New York Mets hiring Yankees bench coach Carlos Mendoza as manager, AP source says
NEW YORK (AP) — David Stearns said the New York Mets would “cast a wide net” when searching for their next manager.
He found what he was looking for a subway ride away. New York Yankees bench coach Carlos Mendoza is being hired as manager of the Mets, according to a person familiar with the decision. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Monday because the move had not been announced.
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Mendoza spent the past four seasons across town as Aaron Boone’s top lieutenant with the Yankees.
He replaces manager Buck Showalter, fired by the Mets at the end of last season after holding the job for two years.
It’s the first high-profile hire by Stearns, who took over as Mets president of baseball operations with his hometown team early last month.
Mendoza, who turns 44 this month, has managed in the Venezuelan Winter League the last two years but never above Class A in the minors — and that was in 2012.
He takes over a Mets team that finished fourth in the NL East last season at 75-87, which was 29 games behind first-place Atlanta, despite having the highest payroll in major league history under owner Steve Cohen.
Mendoza becomes the fifth Mets manager since Terry Collins’ seven-year tenure ended in 2017.
