Mets Rumors: Yankees' Carlos Mendoza Hired as Manager Amid Craig Counsell Buzz

The New York Mets are hiring Carlos Mendoza to be their next manager, according to ESPN's Jeff Passan.

Milwaukee Brewers manager Craig Counsell was linked with the Mets during their search. Passan reported momentum is building toward Counsell's departure from Milwaukee, but he won't be landing in New York.

Mendoza will take over a Mets team that just finished a disappointing 75-87, which resulted in a fourth-place finish in the National League East.

New York went 101-61 with a playoff appearance the year before and entered 2023 with great expectations, but a mixture of injuries and underperformances led to the team becoming sellers by the trade deadline.

Longtime MLB manager Buck Showalter, who took over the Mets in 2022, was fired after just two seasons as the team began changing leadership.

Former Milwaukee Brewers manager David Stearns took over as the Mets' president of baseball operations, and ex-Mets GM Billy Eppler later stepped down.

Mendoza certainly has talent to work with to compete next season, but there are serious questions about depth that Stearns must address.

For now, Mets slugger Pete Alonso remains a member of the team, although he is eligible for free agency after the 2024 campaign. Alonso served as the Mets' top power source with 46 home runs and 118 RBI. Shortstop Francisco Lindor (31 home runs) and outfielder Brandon Nimmo (.829 OPS) also help fortify the lineup, and rookie catcher Francisco Alvarez (25 home runs) looks like he'll be a mainstay in the batting order for quite some time.

However, there isn't much depth outside the top four. Jeff McNeil excelled in 2022 with an MLB-high .326 batting average (.836 OPS) but he did not find as much success in 2023 (.270/.711). Brett Baty (.598 OPS) and Mark Vientos (.620 OPS) didn't fare particularly well. The Mets as a team hit just .238, the second-worst batting average in the National League. Of course, that latter trio can improve in 2024, but the Mets still have some work to do.

On the mound, Kodai Senga emerged as a bona fide staff ace after arriving from Nippon Professional Baseball's Fukuoka Softbank Hawks, going 12-7 with a 2.98 ERA and 202 strikeouts. However, the rest of the rotation is up for debate, especially after the Mets traded Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer during the season. New York finished ninth in the NL in ERA. Senga and Jose Quintana are the only two Mets starters under contract for 2024.

The Mets will get back Edwin Díaz, the star closer who missed all of last year with a patellar tendon injury suffered during a postgame celebration at the World Baseball Classic. But there's question marks regarding the rest of the bullpen, especially after last year's top reliever, David Robertson, got sent to the Miami Marlins by the deadline.

All in all, this is still a tough job for any manager. The Mets are a snakebitten franchise that hasn't won the World Series since 1986 with its fair share of disappointments and dramatic defeats over the years. It doesn't help that any manager or coach in New York is under a massive spotlight in the United States' biggest media market, one that doesn't show much patience for any big sports personality.

So we'll soon find out how Mendoza handles everything as he tries to turn the Mets around. His first test will come on Thursday, March 28, when his team hosts the Milwaukee Brewers.

The 43-year-old played minor league ball for 13 seasons before joining the Staten Island Yankees as a coach in 2009. He then coached the Charleston RiverDogs for one year before becoming the manager of the Gulf Coast League Yankees in 2011.

Mendoza then managed the RiverDogs for one season before earning a job as a roving defensive instructor within the Yankees organization.

Mendoza got the callup to the bigs in 2018, serving as the team's infield coach under manager Aaron Boone. He became the Yankees' bench coach after the 2019 campaign and served in that capacity from 2020 to 2023.

The Mets interviewed Mendoza over the phone before conducting an in-person interview with him on Wednesday, Nov. 1, per SNY's Andy Martino. Mendoza also garnered interest from the Cleveland Guardians.

In the end, Mendoza won the job to become the Mets' 24th manager in franchise history.