New York Mets manager Carlos Mendoza should be able to worry less about his future with the team now, after he received backing from president of baseball operations David Stearns.

Despite a 10-21 start, which included a 12-game losing streak, the organization isn’t pinning the current state of the team on the manager.

“We know our record is not what we want, and we know we are capable of more,” Stearns told MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo. “We don’t view this as a manager problem, and we don’t intend to make a change.”

Through 31 games, the Mets have scored the second-fewest runs (106), recorded the fifth-fewest hits (235), posted the worst OPS (.631) and are tied for the third-worst batting average (.227) in MLB. Injuries have played a part in the dismal start, with shortstop Francisco Lindor, outfielder Luis Robert Jr, infielder Jorge Polanco, starting pitcher Kodai Senga and reliever A.J. Minter currently on the injured list. Juan Soto also missed 15 games due to a calf strain.

While the Boston Red Sox and Philadelphia Phillies recently dismissed their managers, Stearns and team owner Steve Cohen have reportedly not discussed moving on from the 46-year-old Mendoza, who was hired in 2004 and led the team to the NLCS the following year.

Stearns and the front office are hoping for a repeat of 2024, Mendoza’s first season in charge, when the Mets began the season 24-35 and finished 89-73 to earn one of the NL wild cards.

Ahead of spring training in February, Cohen said he gets more “annoyed” each year that the team doesn’t win and that “table stakes is making the playoffs” in 2026 and missing out two straight seasons is “not good.”

Mendoza, who is in the final guaranteed year of his contract, is getting this lifeline as the team begins a nine-game road trip on which it will play the Los Angeles Angels, Colorado Rockies and Arizona Diamondbacks. The Mets will return home May 12 to face the Detroit Tigers before the first Subway Series of the season against the New York Yankees.

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After a little over a month’s worth of baseball games, we’re slowly seeing how the season could potentially shape up based on those who are leading and those disappointing in their respective divisions. While there are some teams leading the way that aren’t entirely shocking—looking at you, New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers—there are quite a few surprises as well.

On this episode of the Baseball Bar-B-Cast, Jake Mintz and Jordan Shusterman play their annual standings golf draft and try to determine how much stock they’re putting into the current standings. With surprising teams like the New York Mets and Boston Red Sox at the bottom of their divisions, will they actually stay there for the whole season or will things shake up as they normally do over the 162-game grind?

Later, Jake and Jordan talk about the St. Louis Cardinals becoming the first team to get a mop on the road this year, as well as the Philadelphia Phillies sweeping their doubleheader against the struggling San Francisco Giants. The guys then take a look at the mess that was the month of April for the New York Mets, highlight an incredible achievement by Nick Kurtz and make their picks for this week’s edition of The Good, The Bad & The Uggla.

2:21 – The Opener: Division standings draft

37:57 – Around The League: Cardinals doing some mopping

44:41 – Miserable month for Mets

52:43 – Nick Kurtz knows how to walk

54:44 – The Good

1:00:28 – The Bad

1:07:22 – The Uggla

Photo by Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images Photo by David Berding/Getty Images

🖥️ Watch this full episode on YouTube

Check out all episodes of Baseball Bar-B-Cast and the rest of the Yahoo Sports podcast family at https://apple.co/3zEuTQj or at yahoosports.tv

If the Toronto Raptors are going to stave off elimination Friday, they’ll have to do it without Brandon Ingram. The All-Star forward was ruled out for Friday’s Game 6 vs. the Cleveland Cavaliers due to a heel injury.

Ingram left the team’s Game 5 loss to the Cavaliers on Wednesday due to the injury. He finished with one point and two assists in 11 minutes of play during the 125-120 loss.

Ingram originally sustained the injury during the regular season, missing a few games down the stretch with a heel issue. While he returned for the team’s final six games of the regular season — and first five games of the playoffs — Ingram apparently aggravated the injury Wednesday.

Raptors head coach Darko Rajaković confirmed as much after Game 5, per ESPN.

“He re-aggravated the heel on one play. We tried to re-tape him. At halftime, he tried to activate to see if he could be ready for the second half, and he was not ready to come and play in the second half. Tomorrow we’ll know more when we do more evaluations.”

With Ingram out for Game 6, the Raptors will need to lean more on Scottie Barnes, who dealt with his own injury issues coming out of Wednesday’s game. Despite injuring his quad during the contest, Barnes is available to play in Game 6.

