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Padres Considering David Ross For Managerial Opening

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With the shocking news that long-time Brewers manager Craig Counsell signed a five-year, $40MM contract with the Cubs, a new managerial free agent entered the fray: David Ross. The freshly fired former Cubs manager should be an intriguing candidate for those teams still in need of a skipper, and indeed, at least one club is already interested. Per Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune, the Padres are “considering adding Ross to their candidate pool” for the position left vacant by Bob Melvin, who recently traveled north for a job with the Giants.

Before the game of managerial musical chairs began on Monday, the Padres and president of baseball operations A.J. Preller had reportedly narrowed down their search to four finalists: senior advisor to player development and major leagues Mike Shildt, bench coach and offensive coordinator Ryan Flaherty, Angels infield coach Benji Gil, and Yankees bench coach Carlos Mendoza. According to Acee, the team wasn’t planning to interview any further candidates; their next manager would be one of Shildt, Flaherty, Gil, or Mendoza.

However, with Ross now available, along with the news that the Mets have hired Mendoza to be their next manager, the Padres could be inclined to reconsider their options. After all, Preller has a well-documented history of changing his mind. Acee mentions several surprise hires the executive made during his tenure with the Padres, including former managers Andy Green and Jayce Tingler.

Of Shildt, Flaherty, and Gil, only Shildt has genuine managerial experience; he took over from Mike Matheny as the Cardinals manager in 2018, steering the team for the next four years. St Louis had a winning record in all four of his seasons at the helm, making the playoffs in the final three. Shildt was fired due to “philosophical differences” with president of baseball operations John Mozeliak, but he seems to be on the same page with the front office in San Diego. He has spent the past two years working in the organization, and evidently, they are happy with the work he has done. 

Still, if the Padres are looking for a seasoned manager to replace Melvin, one of the most experienced skippers in the game, Ross presents an intriguing alternative. He has spent the past four years with the Cubs, leading the team through a mini-rebuild and out the other side. By all indications, the Cubs were largely happy with his performance. At his end-of-season presser, president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer praised his then-manager for the clubhouse culture he fostered. Indeed, if it weren’t for Counsell hitting the open market, the Cubs would almost certainly have stuck with Ross in 2024.

Mets To Hire Carlos Mendoza As Manager

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The Mets have settled on their next manager, reportedly tabbing Yankees bench coach Carlos Mendoza to lead the club in 2024. Reports yesterday indicated that the club was on the verge of deciding their next manager. It’ll reportedly be a three-year deal that pays around $4.5MM total, while the Mets hold an option for the 2027 season.

Mendoza, 43, spent 13 seasons as an infielder in the minor leagues with the Giants and Yankees before joining the Yankees’ minor league coaching staff in 2009.  He last served as a manager at the minor league level in 2012, with the club’s Single-A affiliate in Charleston. From 2013 to 2017, Mendoza served as a roving defensive instructor in the Yankees’ organization before being promoted to the major league coaching staff prior to the 2018 season as an infield coach. He received his final promotion with the Yankees upon being named bench coach to manager Aaron Boone shortly after the 2019 season and has remained in that role for the past four years.

After 18 years with the Yankees organization, Mendoza now heads from the Bronx to Queens to take over for Buck Showalter as manager of the Mets. Mendoza will step into the role just as newly-minted president of baseball operations David Stearns steps into his own new role with the club after being hired for the role back in September.

The duo have inherited a Mets team coming off of a difficult season. After winning 101 games in 2022 and adding the likes of Justin Verlander, David Robertson, Kodai Senga, and Jose Quintana while committing more than $200MM to re-sign Edwin Diaz and Brandon Nimmo, the club fell well below expectations in 2023. Verlander, Robertson, and Max Scherzer were all traded away at the deadline as the Mets were rumored to begin looking toward 2025 for their return to contention. Ultimately, the club posted a 75-87 record in 2023, leaving them a whopping 29 games back of the Braves in the NL East and nine games out of the final NL Wild Card spot.

