A well-known New York sports commentator offered an interesting idea this week. Is Carlos Mendoza's replacement as New York Mets manager waiting in the wings on his staff?
Mendoza faced a difficult task when he had to replace Buck Showalter as manager of the NY Mets in 2024. However, in his first season in Queens after being the bench coach for the New York Yankees, the 46-year-old led the club on a magical trip to the NLCS. It seemed as if the team had found the person to be its captain for the next decade.
Then in 2025 the story changed completely on Mendoza. After adding Juan Soto to the roster heading into the 2024 NLCS, the NY Mets looked like one of the best teams in MLB in the first half. However, the manager could not pull the right levers and save them from a surprise relegation at the end of the season, resulting in missing the playoffs entirely.
While there were rumors that Mendoza might lose his job due to the team's poor performance, the team instead decided to retain him but completely changed their coaching staff. One of the interesting appointments they made in October was Kai Correa. A man who has been the bench coach and interim manager for the San Francisco Giants and was a key part of the Cleveland Guardians' staff in 2024.
Is Kai Correa ready to replace Carlos Mendoza if the NY Mets stumble early this season?
Many view Correa as an up-and-coming MLB coach, and at only 37 years old, he is a savvy kid in the industry. That's why popular WFAN morning radio host Greg Gianotti suggested this week that Correa was specifically hired to take over for Mendoza if the NY Mets get off to a bad start in 2026.
Gianotti claimed, "I think if the Mets have a bad start, or say they're under .500 around Memorial Day, Carlos Mendoza is going to be fired and this guy Kai Correa is going to be the manager." “I said this when they hired this guy because he has no connection to the current Mets or Carlos Mendoza.
"He's an analytics guy who has come up through the ranks. It's almost as if David Stearns said, 'Let's get this guy on our staff now because in a few years he's going to be a manager somewhere else.'
This is a sensible idea. And there's no doubt that Mendoza will be on a very short leash and will have to get results with a very expensive and talented NY Mets roster.
