NEW YORK – Since Terry Collins resigned in October 2017, the Mets have lacked consistency in the dugout. The team has gone through six managers in seven seasons, none of whom served for more than two years. During that period, the shortest tenure by a Mets manager was 76 days.
Team officials hope they have found a more permanent solution from a nearby talent pool in Carlos Mendoza. The team will hire Mendoza, the Yankees’ replacement coach, as manager, a source told MLB.com on Monday. He will succeed Buck Showalter, who was released by the club in October.
The Mets have not yet confirmed the hire. It is not expected to become official until later in the week once the teams have finalized the contract details.
The Mendoza news was part of a merry-go-round of moves across the baseball landscape on Monday, with cascading effects on one another. In Chicago, the Cubs hired Craig Counsell, who had been a leading candidate for the Mets job. And in Cleveland, the Guardians hired Stephen Vogt to lead their team.
In New York, the job went to the 43-year-old Mendoza, who served as bench coach under Yankees manager Aaron Boone for four seasons and was on the major league staff for six years. The Venezuelan native was previously a minor league coach and manager as well as a player in the Yankees and Giants organizations.
This will be Mendoza’s first major league managerial job, and he will join Ozzie Guillen as the only Venezuelan-born full-time managers in major league history. (Two other Venezuelans made it temporarily.) His managerial experience includes a stint in the Venezuelan Winter League and dozens of MLB appearances, filling in for Boone after he was eliminated.
His hiring represents a significant departure from the 67-year-old Showalter, who came to the Mets with two decades of managerial experience. Time will tell how much his personality will change. Voices around baseball described Mendoza on Monday as friendly and approachable, but also able to exercise discipline when the situation calls for it.
It’s the first significant hire for new president of baseball operations David Stearns, who also interviewed Counsell, his former manager in Milwaukee. While Counsell eventually got a new job, he took one that was just down the street from his full-time home in Wisconsin. It’s not clear how close the Mets were to hiring Counsell, but a source said the former Brewers manager has completed several rounds of interviews. A’s manager Mark Kotsay and former Padres manager Andy Green were also reportedly involved in the process.
As the 25th manager in Mets history, Mendoza’s job will be to bring stability to both the dugout and the organization. Since Collins left, the Mets have acquired Mickey Callaway, Carlos Beltrán, Luis Rojas and Showalter as managers. Since then, the team has also employed six different baseball directors.