During the offseason, the New York Yankees made some major coaching changes. One of the biggest was the replacement long time pitching coach Larry Rothschild. The 65-year-old Rothschild was replaced by Matt Blake of the Cleveland Indians, mostly due to his more up to date understanding of the newest pitching technologies.
The Yankees also have a new catching coach in Tanner Swanson, previously the Twins’ minor league catching coordinator, he will be the quality-control coach and oversee all of the catchers in the organization. Phil Nevin (third base), Marcus Thames (hitting), and Reggie Willits (first base and outfielders) were said to remain in their positions.
One of the most significant changes to manager Aaron Boone’s staff is that he will have a new bench coach next to him in the dugout. The Yankees promoted former infield and quality control coach Carlos Mendoza to be Aaron Boone’s bench coach. Besides his wealth of knowledge of the game, he speaks fluent Spanish which should be a big help with the Latin players. Mendoza replaces Josh Bard who was Boone’s personal choice when he took the helm of the New York Yankees.
Mendoza has a rich history in baseball as a player, coach, and manager. 2020 marks Mendoza’s twelvef year with the Yankee organization. As a player, he spent thirteen years in the minor leagues. He was an infielder with the San Francisco Giants and Yankees organizations, as well as three years for the independent Pensacola Pelicans. Medoza was a switch-hitter with a .232 batting average with 97 doubles, 15 triples, 19HR, and 200RBI in 706 career minor league games. He was drafted by the Giant as a non- drafted free agent in 1996.
His coaching career with the New York Yankees started as a coach with short-season Single-A Staten Island Yankees in 2009, the job he assumed with the Charleston River Dogs in 2010. He made his managerial debut with the Gulf Coast Yankees in 2011 and led the team to their fourth league championship. In 2012 he was back with the River Dogs as it’s manager. He also served as manager of the Scottsdale Scorpions of the Arizona Fall League in both 2012 and 2016.
In 2013 he was promoted to the Major League New York Yankees as infield coordinator. In 2018 he was named Major League quality control and infield coach, the position he held until the end of the 2019 season. On November 11th, 2019, Mendoza was named the bench coach of the Yankees.
As Aaron Boone’s bench coach he will be his right-hand man, and directs field operations, helps Boone in decision making, and often relays scouting information to players on the field. He also becomes acting manager when Aaron Boone is ejected from a game or is ill and can’t manage the team. Bench coaches seldom make the news but are one of the most important members of the team.
Mendoza is married to his wife Francis, the couple has two sons, Adrian and Andres. He attended U.E. Colegio Andrés Bello (college) in Barquisimeto, Venezuela. Mendoza has an unusual ritual that he admitted to the YES Network’s Michael Kay. Before each game at Yankee Stadium Mendoza ceremoniously tosses exactly 40 sunflower seeds in the grass behind home plate (one for each man on the extended Yankees roster). The prayer he recites after he tosses the seeds is unknown to the public. This year he will be praying for a Yankee World Championship.