Though Mendoza has now landed in Queens, the Mets were far from the only team interested in him as a potential managerial hire this offseason. The Guardians reportedly had Mendoza as a potential favorite to replace Terry Francona in Cleveland before ultimately giving the job to Stephen Vogt earlier today, while the Padres reportedly interviewed Mendoza to replace Bob Melvin in San Diego earlier this week.

Just as Mendoza had other opportunities potentially on the table outside of New York, he was hardly the only candidate for the managerial role with the Mets. The club reportedly spoke to the likes of A’s manager Mark Kotsay and Cubs bench coach Andy Green, but much of their attention this offseason has seemingly been directed towards longtime Brewers manager Craig Counsell, who was widely regarded as the club’s preferred candidate and a potential favorite for the position due to his long-standing relationship with Stearns before he ultimately decided on joining the Cubs in a surprise move this afternoon.

Jon Heyman and Joel Sherman of the New York Post first reported Mendoza’s hiring. Andy Martino of SNY reported the salary terms.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Managerial Notes: Counsell, Mets, Guardians, Astros, Padres

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The Mets are approaching a decision on who will take the reins from Buck Showalter as the club’s new manager, per SNY’s Andy Martino, with a decision from star manager Craig Counsell expected in the next few days. That, Martino notes, seems to set the Mets up to act quickly regarding their own managerial vacancy; if Counsell settles on the Mets, the Mets will of course hire him for the position, while Martino suggests that Yankees bench coach Carlos Mendoza is another “very strong” candidate for the role. Martino implies that Counsell and Mendoza are regarded as the two finalists for the role, noting that the “only scenario” that could hold up the manager search in Queens is both Counsell and Mendoza electing to take jobs elsewhere.

That’s not necessarily a completely far-fetched scenario, however. After all, Counsell seems likely to have his pick between the Mets, Guardians, and the incumbent Brewers, all of whom appear to be prioritizing Counsell as their top option to lead their club in the dugout next year. It’s unclear where Counsell will ultimately land, reports have indicated that Counsell will at least offer Milwaukee a chance to match whatever salary offer he receives from New York and Cleveland. If Counsell does wind up returning to Milwuakee, Paul Hoynes of cleveland.com relayed recently that the favorites for the job with the Guardians would then be Mendoza and Mariners coach Stephen Vogt.

That creates at least the possibility of a situation where the Brewers retain Counsell while the Guardians land Mendoza, leaving the Mets unsure about who their next manager will be. Cubs bench coach and former Padres manager Andy Green as well as current A’s manager Mark Kotsay have both been noted as possible candidates for the manager job in New York in the past, and the Mets are known to be searching for an external candidate, specifically.

More managerial notes from around the game…

  • The Astros could be nearing the end of their search for a manager to replace veteran skipper Dusty Baker, who retired at the end of the 2023 season. Per USA Today’s Bob Nightengale, GM Dana Brown is “pushing” for the organization to promote bench coach Joe Espada to take over for Baker in the role. That being said, even an endorsement from Brown doesn’t necessarily guarantee the job will go to Espada; after all, as recent reports have indicated that both owner Jim Crane and adviser Jeff Bagwell will have “immense say” over who takes the reins from Baker in the dugout when all is said and done. Former Tigers and Angels manager Brad Ausmus along with third base coach Omar Lopez are among the other rumored contenders for the managerial gig in Houston.
  • Before the Padres settled on Bob Melvin to manage the club during the 2021-22 offseason, Tom Krasovic of the San Diego Union-Tribune indicates that president of baseball operations met with former Padres and Giants manager Bruce Bochy regarding his interest in the position. Krasovic relays that per Bochy’s agent Tony Attanasio, Preller and Bochy met twice that offseason in Bochy’s home in Nashville, TN. Attanasio suggests that Bochy wasn’t especially interested in returning to San Diego, and of course the club wound up hiring Melvin for the role instead. For his part, Bochy would return to the game as skipper of the Rangers in 2023, leading the club to its first World Series championship in franchise history.