“He’s feeling good,” Rajaković said of Barnes pregame, per TSN’s Josh Lewenberg. “It’s awesome to be young and recover quickly.”

Cavaliers-Raptors has been among the most exciting first-round playoff matchups so far. After taking a 2-0 lead in the series, the Cavaliers dropped the next two games, tying things up. Cleveland came away with a close victory in Game 5.

While the Raptors have shown a willingness to hang around with the Cavaliers all series, picking up a win Friday will prove difficult. Ingram was the team’s leading scorer in the regular season, averaging 21.5 points per game.

The calendar has moved to May, which means it’s time to get some positional Shuffle Ups your way. We have enough data to form some actionable opinions (in some cases), or at least educated guesses (in some other cases).

The players below are salaried and ranked as if I were entering a fresh draft tonight. What’s happened to this point is an audition, nothing more. Don’t get hung up on the salaries in a vacuum, which are just comparison tools. Players at the same salary are considered even.

Most of the players who have 1B or 3B eligibility in Yahoo leagues are on this list. I excluded anyone currently on the IL (Eugenio Suárez, for example) and anyone with catcher eligibility (we’ll rank those guys with the catchers). I also ignored anyone in the minors, with one late exception.

Have some respectful disagreement? That’s good, that’s why we have a game. Share your thoughts anytime on social media: catch me on Twitter/X or on Bluesky.

And away we go.

The Big Tickets

• $36 José Ramírez

• $30 Sal Stewart

• $29 Matt Olson

• $28 Nick Kurtz

I was concerned about the Cleveland offense to begin the year and that’s been valid, as the Guardians stand 24th in runs. But Ramírez has more walks than strikeouts and is still swiping bases aggressively, even in his age-33 season. He’s already a walk-in Hall of Famer.

Maybe this salary looks high for Stewart, but I was tempted to go even higher. He’s a five-category contributor and he’s controlling his at-bats, with a decent walk rate and an acceptable strikeout rate. All of his hard-hit sliders are Kool-Aid red. I wonder if the Reds regret not fast-tracking him last year, but Stewart is here to stay now.

Some Confusing Veteran Stars

• $27 Vladimir Guerrero

• $26 Manny Machado

• $25 Junior Caminero

• $24 Bryce Harper

• $22 Jazz Chisholm Jr.

• $22 Freddie Freeman

Guerrero is paid like a superstar and there’s plenty to like on his profile. The .354 average speaks for itself and it’s mostly supported through his hard-hit rate. He’s almost impossible to strike out and he’s also carrying a plus walk rate. But Guerrero’s bat tricks don’t include a power profile — he’s still carrying a major ground-ball bias, and his pull rate is under the league average, too. It’s hard to remember a world where Kid Guerrero led the majors in home runs (five years ago, with 48); at this point, it will feel fortunate if he makes it back to last year’s 23.

Chisholm still carries a strikeout problem despite acceptable walk and chase rates. There’s two ways to slice that — you appreciate his respectable zone judgment, but it also means he’s getting beat inside the strike zone more than you’d like. Normally, when you see a .202 average and a .334 slugging tied to a presumable star, you assume the bad-luck signs must be flashing, but Chisholm’s hard-hit metrics support those puny stats. Alas, we can’t go too low on Chisholm, as he’s on pace for about 15 homers and 50 steals.

Harper is a better real-life player than fantasy option these days, not that 2026 Harper is a treat in either column. His running game might be shut down for good and his slugging percentage has snuck below .500 the last two years. The disappointing Philly lineup (he’s part of it, obviously) hasn’t helped his run production. And Harper will likely need maintenance at some point; he hasn’t made it to 150 games since 2019.

The Kids Are Alright

• $20 JJ Wetherholt

• $20 Austin Riley

• $19 Kevin McGonigle

• $19 Peter Alonso

• $18 Christian Walker

• $18 Alec Burleson

• $18 Munetaka Murakami

• $18 Josh Naylor

• $17 Yandy Diaz

• $17 Maikel García

• $17 Alex Bregman

• $15 Liam Hicks

• $15 Ryan O’Hearn

• $15 José Caballero

• $15 Jonathan Aranda

• $14 Willson Contreras

• $14 Max Muncy

• $14 Bo Bichette

I’m over the moon for both Wetherholt and McGonigle, but Wetherholt gets a slightly better rank because he’s offering immediate category juice. Both players have been tabbed as future batting champions, and McGonigle might have the chops to do it as a rookie. We also love that both kids are carrying multiple positions in Yahoo leagues.

