Reese Kaplan -- A Week After Mendoza Was Officially Introduced

On last Tuesday the Mets introduced new manager Carlos Mendoza to the media and the fans.  The event was quite well received, both David Stearns and his new hire Mendoza were seemingly on the same page and the level of articulation and baseball knowledge evident in Mendoza set quite a few disappointed hearts on the way towards mending.  Some folks might even feel a cautious amount of optimism that they did the right thing.

I'm not here to debate the whole Craig Counsell/Carlos Mendoza soap opera.  It's clear that Counsell never intended to leave the midwest and his agreement to meet with his former boss David Stearns ensured a higher price would be paid by clubs in that region who knew that Steve Cohen and the Mets could afford to pay whatever it would take to land the top managerial free agent.  

He got his $40 million deal from the Cubs while the Mets are going to pay $4.5 million over the next three years combined for Mendoza.  Some call it getting played by Counsell.  Others might say that given the influence managers actually have over the outcome of games in this analytics-oriented workplace, it was good business trying to find the next Craig Counsell.

The questions that arose during the conference were not surprising, though the Mets surely did flub on how they handled the bilingual portion of the event.  Quite a few reporters asked questions in Spanish which Mendoza answered in the same language.  

Even a child knows that translation services are readily available yet the Mets made no effort whatsoever to include the English speaking audience in what was being said (any more than they did to help the Spanish speaking audience with the dialog that was delivered in English).  

They should have provided translation via subtitles along the bottom of the screen.  When Mendoza reached out to deliver a message to his father in Spanish many of us would have liked to know what was said but no effort was made to close that language gap.

For now the real questions going forward for Mendoza as he continues to phone and meet members of the Mets playing team and front office is how he plans to fill out his coaching staff.  We're all aware that Jeremy Hefner who has withstood several managers will remain in that role with Mendoza, but the rest of the coaching staff is very much up in the air.  

When Eric Chavez was in charge of hitting the team responded admirably.  Then when he moved into a bench coach role in 2023 the substitute offense experts did not deliver at the same level.  Many folks would like to see Chavez return to his role in batting expertise, but to Chavez it might look like a step down from the role he enjoyed with Buck Showalter this past season.  

(This past week Chavez indeed returned to a hitting coach role to share with last year's flubbed selection, Jeremy Barnes.  I'm only guessing, but perhaps it was Chavez's recommendation that he continue to partner with his compadre Barnes.  It's certainly not based upon offensive output last season which was the wrong kind of offensive.)

The only name that came up during the conference was Willie Randolph as a possible bench coach who would provide Mendoza with a familiar face and voice to help guide him as he learns how to be an MLB manager.  Randolph left the Mets under a cloud of disarray and is not the most welcome nor embraced face the club could hire for this role.  

Furthermore, if Randolph became the bench coach, what then becomes of Eric Chavez?  It is rumored Chavez has his own managerial aspirations and serving as a bench coach is kind of the second in command in that role.  If he's no longer entrusted to serve in that capacity, then fully expect he will be looking for work elsewhere as he would then ostensibly come to the end of the Mets road.  He's not likely going to want to be a batting coach once again.  (Sorry, written before Chavez returned).

We're all aware of the termination and/or resignation of the first and third base coaches.  Both Stearns and Mendoza are likely going to seek the best folks they can find for these roles, but flooding the coaching corps with former Yankees will likely aggravate Mets fans who want a clearer distance between the two New York franchises.  

So as the off season truly begins, the Mets need help in the coach's boxes, the bullpen, the batting cage and a decision must be made about who will sit on the bench next to Mendoza.  It's going to be a whirlwind of interviews and hiring to assemble a team that must be unified in its approach come February when Spring Training begins.  

Of course, while David Stearns will give his input into these decisions, expect them to be made primarily by manager Mendoza.  Stearns also must figure out what to do with the now 28-man roster that exists after the slew of non-tenders the Mets chose to make.

All eligible free agents who received Qualifying Offers turned them down, so that means there will be compensation required for signing any of the folks on that list.  For that reason alone it might behoove Stearns to look at second tier MLB players as well as folks from foreign markets where draft pick compensation and future international spending budgets would be affected.

For now it's a brave new world in Metsville and we are going to see quite a few changes before the 2024 season begins.