Padres To Interview Carlos Mendoza

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The Padres will interview Carlos Mendoza this weekend as part of their managerial search, reports Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune. The Yankee bench coach has also sat down with the Mets and Guardians about their respective vacancies.

According to Acee, Mendoza is the fourth candidate to meet with San Diego brass since Bob Melvin left the organization. Internal options Ryan Flaherty and Mike Shildt have already interviewed. The other appears to be Angels infield coordinator Benji Gil, as Acee notes the Friars were impressed by Gil during a sit-down earlier in the week. Former Angels skipper Phil Nevin is reportedly of interest, although it’d seem he has yet to officially interview.

Mendoza, 43, has never managed in the majors. The Venezuela native managed for two seasons in the low minors with the Yankees in the early 2010s. He has otherwise worked in various coaching capacities for New York since concluding his minor league playing career in 2009. He joined Aaron Boone’s MLB staff as infield coach going into the 2018 campaign and has held the bench coach title for the last four seasons. In addition to Cleveland and the Mets, Mendoza has earned managerial consideration from the White Sox and Red Sox in previous offseasons and from the Giants this fall before they hired Melvin.

San Diego is one of six teams with a current vacancy. The Angels, Astros and Brewers are also presently without a bench boss. Acee writes that the Padres could tab their new skipper within the next week.

Latest On Mets’ Managerial Search

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The Mets are one of several teams looking for a new manager, with Buck Showalter having been fired last month. Jon Heyman of the New York Post reports that Craig Counsell, seen as some as the favorite for the gig, is heading to New York today with an interview to take place in the coming days. Meanwhile, Andy Martino of SNY reports the club is narrowing the field and will make a hire within the week, with Carlos Mendoza and Athletics’ manager Mark Kotsay also in the mix with Counsell. Martino adds that Astros’ bench coach Joe Espada did not interview for the Mets.

The fit with Counsell has been speculated upon for quite some time. David Stearns was general manager and president of baseball operations with the Brewers for many years, overlapping with Counsell’s time as skipper in Milwaukee. Stearns was recently hired by the Mets for the POBO job with that club and one of his first actions was to fire Showalter, immediately causing many to assume that Counsell would follow Stearns to Queens.

Counsell was under contract with the Brewers through the end of October but the Mets received permission to interview him last week. It seems that interview has still not officially taken place, though Martino reports that he did speak to the club on the phone. He has also interviewed with the Guardians and has attracted the interest of the Astros. While a return to Milwaukee could still be possible, it seems Counsell is being thorough in assessing his options.

Mendoza’s involvement in the search has previously been reported but Kotsay is a new entry. He is currently the manager of the A’s, having been hired to be the bench boss of that club prior to the 2022 campaign. The club has been terrible in that time but that could hardly be blamed on the skipper since the A’s have been aggressively rebuilding, trading away just about every established big league player making a notable salary.

If the Mets are seriously interested in Kotsay, they may have to work out an arrangement with the A’s. Oakland let Bob Melvin jump to the Padres prior to hiring Kotsay, not asking the Padres for any compensation in return. It was speculated that the A’s were happy to let Melvin walk to save on his salary, which was reported to be about $4MM per year. It’s unknown how much Kotsay is making but it’s presumably less than that. Whether the A’s would have any reluctance to letting their manager jump ship this time is unknown.

Espada has been the bench coach in Houston since 2018 and has been connected to various managerial openings since then. He has yet to move on from that gig and it’s unclear if the lack of interview with the Mets was a decision of his or of the Mets. The Astros have their own managerial vacancy with Dusty Baker stepping down and Espada has been floated as a possible fit for that job, though it doesn’t seem as though that club is in a hurry to fill that vacancy.

