Mets Hires Manager Carlos Mendoza, Raising Concerns Among Many
According to league sources, the Mets will give Carlos Mendoza around $4.5 million over three years upon completion of his contract, with a club option for one additional year.
Mendoza has been chosen by the Mets to be their new captain, but specifics will not be finalized for a few days.
Mets Hires Manager Carlos Mendoza, Raising Concerns Among Many
Sources claim that the franchise extended an offer to Craig Counsell, the other contender for the position, which was much less than the $40 million, five-year contract he received from the Chicago Cubs. The squad didn’t want to be utilized just to expand the market; they weren’t sure if Counsell really wanted to move to New York.
Welcome to the Mets, Carlos Mendoza! 🗽 pic.twitter.com/lF23VcbCOP
— SNY Mets (@SNY_Mets) November 6, 2023
The terms of Mendoza’s contract will be comparable to those of first-time big league managers.
He takes over the Mets, a team that while having the largest payroll in MLB history suffered a dismal 87 loses in 2023. Although the Mets did win 101 games in 2022, manager Buck Showalter was fired in 2023 as a result of the team’s poor performance. As a result, Mendoza became the 24th manager in Mets history and took over the dugout position.
The Mets surprised everyone by signing Mendoza, even though there was a lot of talk that they would reach a deal with departing Brewers manager Craig Counsell. Mendoza will take over for Buck Showalter in the Mets’ dugout instead.
"This guy is going to be a manager, I thought that right away…"@TheMayorsOffice recalls his time in the Yankee dugout with Carlos Mendoza and shares why he thinks the new Mets skipper will thrive in Queens. pic.twitter.com/AhTbIYm39a
— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) November 6, 2023
“I think Carlos Mendoza is going to be a really good manager,” one rival GM said.
That individual is in the great majority, which is encouraging to some extent, but the Mets have someone who clearly does very well in interviews but is still very much an unknown. I think you should fight the wars you can win with a $18 billion war fund, not pile more doubt on their already large amount of doubts.
Although Mendoza may be a great addition, the Mets are a team that can afford to pay him without suffering any regrets. To be honest, he was the bench coach for a club that, to use the words of the players, had a “disaster” of a season in the words of general manager Brian Cashman, a team that didn’t exactly make the most out of its $275 million payroll.
The Mets are hiring Carlos Mendoza as their new manager, per @JonHeyman and @Joelsherman1 pic.twitter.com/SbGlaJyHka
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) November 6, 2023
Rather, Mendoza, who has only ever stepped in for Boone after several ejections, has never managed at the major league level, was brought on by the Mets. The 43-year-old Mendoza is a lifelong member of the Yankees’ organization, having participated in their minor league system from 2006 to 2009 before starting his coaching career in the farm system’s lower echelons. He abruptly ended his playing career in the middle of the 2009 campaign, and that summer he began coaching.
Even though Counsell is excellent, he has lost the previous six postseason series in contrast to Bochy, who has won every postseason series in history and is therefore deserving of a huge increase right now. I would doubt the Mets’ final decision in this situation.
.@EvanRobertsWFAN is disappointed the Mets didn't get Craig Counsell, but "to act like hiring Carlos Mendoza is a disaster? Pipe down!" pic.twitter.com/Z2OsbBbRAb
— WFAN Sports Radio (@WFAN660) November 6, 2023
Being the obvious backup club in a major metropolis with a past so fraught with mishaps and disappointments that some reasonably argue they are cursed, the Mets have a difficult managerial task ahead of them. That is only one of the numerous reasons why I would have given the position of major league manager to someone else.
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