Yankees coach Carlos Mendoza a candidate for Red Sox manager

Yankees bench coach Carlos Mendoza has talked with the Red Sox and Tigers about their respective managerial openings.

Yankees hitting coach Marcus Thames, a former Tiger player, has also spoken to Detroit, who is looking for Ron Gardenhire’s replacement.

The Red Sox fired Ron Roenicke in September. He landed the job when Alex Cora and the team parted ways in mid-January as he was heavily implicated in MLB’s investigation into the Astros’ 2017 sign-stealing scheme. Cora was manager AJ Hinch’s bench coach in Houston.

Hinch, who was suspended a year and then fired, is viewed as the front-runner for the Tigers’ job, but he has to wait until the World Series ends, and his suspension is over before talking to the Tigers. The same goes for Cora, who was also suspended for a year. Some believe Cora might be able to return to the Red Sox.

Other names in the mix for the Detroit job are Dodgers first base coach George Lombard, Pirates bench coach Dan Kelly, Royals bench coach Pedro Grifol and Lloyd McClendon, who managed the Tigers after Gardenhire retired.

Mendoza was elevated from quality control and infield coach to Aaron Boone’s bench coach following the 2019 season, to keep him after other teams looked at hiring him.

The 41-year-old Mendoza has two years of minor league managing experience in the low levels of the Yankees’ system. He also has managed two seasons in the Arizona Fall League.

This past season was Mendoza’s 12th straight with the Yankees’ organization.

Mendoza spent 13 years in the minors playing for the Giants, Yankees and independent Pensacola. His last season playing was 2009 with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (Triple-A) and Trenton (Double-A). Later that year, he was named a coach at Staten Island (short season-A).

While general manager Brian Cashman said he didn’t anticipate changes to Boone’s coaching staff after the Yankees were eliminated by the Rays in the ALDS, bullpen coach Mike Harkey’s name has been linked to the pitching coach opening in Philadelphia that surfaced when Bryan Price informed the team he was retiring, despite having two years remaining on a contract.

Harkey was a teammate of Phillies manager Joe Girardi with the Cubs and was the Yankees’ bullpen coach when Girardi managed in The Bronx. Harkey, 54, was Arizona’s pitching coach in 2014-15.

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