I enjoy a good Murakami novel and I’ve enjoyed the first chapter of Chicago’s Murakami — 12 homers, 25 walks. He’s losing 78 batting-average points to left-handed pitching but his power has played against all handedness. The strikeout rate is a mess, of course, but at least he’s swinging at strikes and making loud contact when he does connect. Adam Dunn was a fun player for several seasons, a man defined by the Three True Outcomes. Maybe that’s in Murakami’s range.

I was hoping Alonso had a history of poor starts, but his month-by-month profile is rather balanced. Last year, he pushed off to a .343 open, with seven homers and 28 RBI. This lousy start is new territory, so perhaps it’s just another case of a big-name player changing teams and struggling to immediately justify a meaty contract. The expected stats won’t comfort you much with Alonso, but he’s still just 31, he deserves some patience.

The Two Vargases

• $13 Rafael Devers

• $13 Vinnie Pasquantino

• $12 Josh Jung

• $12 Matt Chapman

• $11 Miguel Vargas

• $11 Colson Montgomery

• $11 Brendan Donovan

• $10 Jac Caglianone

• $8 Ildemaro Vargas

• $8 Carlos Correa

• $7 Jake Bauers

• $7 Jeremiah Jackson

• $7 Nolan Arenado

• $7 Daniel Schneemann

• $7 Dominic Smith

• $7 Casey Schmitt

• $7 Tyler Soderstrom

• $7 Ernie Clement

Devers has now played around five months of baseball with the Giants and the returns are in: .228/.323/.414, with 22 homers. He’s obviously a zero on the bases. His roomy home park doesn’t do him any favors, where the slash is .221/.316/.430. It’s fair to criticize the Red Sox for the timing of the Devers trade, and the meager return. But it’s also possible Boston was shrewd to get out from a Devers contract that’s likely to become an albatross soon. Keep in mind, Devers offers no defensive value.

A lot of fantasy managers will see Chicago’s Vargas hitting .215 and automatically discount him, which is a mistake. The category juice is here — six homers, five steals. And he’s been mildly unlucky with his outcomes; his batted-ball profile suggests a .240 average and .467 slugging, roto-worthy stats. All of his plate-discipline metrics are above code, and he’s still just 26. This is a hitter on the rise.

Arizona’s Vargas is a much trickier mystery to solve. Everything he’s done this year has been wonderful and metric-supported; his expected batting average is .351, his expected slugging .520. But we’re talking about a 34-year-old journeyman who’s been a below-average offensive player almost every step of the way (a mediocre 86 OPS+). I’m rooting for Vargas because I love players who swing at anything but make contact anyway, not to mention he covers multiple positions and he’s become a recent pickup of mine. But this is the type of player you extend a tiny leash towards; be ready to bail at the first sign of extended trouble. Root with your heart, but make decisions with your head.

Bargain Bin

• $6 Troy Johnston

• $6 Luis Arráez

• $6 Isaac Paredes

• $6 Spencer Torkelson

• $6 T.J. Rumfield

• $5 José Fernandez

• $5 Oswald Peraza

• $5 Mauricio Dubon

• $5 Luis García Jr.

• $5 Matt Shaw

• $5 Jake Burger

• $5 Spencer Steer

• $5 Nathaniel Lowe

• $5 Kazuma Okamoto

• $5 Colt Keith

• $4 Brooks Lee

• $4 Josh Bell

• $4 Nolan Gorman

• $4 Brady House

• $4 Luke Raley

• $4 Nolan Schanuel

• $4 Royce Lewis

• $3 Nick Gonzales

• $3 Willi Castro

• $3 Chase Meidroth

• $3 Alec Bohm

• $3 Noelvi Marte

• $2 Edouard Julien

• $2 Gavin Sheets

• $2 David Hamilton

• $2 Amed Rosario

• $2 Brett Baty

• $2 Caleb Durbin

• $2 Marcelo Mayer

• $1 Curtis Mead

• $1 Kyle Karros

• $1 Mark Vientos

• $1 Yoan Moncada

• $1 Jake Cronenworth

• $1 Kyle Manzardo

• $0 Ke’Bryan Hayes

Torkelson’s start felt worse to me than it actually is — he has the same OPS+ as last year, with some extra walks mitigating the drop in power. He’s still on pace to flirt with 30 homers, too. But the Tigers have justly moved him down in the lineup, and it’s likely Torkelson will never truly live up to being a No. 1 overall pick. Sometimes you have the top pick in the wrong year — the top three offensive players from that first round so far are Pete Crow-Armstrong (a legit star, largely due to his defense), Jordan Westburg (held back by injuries) and Garrett Mitchell (useful player). Timing can be cruel sometimes. 

