New York Mets owner Steve Cohen and president of baseball operations David Stearns could not have asked for much more from manager Carlos Mendoza in his first season with the club.
Battling through a litany of adversity — from an 0-5 start to a rash of injuries, suspensions, and glove-throwing drama — Mendoza and the Mets overcame all of that for a late-season postseason push, 89 wins, and a dramatic run to the NLCS.
From plucky underdogs to perceived National League powerhouses in the span of five months, Mendoza enters his second year as Mets skipper with sky-high expectations after the team acquired Juan Soto to create one of the most imposing lineups in the game.
“You continue to grow and learn every day,” Mendoza said on Monday when asked what adjustments he might make this year. “The biggest difference for me, coming into the camp for my second year, is that you know people. You know the organization. You’re not meeting people every day. Every day, I come into the ballpark, I’m willing to listen, I’m willing to get better. If you’re not getting better — we’re asking players to get better every day. Same thing for the coaches, same thing for myself. You’re always challenging yourself; you’re always looking for ways to improve, whether it’s communication, whether it’s a connection, whether it’s your processes, or how you prepare. I’m doing that every day.”
The 45-year-old is one of just two managers in team history to make the postseason in his first year in charge. The other was Buck Showalter in 2022, when New York won 101 games. The similarities between the two don’t end there, either.
Both Showalter and Mendoza are Yankees exports. Showalter got his first managerial job in the big leagues with the Bronx Bombers from 1992 to 1995, the high point of a decade with the organization. Mendoza spent 15 years in the Yankees’ organization, moving up the ranks to bench coach, where he served under manager Aaron Boone for four seasons.
When asked about how his former bench coach might fare in Year 2, the now-veteran skipper maintained his glowing support of Mendoza.
“That’s why he’s in that chair,” Boone said. “He’s cut out for that, and I think he handled everything thrown his way in his first year — at least from a distance — really well. Not surprisingly so. That’s the kind of baseball man and person he is. I have total confidence that he’ll handle whatever comes his way in Year 2.”
