PORT ST. LUCIE — New Mets manager Carlos Mendoza is a lot like his first big-league team, which means we have no idea how this is going to go.
The rookie manager held his spring-opening news conference Tuesday, but we already knew he’d ace it. He’s great at answering questions. Or how else did he wow at least three teams in interviews off his 2023 performance with the Yankees as bench coach for the most underachieving team in the American League?
We can’t blame him for the Yankees’ disastrous last season for two key reasons:
1. Injuries killed them; between Anthony Rizzo, Aaron Judge, Nestor Cortes, Carlos Rodon and nearly half the bullpen, it’s hard to blame anyone (except maybe the medical staff).
2. Who knows if the bench coach has anything to do with Yankees strategy, anyway? (Some contend even manager Aaron Boone doesn’t have as much input as he should, though Yankees people deny that.)
Still, it’s curious how Mendoza became the hottest name on the managing circuit as a marginally known coach on a fourth-place team, and how he wound up replacing the ultra-experienced Buck Showalter to take MLB’s hardest managing job.
Managing the Mets is no day at Rockaway Beach. Not only do you have to contend with a fan base that’s always waiting for the banana peel to appear, but it’s an especially shell-shocked fan base that learned in 2023 that Steve Cohen’s billions don’t guarantee a thing.
Mendoza arrives with a facile ability to choose perfect words in his second language, which is impressive in itself. Plus, he has a nice overall résumé (with that one obvious omission) that includes minor league player, minor league manager and Winter Ball manager before six years as bench coach in The Bronx, where he ran pre-series meetings, and according to Yankees people was given a lot of non-game responsibility by Boone. However, we all know the Mets have gone this rookie route before, and results generally have ranged from mixed to atrocious.
Luis Rojas had a similar background, and the expectation is he’ll be better in his second job. But it was probably a reach then.
Mickey Callaway built a reputation as a pitching whisperer, maybe the game’s best. But it wasn’t long before he exposed himself.
Carlos Beltran arrived as one of the Mets’ best all-around players plus a well-known ability to decipher pitches of opposing pitchers (even before he helped devise a plan to do it even better). But he was gone before Game 1 thanks to his role in the Astros’ 2017 scandal.
David Stearns grew up a Mets fan on the Upper East Side so he knows the history. Yet, he was obviously serious when he said he’d consider first-timers if apparent first choice Craig Counsell stayed in Milwaukee or went elsewhere. As it turned out, sources say the Mets never were given a chance to make a formal offer to Counsell since he didn’t want to be in position to turn down his good friend Stearns, and reports suggested anyway the Mets weren’t about to match the record $8 million per year over five years the longtime Brewers skipper got with the Cubs.
Stearns also considered Will Venable (the respected Rangers bench coach who decided to stay in Texas), Mark Kotsay (a Counsell friend who’s sort of a big-league manager in Oakland) and others. He liked some of those he interviewed but he obviously loved Mendoza.
“Mendy combines a great understanding of people and how to relate to them with a very detailed baseball mind. It’s a unique combination that I think will make him successful,” Stearns told The Post.
Two other execs who interviewed Mendoza for other teams also came with praise.
“Very organized,” one exec said.
“Will make a great manager,” said another.
The issue is more that the Mets are a job and a half. It’s tough.
Willie Randolph did a nice job overall after coming over as a longtime Yankees coach and former great player. And Davey Johnson did such an outstanding job after being promoted from Triple-A Tidewater that he was one of the candidates the Hall of Fame veterans committee considered before electing Jim Leyland last year. So it can be done.
“I know what I signed up for,” Mendoza said Tuesday.
He also knew what to say to get himself to this coveted (yet near impossible) position. Indeed, he’s very good with words.
In his first public appearance here, Mendoza avoided saying anything to get him into trouble, with anyone — not players, fans or Cohen. He was so good he managed to make this transitional Mets team sound like the 1986 version. It’s not nearly, but he somehow couldn’t name one weakness when asked, which showed discretion more than a lack of awareness on a Day 1 that went without incident.
Things will get a lot harder around here before long. They always do.