There will be no reunion.
According to Newsday, former New York Mets manager Willie Randolph will not be joining Carlos Mendoza's staff as bench coach. However, the report revealed that Randolph could rejoin the organization in another capacity.
Randolph managed the Mets from 2005-2008 and brought them to Game 7 of the NLCS in 2006.
Randolph's name was brought up at Mendoza's introductory press conference as one of the Mets' new skipper's main influences and mentors. This created speculation that Randolph could potentially be Mendoza's bench coach.
"I learned a lot the past few years from Willie Randolph, who I consider a friend," Mendoza said. "This is a guy that -- I don't know if he knows it -- he had a big impact on my coaching career."
Following his news conference, Mendoza was asked if he is considering Randolph as a possibility for bench coach, to which he replied that he "greatly respects" him.
“We have a really good relationship and I consider him not only as a mentor but as a friend,” Mendoza said. “There’s a bunch of names that we’re considering right now and we’ll see where it goes.”
In addition to managing the Mets, Randolph was a coach on the New York Yankees' staff from 1994-2004, coached on the Milwaukee Brewers' staff from 2009-2010 and was on Buck Showalter's staff with the Baltimore Orioles in 2011.
The Mets will continue their search for a bench coach, as Jeremy Hefner will return as pitching coach and Eric Chavez is reverting back to his role as hitting coach with Jeremy Barnes getting demoted back to co-hitting coach.
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