MLB WINTER MEETINGS

December 4, 2023

Carlos Mendoza

New York Mets

Press Conference

Q. How have your past few weeks been?

CARLOS MENDOZA: Great. Busy, but great. Putting together a coaching staff, as you guys saw this morning. Took a lot of time. A lot of phone calls, a lot of conversations. Talking to David, front office people, a lot of people with a lot of recommendations. It was a hard process, I'm going to call it, but excited with the group of guys that we got on board.

Q. How well did you know John Gibbons before this and what does he bring?

CARLOS MENDOZA: I only met Gibby back in 2018 when he was still managing the Blue Jays. We knew him with the Yankees obviously. But pretty casual. Then when we started the process we started talking to a lot of people, and he was one of the candidates, one of the finalists and we connected right away.

He's a guy that his ability to connect with people, to relate, great personality. Managed for a long time. He's been with a lot of different teams, if you want to call it, superstars, young guys, he's got that ability to connect people from different backgrounds, not only players but coaches and front office people.

This was the case here. We were pretty excited to have him. The experience, the knowledge of the game, we feel like he's not only going to compliment myself, but the coaching staff, players, front office people and we're excited to have him.

Q. What did you like about the Severino signing and how confident are you he can be a factor for you guys?

CARLOS MENDOZA: Yeah, look, I go way back with Seve. I remember when he was signed with the Yankees back in 2011 and I watched him grow throughout the Minor League system and develop and become a Big League pitcher. I remember watching his first outing in the Big Leagues. I was in the Dominican Republic complex at the time, and it was a party when he was pitching, right. Then he became an All-Star twice.

Then he's been through a lot the past couple of years with injuries, as everybody knows. But talent, we saw it towards the end of the year, fast ball, live. Obviously the goal is to keep him healthy. This is something that we need to work on with him and his people and our people here. Excited to have him on board.

Q. What is he doing the last few months or next few months to get healthy and stay healthy? Is he doing anything different than he's done in years past?

CARLOS MENDOZA: Yeah, look, we got him not too long ago. I was able to talk to him and kind of get a feel for where he was at physically, mentally. He seems like he's in a good spot right now. Working with his trainers back home. He's planning on visiting some facilities.

And we finally were able to put our hands, our people from our medical department were able to just go through his medicals and all that. It's encouraging. It's something that he knows. He's maybe more athletic, some of those things physically that he feels like he needs to work on. As we move forward here, we'll have those conversations with him as well and our pitching coach and our training department.

Q. Watched him up close this past year in hindsight any ideas on what went wrong for him?

CARLOS MENDOZA: It's kind of hard to tell. He missed a lot of time early on with injuries. Then it was a struggle for him. Look, he went through a lot, but the one thing that he's got is he wants to take the ball. Whenever he can, he wants to take the ball. He's a competitor. We have seen it in the past, in the biggest stage, right, in New York. Biggest moment, he wants to be there, he wants to compete and that's what we are all excited about.

Q. Have you token with Starling Marte and Jeff McNeil and their status with their health right now?

CARLOS MENDOZA: Yeah, I spoke to both of 'em. I've been in touch with them. Seem to be doing pretty good. McNeil's been back and forth going to New York and getting checked out. Seems like he's going to be able to go through his normal off-season. My conversations with him were not concerned.

Same way with Starling. He's going through his normal routine in the Dominican. Planning on probably making a visit over there and with some of our people in the complex, and plan on meeting with Marte as well. But so far it's been great.

Q. How do you view Mauricio defensively going forward?

CARLOS MENDOZA: Special talent. He's got some great tools. His ability to play around the infield is a plus. He can play short, third, second. We're still a few weeks away before we have to make a decision, but I like the versatility, the tools. He's an exciting player.

Q. Do you have to make a decision at all or can you go in more open-minded with him defensively?

CARLOS MENDOZA: We're always open-minded, right. So we'll see where we're at when we get to Spring Training. And I'm excited to have him and get to know him and watch him play and perform.

Q. How do you see third base in general? You have three young players who were rookies last year, but how do you see sort of that position looking?

CARLOS MENDOZA: Yeah, look, the talent's there. We got Brett who is another really good-looking player. I spoke with him the other day. He's excited. Mauricio. We got -- we added Wendle.

So there's depth there, obviously. We're a few weeks away before we have to report and then make that final decision around the end of Spring Training. Hopefully we're in a position where we're going to have to make some difficult decisions because they're going to make it hard for us, but we're pretty excited.

