Mets Officially Hire Carlos Mendoza

It’s official — the Mets formally announced on Monday that Carlos Mendoza will be their next manager.

“We are excited to begin this new chapter of Mets baseball,” Mets owners Steve and Alex Cohen said, according to MLB.com. “Carlos brings a wealth of experience to the Mets that includes more than a decade managing and coaching in the minors as well as serving as bench coach the last four years with our cross-town rivals. Carlos is full of energy, passion and it was easy to see he’ll have a great rapport with both our veteran and young players.”

Mendoza seemed equally excited about his first managing gig.

“I couldn’t be more excited to manage this tremendous franchise,” Mendoza said. “I want Mets fans to know that I will pour every ounce of energy into this job and we share a common goal of bringing a championship to Queens. I’m proud to represent Venezuela and the Mets and I’m grateful Steve, Alex and David gave me this wonderful opportunity.”

I don’t know anything about Carlos Mendoza, so I can’t say whether this is a good hire or not. He is highly regarded around the league, but then again, so was Mickey Callaway when the Mets hired him.

But I will pose the question of whether he is an upgrade over Buck Showalter. On the surface, it doesn’t seem to be. A first-time manager versus a four-time Manager of the Year? I don’t think so.

But this is Davis Stearns’s team now. And he clearly is more comfortable with Mendoza (or anyone, for that matter) than Showalter. So that’s just the reality with which we have live as Mets fans. I guess we just have to put our trust in Stearns and hope he makes the right decisions. But so far, Mendoza for Showalter does not look like a slam dunk.