Earlier this week, former New York Mets manager Carlos Mendoza was named as the the third base coach for the Philadelphia Phillies.

Ordinarily, that wouldn't register too much for Seattle Mariners fans, but it did on Saturday when Jorge Castillo of ESPN reported that Mendoza was in the mix for the Mariners managerial job until withdrawing his name.

Mendoza spent parts of three seasons as the manager of the Mets, going 206-199. He made the playoffs in 2024, getting to the National League Championship Series before losing to the Los Angeles Dodgers, who won the first of back-to-back World Series titles.

After signing Juan Soto before the 2025 season, the Mets were expected to contend for a championship themselves, but they disappointed, going just 83-79 and missing the playoffs.

Then, after trading for Freddy Peralta before the start of the 2026 season, they were expected to contend again, but they were just 34-47 under Mendoza when he was fired about 81 games.

Well, we already know that the M's will be interviewing former Houston Astros manager Joe Espada for the job, and we now also know that they are interested in former Minnesota Twins manager Rocco Baldelli.

So far, everything we have heard suggests that the M's are going after a manager with prior experience, which Jerry Dipoto indicated was important to them at his end-of-season press conference. He said it was preferred, but that it was not a requirement.

--Well, the managerial search is really all-consuming for the M's right now. They haven't said there's a timeline on getting this hire done, but the longer that they wait, the more the probable MLB lockout will impact things within the organization.

Beyond that, the M's are readying for the start of free agency, which begins five days after the end of the World Series.

The Mariners will see several players become free agents, including Randy Arozarena and JP Crawford. They will also have multiple free agent needs, including in left field, at third base and in the bullpen.

--The Arizona Fall League is also going on right now, and a handful of M's prospects are playing, including C/OF Boston Smith. Smith, who is seeing action in left field for the Peoria Javelinas, was acquired from the Chicago White Sox in the trade deadline deal that sent Luis Castillo to Chicago.