Reese Kaplan -- So What About Carlos Mendoza as Rookie Manager?

While much of the offseason narrative has been about the roster and the impact David Stearns has had in implementing his so-called transition year plan to get the Mets into a long term competitive direction, the first major change of this fall and winter has kind of fallen off the radar.  What will the impact of rookie manager Carlos Mendoza have on the New York Mets?  

Going into the decision making people were open to accepting the former Yankee coach as a credible choice to replace the terminated Buck Showalter.  By any evaluation Showalter got a bit of a raw deal and took the hit for the injuries and poor performances of several players during the 2023 season.  To come from nowhere to win 100 games and hit the postseason in 2022 to fighting to stay out of the cellar in 2023 is a tale of two very different seasons.  

Still, we have heard that Showalter wanted to play the individuals who he felt would give the team the best chance of winning but was prohibited from doing so by now deposed General Manager Billy Eppler.  So if it was Eppler ultimately calling the shots on, for example, the highly ineffectual Daniel Vogelbach continuing as the primary DH, why did Showalter get the axe?

Anyway, it's water under the bridge for now and the Mets have hooked up with another Bronx veteran.  In fact, if you trace the players, coaches and front office personnel that have been involved in the Mets since Steve Cohen took over, you see quite a significant tie to the Yankees.  There was Billy Eppler, Buck Showalter, Eric Chavez, Adam Ottavino, David Robertson, Harrison Bader, Luis Severino and now manager Carlos Mendoza.  It's not an indictment of the Yankee organization that there has been this much affiliation, but it is somewhat unusual to see such affiliation with one other club on all levels.  

So what can be expected from Mendoza?  No one is completely clear, but all indications are that he was highly regarded in interviews with other clubs in the past and has sat in the dugout of a mostly winning organization during his managerial apprenticeship in the coaching ranks.  Given what we've heard about David Stearns' plans for the future it will be interesting to see how Mendoza fits into the picture.

First of all, other than Severino and Bader, Mendoza has no real connection to the rest of the Mets roster as it's currently constructed.  He should know hitting coach Eric Chavez but otherwise most of the names and faces are brand new.  He will need to establish a connection for motivation when needed.  However, he also has no loyalty to anything that's happened in the past.  That same stance applies to his boss Stearns as well.

Right now the 2024 team is one that Mendoza will learn and attempt to use successfully while the club has pretty much stayed away from the top-of-the-list options in free agency and trades.  The improved defensive alignment is surely going to help the unknown quality of the pitching staff.  What's also unknown is the caliber of the offense that will represent the team on a daily basis.  Will Francisco Alvarez continue to evolve?  Is Brett Baty for real?  Can Mark Vientos become the primary DH?  What will happen if Pete Alonso is sent packing midway through the year?  What about the up and coming additional Baby Mets working in AA and AAA?  Are they an injury or a sizzling hot streak away from making it to Citifield?  

Also of interest to folks who have watched the Mets with some frustration for several years is how Mendoza will address basic fundamentals.  Defense is paramount and not something the club has delivered much lately.  Baserunning is another lost art as is advancing runners instead of waiting for the magical three-run homer to right all the wrongs.  

What happens when injuries attack starting and relief pitchers?  Will the club use former starters like Jose Butto, Tylor Megill, Joey Lucchesi and eventually David Peterson in newly adapted roles in the bullpen or will they instead patch things with a bevy of unproven and inconsitent live arms?  How about young pitchers perhaps ready to take the leap to The Show like Nate Lavender?  

Obviously the long term personnel decisions belong to David Stearns but how will Mendoza handle things on the diamond on a day-to-day basis?

New managers are nothing unusual for the Mets.  They've had Mickey Callaway and Luis Rojas in the recent past after the Carlos Beltran experiment ended before it ever got started.  Buck Showalter was a gesture towards bringing in positive and intelligent experience, the polar opposite of the Wilpons' Terry Collins move rewarding a guy who couldn't land a managerial job anywhere and then sitting on him as the team's losingest skipper in club history for an unlucky seven years.  

Now we're back once again to a rookie manager getting his shot along with a new POBO and a curtailed spending limit for the upcoming season.  There is a lot of uncertainty all the way around.