brought discipline, responsibility and positivity to the clubhouse, attributes we were looking for in our next coach.” From the Mets front office’s perspective, signing Green was the easy part. The difficult part will be translating the team’s relative success during the second half of this season into something more permanent. So far, Green’s Mets have benefited from a lack of expectations, given the trade deadline clearance and the fact that they were already out of the playoff race when he took over. Next year will bring new pressures and higher expectations. It will be up to Green to manage all of that. “That’s why I was so hungry to get this announcement out of the way and move forward,” Green said, “so we can have meetings with the players and talk to them individually about, ‘Where’s your next journey? Where’s your next step? How can you get back to your best level of greatness?’ And then trying to establish an offseason where we’re all collectively pushing in that direction. “So, for me, there is a lot of work ahead.”