Mets Interview Carlos Mendoza, Andy Green In Managerial Search

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The Mets have interviewed Yankees bench coach Carlos Mendoza for their managerial vacancy, per Joel Sherman of the New York Post. SNY’s Andy Martino indicates that Mendoza is actually in the midst of a second-round interview today after interviewing for the first time last week and receiving a callback. Sherman also reports that the club has interviewed Cubs bench coach Andy Green, though it’s unclear if that’s a first or second interview.

Mendoza, 43, spent 13 seasons as a minor league player before joining the Yankees’ minor league coaching staff in 2009. He joined the big league coaching staff as an infield coach in 2017 before being promoted to bench coach following the 2019 season. Green, on the other hand, participated in parts of four big league seasons during his playing career, including the 2009 season as a member of the Mets. Since retiring, Green served briefly as third base coach of the Diamondbacks before being hired to manage the Padres prior to the 2016 season. Green managed in San Diego for four seasons before joining the Cubs’ coaching staff as bench coach prior to the 2020 campaign.

The pair have drawn interest from other clubs for managerial vacancies, as well. After drawing occasional managerial interest in recent years, Mendoza was among the likeliest candidates to take over for Gabe Kapler as manager of the Giants prior to the club securing permission to interview Bob Melvin. In addition, both coaches have been interviewed by the Guardians. If hired in Cleveland, either coach would step into the shoes of longtime manager Terry Francona following his recent retirement.

Should Mendoza depart the Bronx for another club this offseason, Martino notes that the Yankees could look to promote third base coach Luis Rojas, himself a former Mets manager, to the position. Though Rojas’s contract with the Yankees is up this offseason, Martino makes clear the the club has interest in retaining him, either as bench coach or in his current role as third base coach. It’s not yet clear what direction the Cubs could go in if they wind up needing to replace Green. Chicago already lost a key member of the club’s staff this offseason when Craig Breslow departed the Cubs’ front office to take the vacant GM role in Boston.

That the Mets are moving on to a second interview with Mendoza suggests that the club’s interest in his services next year is strong, though Sherman still refers to Brewers manager Craig Counsell as the “favorite” for the Mets job. Of course, Counsell has plenty of options beyond New York that could complicate the club’s pursuit of his services; Counsell has received interest from the Astros, the Brewers hope to retain him in Milwaukee on a new contract, and he’s already interviewed with the Guardians. Curiously, while MLB Network’s Jon Morosi has indicated that Counsell and the Mets have discussed the club’s managerial vacancy, Martino makes clear that Counsell has not had a formal interview with Mets brass to this point.

With the Mets apparently advancing to a second round of interviews for other candidates before sitting down with Counsell for a first interview it’s possible, speculatively speaking, that the club hopes to move through the interview process with other candidates so that they can act quickly upon Counsell’s decision regarding where he will manage in 2024. If that’s the case, it’s unclear what other candidates could be in the mix beyond Mendoza and Green, as details regarding the managerial search in New York have been few and far between this offseason. While Rangers associate manager Will Venable reportedly declined to interview for the position last month, Mendoza, Green, and Counsell are the only publicly known candidates for the position at this point.

NL Notes: Giants, Schumaker, Kelly

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The Giants recently signed veteran skipper Bob Melvin to a three-year deal, filling their managerial vacancy ahead of what could be a busy offseason. However, if they had not been able to woo Melvin, they likely would have hired either Mariners bullpen coach Stephen Vogt or Yankees bench coach Carlos Mendoza (per John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle). The only other candidates to receive an interview were Giants coaches Alyssa Nakken, Kai Correa, and Mark Hallberg, although the team also expressed interest in Red Sox player information coach Jason Varitek, Angels third base coach Bill Haselman, and Rangers special assistant Nick Hundley.

Mendoza’s candidacy comes as something of a surprise; he is seen as a possible contender for the Guardians managerial opening, but he had not previously been linked to the Giants.

After four years as a player in the Yankees farm system, Mendoza moved into a minor league coaching role in 2009. Over the next nine seasons, he took on various coaching roles at various levels before he was promoted to the big league staff ahead of the 2018 campaign. He spent two years as the infield coach and has been Aaron Boone’s bench coach since 2020.

