The New York Mets removed bench coach Andy Green from the field staff and hired former designated hitter J.D. Martinez as a special adviser to baseball operations, the club announced Wednesday. Green, hired in November 2023 after managing San Diego from 2016-2019, moves to an unspecified front-office role. Martinez, 39, retired in January after 14 big-league seasons and 246 career home runs.
The timing is clean but the optics carry weight. Green's reassignment comes 47 games into Carlos Mendoza's second season as manager, with the Mets sitting 21-26 and 5.5 games behind Atlanta in the NL East. The club did not replace Green on the bench. Martinez will work upstairs with president of baseball operations David Stearns, attending games from the suite level and consulting on player development, scouting infrastructure, and hitting philosophy. His playing contract with the Dodgers paid $3.5 million last season; the Mets' advisory fee was not disclosed.
Green's exit removes a layer between Mendoza and ownership at a franchise that cycled through five managers in seven years before hiring Mendoza. Bench coaches absorb mid-inning questions, handle replay reviews, and provide cover when the manager faces the press after losses. Green did that work quietly through the Mets' 89-73 finish in 2024. His removal now forces Mendoza to rely more heavily on hitting coach Eric Chavez and pitching coach Jeremy Hefner, both of whom predate him on Steve Cohen's payroll. Cohen has spent $1.4 billion on player payroll since buying the team in 2020; results have been one playoff appearance and zero division titles.
Martinez's hire follows a pattern Stearns used in Milwaukee, where he brought retired catcher Jonathan Lucroy into the front office for 18 months before Lucroy returned to coaching. The role bridges scouting and development: Martinez will visit minor-league affiliates, sit in on pro meetings, and deliver candor unavailable from full-time employees worried about their next contract. He hit .271 with an .893 OPS over the final six seasons of his career, working counts and adjusting swing planes into his late thirties. That craft matters more than the raw power to teams trying to extend controllable assets through age-32 arbitration years.
The Mets' $305 million payroll ranks second in baseball. Their run differential is minus-14. Francisco Lindor is hitting .229. Pete Alonso, unsigned beyond this season, has 8 home runs through late May. Stearns inherited both players and their contracts when he left Milwaukee in October 2023. He also inherited Green, whom former GM Billy Eppler hired before Stearns arrived. Removing Green without replacing him suggests Stearns wants fewer voices in Mendoza's ear, not more structure.
Martinez's playing reputation buys credibility with a clubhouse that includes seven players making $20 million or more this season. His postseason résumé—.282 in 44 October games, including the 2018 World Series with Boston—gives him standing to challenge veterans on approach. The question is whether Stearns wants Martinez to eventually coach, or whether this is a 12-month apprenticeship before he lands a hitting coordinator job elsewhere. Milwaukee lost three front-office analysts to rival clubs during Stearns' final two seasons there; the Mets are now the farm system.
Mendoza's win total through 47 games matches his predecessor Buck Showalter's 2023 start exactly: 21-26. Showalter was fired that October after missing the playoffs. Mendoza, 44, has no prior big-league managerial experience. Green, his top lieutenant, is now two floors up. The Mets play 19 games in the next 21 days, including series against the Braves and Phillies. Stearns will attend all of them, sitting near Martinez, watching who adjusts.
The takeaway
Removing Green mid-season without replacing him tests Mendoza's autonomy while Martinez's upstairs role signals Stearns prioritizing development over in-game strategy.
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