DUNEDIN, Fla. — After what he described as the toughest days of his professional career, after the culmination of a dismal season and the dismissal of the majority of his coaching staff, Carlos Mendoza thought about what went wrong in 2025. About what he did wrong.
“I take pride in being a good communicator. I feel like I fell short,” the Mets manager told The Athletic on Monday. “It’s not that I didn’t talk to players. To be really good at what we do, you have to communicate at an elite level, and I don’t think I did that last year at times. That’s the biggest thing for me.
“You look back and whether it’s using the coaching staff, the medical staff, explaining a role to a player a little bit better — it’s not that I didn’t do it, but when you have high standards and high expectations, that’s the first thing that comes to mind.”
Communication has been a paramount emphasis for Mendoza since his hiring at the end of 2023. On the day of his introductory press conference, he hit that message hard: “Culture is driven by us — by the way we connect, by the way we think, by the way we value our culture, by the way we communicate each and every day. And that’s my goal to continue to drive that culture.”
Carlos Mendoza checks in with Bo Bichette, as having more productive conversations ranks high on the manager’s to-do list this season. (Rich Storry / Getty Images)
Mendoza’s communication skills proved vital in his first season in 2024, when his belief in the club’s roster despite a rocky start was ultimately rewarded with a trip to the NLCS.
However, multiple team sources pointed to Mendoza’s communication as occasionally lacking in 2025, while qualifying that it was a fixable issue.
“Communication can always be better,” one said last September. “I don’t think there’s a fatal flaw in that.”
Another this spring said Mendoza initiated the necessary conversations with players and staff last year, but that he didn’t always factor those discussions into his decisions as well as he could — essentially, that he could have listened better.
“It’s me knowing that I could have done this better, especially when you’re making tough decisions with the coaching staff,” Mendoza said. “Maybe I needed to address something I didn’t like at the time with a coach, and I didn’t do it.”
How does he make sure that doesn’t happen this season?
“It’s making sure you don’t let anything get by without addressing it,” he said. “One thing that I could say is, maybe I needed to address something on that particular day and didn’t do it.
“It’s being elite on a daily basis.”
As much as the decisions that Mendoza makes during games attract the attention and scrutiny of fans, his work behind the scenes is a bigger part of his job. (And, ultimately, what helps determine the quality of those in-game decisions.)
“The biggest thing as a manager or as a leader is everything that happens before 7 o’clock,” Mendoza said. “It’s making sure you’re touching every individual in the building on a personal level, on a professional level, showing that you care about who they are as humans. It’s making sure you’re connecting with guys and keeping the clubhouse as a place that they feel welcome, and there’s a family environment — while also challenging people and holding people accountable.”
Speaking of the clubhouse, Mendoza reiterated that he plays a significant role in setting that culture — even if he doesn’t believe it was a major factor in the club’s finish last season. His show of trust that had worked so well through 2024’s slump didn’t pay off this time around.
“Honestly, it was just hard because we didn’t get the job done on the field,” Mendoza said. “I don’t know if it was one of those, ‘We’re going to be fine, we’re going to be fine, we’re going to be fine,’ and then before you know it, you’re packing and going home. Again, that’s part of me as a leader, got to do a better job.”
Mendoza is entering the final year of his contract; the team holds an option for 2027 that it has not picked up. Coming off a down season, with a new coaching staff, in the last year of his deal, does Mendoza feel any extra pressure in 2026?
“Not really, especially here in New York,” he said. “There’s always going to be pressure; there’s high expectations. I see it as a great opportunity to do something special, especially looking at this roster. (Pressure) comes with the territory, and you just have to embrace it.”