Q. Are you looking at Wendle at third base, or is he another one in play?

CARLOS MENDOZA: Everywhere. I watched Wendle play when he was with the Rays a lot. This is a guy that's got that ability to play multiple positions. He's a plus defender not only at third base, he can play second, shortstop.

His presence in the clubhouse as well. This is a guy that wants to win. He's a competitor. He's a great teammate. And everything that we're hearing from people being with him, it's been great. Again, another guy that we're excited to have on our team.

Q. How many more starters do you think this rotation needs to be considered more complete, more competitive?

CARLOS MENDOZA: That's a good question. You can never have enough pitching, right. Dave is pretty busy. We added Seve. Obviously Quintana, Senga, Megill, a lot of the guys. We got -- but we're going to need arms. To get through 162-plus, you're going to need the depth, and we'll see where it ends up.

Q. The Mets used a six-man rotation a bunch last year. Have you talked about how you want to use five or six man yet?

CARLOS MENDOZA: We haven't had that discussion. I'm pretty sure we'll get there at some point. It's nothing new here, not only for the Mets but for baseball in general. Whether it's better to go six man, it depends where you're at on the schedule, it's not something you want to do throughout the whole year, that something that you want to take advantage of off-days, it depends on who is in your rotation, bullpen. There's a lot that goes into these decisions. But, yeah, it's baseball nowadays, right, so open to anything.

Q. You have a lot more infielders than outfielders right now. Are you looking at Megill more as a corner outfielder, or is he still kind of a second baseman?

CARLOS MENDOZA: Not necessarily. He's another guy that provides a lot of versatility. Can play second base, corner outfield, he's a plus defender, anywhere you put him in the game. He wants to win, he wants to contribute. It's early to tell, but it's a guy that won a batting champ last year, right. Excited to get to work with him and having a bounceback year.

Q. Several weeks on the job, what has surprised you most?

CARLOS MENDOZA: I don't know if I would say surprised. I'm just excited to get to know quality people. I feel like every day I keep meeting people and personalities. So I don't know that I would say anything that surprised me so far, but just conversations with players, front office people, staff, putting together the coaching staff has been exciting.

Q. What kind of reports are you getting on Edwin Díaz, and what kind of conversations have you had?

CARLOS MENDOZA: He can't wait to get going. I spoke with him a couple of weeks ago. Fully healthy, he's going through his off-season routines and preparation. He's excited. That's another guy that's been going back and forth, home and Puerto Rico and New York, getting checked out. And, yeah, I mean, he's one of those where we and can't wait to have him in Spring Training and get him going.

Q. Do you anticipate him being in normal Spring Training for him?

CARLOS MENDOZA: Yeah, I think we'll use -- talking to the pitching coaches and our medical department and even with Edwin, just to make sure we put a program in place here, maybe we use that as like rehab assignment if you want to call it. But it's something that we have to take our time and make sure that he's bouncing back. But the communication, line of communication between us and the player, in this case Edwin, is going to be important.

Q. What makes you think that he will have a bounceback year, Jeff McNeil?

CARLOS MENDOZA: Well he's hit pretty much everywhere he's played. Coming up there through the system, Minor Leagues, Big League level. I have no doubt that this guy's going to -- you don't win batting titles by accident. This guy's a gifted hitter. He's a guy that can spray the ball all over the field.

I remember having to position our infielders against him, it was difficult because he's a guy that would go the other way, he can pull it, he plays -- he's got that ability to manipulate the bat and put the bat on the ball. So I have no doubt that Jeff is going to be the player and the hitter he's capable of.

Q. The evaluation of this roster as a whole, and who have you relied upon to get to know the ins and outs of the roster so far?

CARLOS MENDOZA: Excited with the talent that we have on our team, especially from the position players side. We got Senga, who just finished second on the Rookie of the Year. Quintana. We got work to do on the pitching side. It's not a secret. David's been pretty vocal about it.

Excited with the talent that we currently have, especially some of the younger players that we have on our roster too. So excited.

Q. Do you think your DHs on your roster now or probably somebody that you're still going to get this winter?

CARLOS MENDOZA: (Laughing). That's a good one. I don't know. It's kind of too early to tell. Few weeks away, month away from opening day. We'll see how the winter unfolds.