More coaching and managerial news from around the Senior Circuit…

  • Jon Heyman of the New York Post identifies Marlins manager Skip Schumaker as a potential target for the Padres – the team loved him during his tenure as a coach in San Diego – although it doesn’t seem likely that the Marlins will give him permission to interview with another club. The 2024 season will be the last guaranteed year on the skipper’s contract, but Miami has a club option for the 2025 campaign. Still, Heyman suggests the rookie manager might already be looking to move on; he is reportedly upset with the way the team pushed former GM Kim Ng out of her role. Ng hired Schumaker last October, and presumably, he planned on working with her for more than a single season.
  • Heyman also brings up Pirates bench coach Don Kelly, dubbing the former utility player a “future manager” – although he doesn’t link him to any specific teams. In fact, Kelly isn’t planning to throw his hat in the ring for any of the managerial openings around the league. Following the recent passing of his father-in-law Tom Walker, he would prefer to remain close to family in Pittsburgh, where he has spent the past four seasons working under manager Derek Shelton.

Organization Notes: Counsell, Hazen, Guardians, Yankees

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When the Brewers exited the postseason following a sweep at the hands of Arizona, it led to renewed speculation regarding the future of club manager Craig Counsell. Counsell has remained steadfast in his desire to wait out the 2023 campaign before discussing a potential contract extension in Milwaukee, despite owner Mark Attanasio making clear the club’s desire to retain him for 2024 and beyond. Previous reporting has indicated that Counsell figures to continue managing in 2024, though whether or not the Wisconsin-native will remain in Milwaukee is yet to be determined.

Now, it seems as though Counsell’s fate might take longer to decide than initially expected. According to Mark W. Sanchez of the New York Post, the manager’s contract with the Brewers will not expire until October 31. Sanchez adds that it appears that any club who wishes to discuss a potential job in their organization with Counsell before the end of the month will need to seek permission from the Brewers to do so. As Sanchez notes, with plenty of managerial searches ongoing around baseball this offseason, any club that decides to wait on Counsell’s potential availability runs the risk of missing out on other preferred candidates who take a job elsewhere before the end of October.

Cleveland, San Francisco and Anaheim are all on the hunt for a new manager, though Counsell has been most frequently speculated as a possible manager for the Mets, who recently hired former Brewers president of baseball operations David Stearns, who Counsell managed under from 2016 to 2022. For Stearns’s part, he’s previously indicated that the club plans to take its time with the hiring process and cast “a wide net” in their search for the next Mets manager.

More personnel news from around the league…

  • The Guardians are in search of a new manager for the first time in over a decade thanks to Terry Francona’s retirement, and Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports that one candidate for the role is Yankees bench coach Carlos Mendoza. Per Sherman, Cleveland has already contacted Mendoza in hopes of interviewing him for the role. It’s a process that Mendoza, 43, is familiar with; he’s interviewed for several managerial positions in the past, most recently with the White Sox last season. Mendoza joined the Yankees in 2009 as a member of their minor league coaching staff and eventually worked his way up to a role on the big league coaching staff in 2017 before becoming the bench coach for manager Aaron Boone following the 2019 season, a role he’s fulfilled ever since.
  • Diamondbacks GM Mike Hazen recently signed an extension with the club that will keep him in Arizona through 2028, with a club option for 2029. While Hazen was rumored as a potential candidate to take over in the Red Sox front office for Chaim Bloom, who the club fired just before the end of the 2023 campaign, Hazen made clear to team president Derrick Hall that he had no interest in leaving Arizona. As relayed by MLB.com’s Steve Gilbert, Hazen said that while he has family in Boston, he feels committed to the Diamondbacks, with an end goal of a deep playoff run and World Series championship. “That’s not done,” Hazen said, “We’re not even close to that yet.”