Marte is the only minor-leaguer I included here. He’s a former rated prospect and perhaps the Reds were hasty in sending him to the minors after just 11 games. Marte’s mashed at Triple-A, predictably (.404/.466/.615), and should eventually get another chance in the majors. Ke’Bryan Hayes is a defensive wizard, but he’s never going to hit much.

Talk about a wide open Kentucky Derby.

When the starting gate opens at 6:57 p.m. Saturday at Churchill Downs in Louisville, 20 3-year-olds will race in the 152nd running of the Derby, the first leg of the Triple Crown.

The morning line favorite is 4-1, the longest shot is 50-1 and there are 18 other horses at various odds. Based on their past performances, the unpredictability of 3-year-olds running 1 1/4 miles before more than 100,000 screaming fans, probably means half of the field has a legitimate chance of winning the Derby.

So who will win the “Run for the Roses,” America’s most complex and fascinating horse race?

That’s my job today. Here are Rick’s Picks:

First: Chief Wallabee, 8-1Trainer Bill Mott and jockey Junior Alvarado won the 2025 Derby with Sovereignty and I see them repeating this year. If it happens, they will be the first trainer/jockey combo to win consecutive Derby races since trainer Lucien Laurin and jockey Ron Turcotte in 1972 and 1973 with Riva Ridge and Secretariat.

Chief Wallabee finished third in the Florida Derby despite a terrible trip. He was only a half-length behind Commandment and The Puma, two other Derby horses I like.

Mott, a two-time Derby winner, has added blinkers for this race, probably to keep Chief Wallabee focused. Mott has his horse ready.

Second: Commandment, 6-1Commandment won the Grade 1 Florida Derby on March 28 at Gulfstream Park by a nose over The Puma.

He broke his maiden Nov. 1 at Churchill Downs, starting his four-race winning streak.

Luis Saez, 0 for 12 in the Derby, will ride Commandment for the first time in the Kentucky Derby, as previous riders Irad Ortiz Jr. (Renegade) and Flavien Prat (Emerging Market) will be on other horses.

Commandment is trained by Brad Cox, 1 for 12 in the Derby, winning with Mandaloun (via disqualification) in 2021.

Third: The Puma, 10-1Trained by Gustavo Delgado, who won the 2023 Derby with Mage, and ridden by Javier Castellano, The Puma lost the most competitive Kentucky Derby prep (Florida Derby) by a nose.

I’m concerned that The Puma has only one win in four starts. He always seems to be close.

The same thing will happen in the Derby.

Fourth: Renegade, 4-1If Renegade, trained by Todd Pletcher, a two-time Derby winner, drew any post position besides the rail, he probably would be my Derby selection.

It’s been 40 years (Ferdinand in 1986) since a horse won the Kentucky Derby from the No. 1 post.

He’s ridden by Irad Ortiz Jr. , the best jockey in the United States. Despite his career success, Ortiz never has finished in the money in nine Derby mounts.

While Pletcher has two Derby wins, he has had 65 Derby starters, a record.

Because of his post position, I see Renegade immediately falling back at the start, then making a late charge down the stretch.

The Philadelphia Eagles have signed rookie wide receiver Makai Lemon to a fully guaranteed contract on Thursday.

The 20th overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft has signed a rookie four-year deal with the Philadelphia Eagles. NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport confirmed the deal Thursday: a four-year, fully guaranteed arrangement carrying an $11.5 million signing bonus.

#Eagles first-round WR Makai Lemon signed his rookie contract today. He gets a 4-year fully guaranteed deal that includes a $11.5 million dollar signing bonus. Deal was done by Ian Grutman and David Ben-Zaken of GSE Worldwide. pic.twitter.com/tQ8cF0Lo7X

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) April 30, 2026

The deal is worth roughly $5 million per year and totals just over $20.8 million over the course of the contract.

During the draft, the Eagles traded the No. 23, 114, and 137 to the Dallas Cowboys to move into the 20th slot to select Lemon, while also giving up a 2027 seventh rounder. During the draft, it was reported that Lemon had been receiving calls from the Pittsburgh Steelers, who had interest in taking him.