Q. Who would you like your DH to be, a set guy each day or use that spot to rotate some players?

CARLOS MENDOZA: This is some of the conversations that me and David are having day-in and day-out. It's one of those where you want to keep it flexible for some of the other guys and use it as an off day, even though they're going to be in the lineup, yeah. But who knows, the right player shows up and you get an opportunity to add somebody that's going to make your team better, then I'm open to anything. Those are some of the conversations we're having.

Q. Santos, would you be comfortable using him, a guy that young, as the DH, or do you need him to be playing more every day?

CARLOS MENDOZA: You know, you just said it, he's a young guy, right, and part of the development is playing on the field too. It depends where we're at once we break camp going through Spring Training and all that.

I'm excited to have him, to get to work with him, watch him play on the field and continue to watch him grow and develop on the field, not only as a hitter but as a defender as well.

Q. What makes you excited to watch him?

CARLOS MENDOZA: Tools, everything. He's a young guy that put himself in a position to compete and earn playing time. I'm excited for that.

Q. What kind of a hitting coach are the Yankees getting with James Robinson? You go way back with him.

CARLOS MENDOZA: Quality person. I go back with James from our years in the Minor Leagues with the Yankees when he was a coordinator and I was one as well. His ability to connect with people, to relate with people in a lot of different personalities, not only players, coach, front office and be able to have that ability to blend the information with what the players feeling, they got a good one on James.

Q. Would you be comfortable going into Spring Training having open competition for a certain spot, like starting spots on the roster?

CARLOS MENDOZA: If I'm open to it? Yeah, I mean competition is always great. We're not going to shy away from competition. I think myself, David, we have been pretty vocal about it. I think competition's always a good thing. It's healthy. I think it's only going to make all of us better.

Q. What's the best part of the Winter Meetings for you?

CARLOS MENDOZA: Getting to know, getting to see a lot of familiar faces, people that I haven't seen in years, some of the people that I was just with not too long ago. It's been -- it's been great.

Q. Is this your first time at the Winter Meetings?

CARLOS MENDOZA: It's my second time. First time came over was when I first got the job to join Aaron Boone's staff with the Yankees, back in 2017.

Q. What is your overall outlook on diversity at the coaching level and the managing level league-wide?

CARLOS MENDOZA: It's great. I think it's six of us Latinos now getting the opportunity to manage at the Big League level, which is great. This is great opportunity for to us represent our the Latin community and just through this platform with Major League Baseball. Open up that door for future coaches that are in the Minor Leagues.

Diversity's always a good thing, and I'm humble, I'm proud of representing not only Venezuela but the Latin community, and very thankful for the Mets for giving me this great opportunity.

Q. Have any players reached out to you like Davey, Martinez, or Cora?

CARLOS MENDOZA: All of 'em. When I first got the job, I can tell you how many texts and phone calls I got from pretty much every manager in the league. I was pretty humbled by it. I even got an opportunity to talk to Tito Francona after I got the job, which for me was pretty humbling. Some of the guys like Kevin Cash, between the lines, you know, he gets intense, but the fact that people like them were reaching out to me was pretty humbling and something that I was very proud of.

Q. What things stick out? What advice sicks out?

CARLOS MENDOZA: I think the biggest thing is keep being you. You've gotten to this point for a reason, just keep being yourself, just keep being you and you're going to be fine. That's pretty much the consistent messaging that I got from a lot of the managers.

Q. Álvarez he's heard from a lot of friends and family in Venezuela. What's it been like for you to see the excitement back home?

CARLOS MENDOZA: It's been great. Got kind of crazy, to be honest with you, from Venezuela, people in Venezuela, not only family members but just the whole country. It was big news because second manager, full-time manager after Ozzie Guillén, it means a lot.

It's something that I'm pretty humble, proud, something that that I don't take lightly. I'm very proud to represent our country and the Latin community. Yeah, I think there's a lot of Mets fans now back in Venezuela.

Q. What do you make of the split between Álvarez and Narváez, and Narváez wants to play but Álvarez has obviously shown what he can do at the plate. How do you view the competition between the two?

CARLOS MENDOZA: Competition's great, right, and Francisco showed what he can do on the field, but Omar Narváez is a pretty good player too. I had an opportunity to be with him during the WBC. I spoke with him during the past couple of weeks, and I'm excited to have those -- not only those two, but we added some catching depth not too long ago.

And they're all great players. Competition is always fun. I will have those conversations with them, one-on-one, and making sure that everybody's on the same page.