Mets' Mendoza: Reports of clubhouse issues 'a lie'

""It's impressive that nobody talked about our clubhouse and in the last two weeks what we hear is that we were basically fighting every day when it's completely contrary to the reality," Mendoza said in Spanish. "It's a professional clubhouse where the guys respected each other, where the guys came to work and to compete day in and day out.""

""What was the difference? We didn't win baseball games," Mendoza said. "Nobody talked about our clubhouse for the first two and a half months of the season when we had the best record. Nobody talked about the clubhouse. Two and a half months of bad baseball happened, and so now everyone is talking about the problems. It's completely a lie. But it's part of the market. It's part of what we live with in New York.""

Carlos Mendoza firmly denied reports of clubhouse issues and a rift between Francisco Lindor and Juan Soto, calling those reports a lie and wrong during the MLB winter meetings. He described a professional clubhouse where players respected each other and came to work and compete every day. The New York Post reported Lindor confronted Jeff McNeil after a defensive mistake on June 20, an incident confirmed by sources to ESPN. The Mets lost that game 10-2, starting a seven-game skid and a three-and-a-half-month collapse that dropped them from the best record to out of the postseason despite the second-most expensive roster. Mendoza said criticism grew only after the losing stretch and attributed some reports to the New York market.

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