At the post-draft news conference, Eagles general manager Howie Roseman would say, ” He has the ability to separate in man coverage, out of the slot, he can play outside. Really good with the ball in his hands,” Roseman said. Head coach Nick Sirianni added simply, “Insane ability to catch the ball in contested situations. I love his toughness.”

The Eagles’ WR1, A.J. Brown, is expected to be dealt over the course of the next few months, so the Eagles were hot on the trail to sign another weapon behind DeVonta Smith.

This article originally appeared on Touchdown Wire: Eagles Makai Lemon gets a fully guaranteed contract worth $20 mill

April results

Ah, the joy of Opening Day, hope springing eternal and all that. Except, this poll came after the first series against Los Angeles was already in the books, and that acted as a stiff reality check. For the Diamondbacks were swept in the three-game series. There were positives: two of the games were lost by a single run, and had things gone just a little differently, Arizona could have come out of there with a series win. But hypothetical and moral wins are for suckers, so 0-3 it was. They then turned around and swept the Tigers in turn, another team with credible playoff aspirations. So did all that impact fan confidence from the mark at the beginning of spring training?

It may be a case of “What have you done for me lately?” to quote the great philosopher Janet Jackson. I suspect the results would not have been quite as good had they come after the Dodgers sweep, rather than after the Tigers one. The biggest change, in both literal and relative terms, came in the ‘8’ category, which tripled from five percent in March, to fifteen percent in April. ‘7’ also kicked up a bit, with the 5-6 range fueling most of the positive sentiment above them. All told, confidence improved by just over one-quarter of a point, increasing from 6.12 to 6.39 at the start of April.

Below, you can see the breakdown for the past 12 polls’ results, followed by the line graph showing the trends over this and previous seasons.

May poll

April is in the books. The D-backs made it through with a 16-14 record. I think we’d all have settled for that at the beginning of the month. But while impressive on the surface, there are obvious issues – notably a pitching staff, who end April with a collective ERA north of five (5.09 if my math is correct), and ranked 28th in the majors. That’s the highest figure through 30 games since the hell which was 2020. Of course, there are positives as well. The amazing performance of Ildemaro Vargas, the unexpected rookie production from Jose Fernandez and veteran Nolan Arenado, and Corbin Carroll continuing to be Corbin Carroll. But what is your overall take on the team as we enter May?

That’s what the poll below would be for. You can explain your decision in the comments, especially if your vote has changed from last time. Link for mobile.

April results

Ah, the joy of Opening Day, hope springing eternal and all that. Except, this poll came after the first series against Los Angeles was already in the books, and that acted as a stiff reality check. For the Diamondbacks were swept in the three-game series. There were positives: two of the games were lost by a single run, and had things gone just a little differently, Arizona could have come out of there with a series win. But hypothetical and moral wins are for suckers, so 0-3 it was. They then turned around and swept the Tigers in turn, another team with credible playoff aspirations. So did all that impact fan confidence from the mark at the beginning of spring training?

It may be a case of “What have you done for me lately?” to quote the great philosopher Janet Jackson. I suspect the results would not have been quite as good had they come after the Dodgers sweep, rather than after the Tigers one. The biggest change, in both literal and relative terms, came in the ‘8’ category, which tripled from five percent in March, to fifteen percent in April. ‘7’ also kicked up a bit, with the 5-6 range fueling most of the positive sentiment above them. All told, confidence improved by just over one-quarter of a point, increasing from 6.12 to 6.39 at the start of April.

Below, you can see the breakdown for the past 12 polls’ results, followed by the line graph showing the trends over this and previous seasons.

May poll

April is in the books. The D-backs made it through with a 16-14 record. I think we’d all have settled for that at the beginning of the month. But while impressive on the surface, there are obvious issues – notably a pitching staff, who end April with a collective ERA north of five (5.09 if my math is correct), and ranked 28th in the majors. That’s the highest figure through 30 games since the hell which was 2020. Of course, there are positives as well. The amazing performance of Ildemaro Vargas, the unexpected rookie production from Jose Fernandez and veteran Nolan Arenado, and Corbin Carroll continuing to be Corbin Carroll. But what is your overall take on the team as we enter May?

That’s what the poll below would be for. You can explain your decision in the comments, especially if your vote has changed from last time. Link for mobile.