NEW YORK — Carlos Mendoza began his tenure as Mets manager emphasizing how close the team was to success in 2022, not how far it descended this past season.
“I’m not just creating a new culture. People need to understand that this is a team that won 100 games not too long ago,” Mendoza said at a Citi Field news conference Tuesday, a day after his hiring was announced. “They started to create something special, and I’m coming in to continue to add to that culture, to continue to add to those positive things that were already building.”
Mendoza became the third Mets manager since Steve Cohen bought the team in November 2020, following Luis Rojas and Buck Showalter.
“We expect to compete in 2024,” he said.
Mendoza, 43, was introduced at the Piazza 31 Club, last used to unveil a manager (Carlos Beltrán) in November 2019 during the waning days of the Wilpon ownership.
Mendoza, who had been a Yankees coach for six seasons, agreed to a three-year contract that includes a 2027 team option. He was introduced by David Stearns, the team’s new president of baseball operations.
“I’m excited about our roster,” Mendoza said. “We got some work to do, and I trust David and his team to continue to make improvement.”
After New York went 101-61 in 2022 and lost to the Padres in the wild-card round, the Mets became the most expensive flop in baseball history. They finished fourth in the NL East this year at 75-87 despite a record payroll projected to finish at $346 million plus a luxury tax on track to be $102 million.
“One of the unique things about Carlos that people told me about him and that I felt through the interview process is this is someone with tremendous people skills, that people like, get along with, can relate to, but he holds people to incredibly high standards and he talks about accountability,” Stearns said.
“He also kind of lives it. And that is difficult to find. It’s difficult to find people that are leaders that people really like and enjoy working with.”
Mendoza became the major leagues’ second Venezuelan-born manager after Ozzie Guillén. Mendoza beamed as he put on a No. 28 jersey, less than half his No. 64 with the Yankees.
“When I first started playing winter ball with Tiburones de La Guaira, they gave me this number and I won the rookie of the year that year and fans started buying that jersey,” Mendoza said. “When I first met my wife, at the time it was on September 28th, so the 28th has been a huge number.”
Mendoza also interviewed with the Padres, Giants and Guardians this offseason, returning to Florida from his visit with the Padres. He was among six candidates put through initial seven-hour Zoom sessions by the Mets, with Stearns leading the first hour before others took over. Mendoza traveled to New York for a second series of interviews, including with Cohen and wife Alex.
“You guys put me to work,” Mendoza said.
He understood Craig Counsell was a contender, having worked for Stearns in Milwaukee. Counsell left the Brewers for the Cubs last week.
“Kind of like a waiting game,” Mendoza said. “It’s something that he earned.”
Mendoza played in the minor leagues from 1997-2009 with the Giants, Yankees and independent Pensacola Pelicans. Mendoza name-checked influential baseball figures who impacted his life, starting when he was 5 and met Luis Aparacio in an elevator of the apartment building they lived in.
Mendoza attended Giants big league camp under Dusty Baker, became friends with Rob Thompson and Willie Randolph — Mendoza danced around questions whether Randolph could be among his coaches. He thanked Luis Rojas, a current Yankees coach predecessor as Mets manager, and the late Mark Newman, a Yankees executive who first told Mendoza he could become a big league manager.
He said he questioned the Mets on their commitment to winning short term and long.
“They blew me away,” Mendoza said. “The other clubs were pretty impressive, too.”
He also inquired about the Mets’ adoption of analytics, “how much, the way they use it, how they use it, why they use it, how they come up with matchups and models and all that.”
On a cool autumn afternoon, with Mendoza looking larger than life on the huge center-field video board, optimism abounded. That will last only until the first losing streak. Stearns acknowledged the crucible created by New York’s tabloids, talk radio and assertive fans.
“I recognize that this is a unique environment for managers,” he said.
Mikko Rantanen has a goal and 2 assists for Stars in 5-2 win over Jets to take a 2-1 series lead
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DENVER — The Colorado Rockies fired manager Bud Black on Sunday, one day after losing by 21 runs to the San Diego Padres at Coors Field.
The Rockies are off to a major-league-worst 7-33 start even after defeating the Padres 9-3 on Sunday to salvage one game in the home series and snap an eight-game skid. Third-base coach Warren Schaeffer will serve as interim manager for the rest of the season, and hitting coach Clint Hurdle will be the interim bench coach.
The Rockies, who also fired bench coach Mike Redmond, will open a road trip Monday night against the Texas Rangers and try to turn a corner. Even with Sunday’s victory, Colorado has the worst 40-game start since the 1988 Baltimore Orioles, who were 6-34.
“Our play so far this season, especially coming off the last two seasons, has been unacceptable. Our fans deserve better, and we are capable of better,” Rockies owner, chairman and CEO Dick Monfort said in a statement. “While we all share responsibility in how this season has played out, these changes are necessary. We will use the remainder of 2025 to improve where we can on the field and to evaluate all areas of our operation so we can properly turn the page into the next chapter of Rockies Baseball.”
Black was in his ninth year as Rockies manager and had a career record with Colorado of 544-690. He is the winningest manager in franchise history.
Before Saturday night’s 21-0 drubbing, Rockies general manager Bill Schmidt backed Black, telling The Denver Post that he believed the season still could be turned around.
“I think our guys are still playing hard, and that’s what I look at,” Schmidt told the Post. “Guys are working hard every day; they come with energy, for the most part. I don’t think we are [at that point of firing Black]. Guys still believe in what we are doing and where we are headed. We are all frustrated.”
Schmidt said he was looking for “growth” as the season goes along.
“I feel for the fans; I feel for the people around here,” he said. “I know we are better than we have played, but we are not good right now. We have to battle through it and get to the other side. There are still a lot of games left. I think we can turn it around, but it’s going to take a whole group to do it. The guys are working to get better.”
Colorado was 19½ games out of first place in the NL West before Sunday’s win. The Rockies have been outscored by 128 runs this season. The only team since 1900 with a worse run differential through 40 games was the 2023 Oakland Athletics (-144).
The seventh manager in team history, Black initially found success with Colorado when he led the Rockies to back-to-back playoff appearances in 2017 and 2018. They haven’t finished with a winning record since and are coming off two straight 100-loss seasons. Colorado has a .353 winning percentage since 2023.
Black’s contract was set to expire after the season. He signed a one-year extension in October.
