The New York Yankees may lose one of their most reliable coaches to the White Sox. Chicago is looking for a new manager and Carlos Mendoza, who is the bench coach for the Yankees, is among those on the top of their hiring list.
According to Jon Heyman of the New York Post, the White Sox were permitted to interview Carlos Mendoza. But Bruce Levine of 670 The Score claims that he had an interview in Chicago two weeks ago. However, there is no confirmation of any second-round interview of him.
Carlos Mendoza, who is 42 years old, is in his 14th season as a coach for the Yankees. This is his third season as the team’s bench coach under manager Aaron Boone. In 2009 and 2010, he was a coach for Class A Staten Island and Charleston in the minor leagues in New York. In 2011, he became the manager of the Gulf Coast League Yankees. In his first season, he led the team to the championship. In 2012, he was the manager of Class A Charleston. In 2012 and 2016, he was the manager of the Scottsdale Scorpions in the Arizona Fall League.
The White Sox have had a hard time finding a manager for more than a month. Their list of other probables includes ex-Kansas City bench coach Pedro Grifol, Houston’s Joe Espada, Atlanta’s third base coach Ron Washington, and current Royals coach Matt Quatraro. Ex-Chicago manager Ozzie Guillen and the present caretaker manager Miguel Cairo are also in the race. However, insider reports have ruled out Guillen, Washington, and Espada.
Carlos Mendoza was signed by the Giants as an undrafted free agent in 1996. He spent 13 years in the minor leagues with the Giants and Yankees, as well as three years in the independent Central League. He was a versatile player who played every position except catcher and center field, but he never made it higher than AAA.
When Aaron Boone took over as manager of the Yankees in 2018, Carlos Mendoza became part of the team’s staff for the first time. He was hired as the team’s quality-control coach. He was the infield coach for the team before he became the bench coach. He also filled in as the team’s manager for a short time when Boone had surgery in 2021.
Yankees’ general manager Brian Cashman has spoken highly of Mendoza’s baseball future:
“Carlos is extremely talented … the players trust him. He’s a superior candidate for the next chair within the industry and we’re fortunate right now that he’s here. He’s served us well every step of the way in whatever capacity (he’s been in)… His day is coming. He’s going to be a major league manager and he’s going to be good at it.”
The White Sox’s search for a new manager is going on for a long time. They have been very secretive and prefer to make an in-depth evaluation of all prospective managerial candidates. Since the GM Winter Meetings are only a week after the end of the World Series, the team will probably try to decide then.
Carlos Mendoza was among the managerial finalists for the Red Sox and the Tigers before the 2021 season began.
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