White Sox Have Interviewed Carlos Mendoza

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8:10pm: Mendoza actually interviewed with the White Sox nearly two weeks ago, Bruce Levine of 670 The Score reports (via Twitter). He has not had a second interview, although there’s no indication to this point that he’s squarely out of the running.

9:27am: The White Sox have gotten permission to interview Yankees bench coach Carlos Mendoza in their managerial search, reports Jon Heyman of the New York Post (Twitter link). It isn’t clear whether Mendoza has already sat down with Chicago brass or is planning to over the coming days, but he marks a new entrant into the mix.

Mendoza, 42, has spent more than a decade in the coaching ranks. A Venezuela native, he began his career as a player in the Giants system back in 1997. He played professionally for 12 years in the San Francisco and Yankees organizations, briefly topping out at Triple-A. After the 2009 campaign, he transitioned into coaching in the New York farm system. He spent the 2011-12 seasons managing at the lower levels of the organization, and he worked his way onto the MLB coaching staff by 2018.

Over the past five seasons, Mendoza has worked on manager Aaron Boone’s staff. He broke in as an infield instructor and was bumped up to bench coach going into the 2020 campaign. A year later, he got looks from the Tigers and Red Sox in their managerial searches. Those respective positions ultimately went to A.J. Hinch and Alex Cora, but Mendoza was reportedly among the final five under consideration for the Boston job.

The White Sox are the only team without a manager currently in place. Tony La Russa held the position for the past two years, but he stepped away from the team late in the season due to health concerns and subsequently announced he wouldn’t return to the role in 2023.

Thus far, Chicago is known to have interviewed bench coach Miguel Cairo (who served as interim manager for the stretch run while La Russa was out), Royals bench coach Pedro Grifol, Astros bench coach Joe Espada and former Chicago bench boss Ozzie Guillén. They’ve also been tied to Braves third base coach Ron Washington, although it isn’t known if the sides officially sat down at any point.

It seems they’ve started to narrow down their list of potential candidates. Over the weekend, MLB.com’s Scott Merkin reported that Espada was no longer in consideration. Heyman adds that Washington and Guillén are also unlikely to land the position at this point.

Red Sox Down To Three Managerial Candidates

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The Red Sox are beginning to narrow the list of managerial candidates they’re considering, MLB Network’s Jon Heyman reports (via Twitter). While five finalists have been previously reported — former manager Alex Cora, Phillies director of integrative baseball performance Sam Fuld, Pirates bench coach Don Kelly, Marlins bench coach James Rowson and Yankees bench coach Carlos Mendoza — Heyman characterizes Cora and Fuld as the favorites.

Alex Speier of the Boston Globe also suggests that the search is nearing a conclusion, reporting that Mendoza and one other finalist have been informed they’re no longer in the running. Cora and Fuld are indeed among the three remaining finalists, per Speier, who adds that a decision is expected to be made “soon.” While the widespread expectation has been that the Red Sox will simply re-hire Cora, Heyman notes that Fuld is seen as having a “very real” chance at winning the gig.

Fuld’s name was only linked to the Boston job less than a week ago, though the 38-year-old has past ties to Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom since both were members of the Rays organization (Fuld as a player, Bloom in the baseball operations department) from 2011-13. Multiple teams have expressed interest in Fuld for managerial positions in the past but he has declined interviews, so the fact that he has been speaking with the Red Sox is perhaps itself notable. Fuld was hired to his current position by former Phillies GM Matt Klentak, though since Klentak is no longer running Philadelphia’s front office, this could hint at why Fuld may now be open to exploring job opportunities on other teams.

Fuld has never worked as a coach or manager at any level, making him an interesting contrast to a World Series-winning manager like Cora. The unknown candidate, whether it’s Rowson or Kelly, would also be a first-time manager.  Rowson has worked as Miami’s bench coach for a season and over a decade of experience as a Major League hitting coach and minor league hitting instructor.  Since retiring from playing after the 2016 season, Kelly spent two season as a scout for the Tigers before moving onto coaching roles with the Astros and Pirates.

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