Carlos Mendoza is in the final year of his New York Mets contract. The lame duck situation puts added pressure on him to get off to a strong start. It doesn’t help that the coaching staff already underwent major changes in the offseason, but holding onto the skipper at least shows some level of faith from the front office.
It’s not actually that unusual for a manager or front office executive to go into a season with an expiring contract. MLB Trade Rumors ran through the league. 19 teams have or are speculated to employ someone on an expiring contract.