Deesha
Thosar of the NY Daily News noted: “Rojas the son of legendary manager Felipe
Alou, worked his first full year on an MLB staff last season, and was the Mets’
first-ever quality control coach.”
She also had this quote from Brodie Van Wagenen: “[Rojas] has a good
finger on the pulse of this particular team,” Brodie Van Wagenen said. “He was
part of it last year, he was part of the momentum ride we had in the second
half of the year and the success we had. From our evaluation standpoint, that
was another separator for him versus some of the other candidates right now, is
he knows these guys. He knows how to communicate to them. Every returning
player on the roster has a relationship with him. That’s valuable to us at this
time.”
MLB.com
had “Everything you needed to know about Luis Rojas”: “Rojas, who also served as the team's outfield
coach in 2019, emerged as a fit on the Major League staff because of his
overall baseball acumen, as well as his familiarity with the young players on
the Mets' roster, said former Mets GM Omar Minaya…From 2017-18, Rojas managed
at Double-A Binghamton, leading the Rumble Ponies to a playoff berth in ’17. He
has also managed in Rookie ball (2011), Class A (2012-14) and Class A Advanced
(2015-16). Pete Alonso,
Jeff
McNeil, Dominic
Smith, Amed
Rosario, Brandon
Nimmo and Tomas Nido
were among the young Mets players under his watch at some point.”
He also managed current Mets Minor League players such as Ryder
Ryan, Andres
Gimenez, Steve
Villines, and Corey
Oswalt.
SNY.TV
had these quotes from Mets Prospects like Steve
Villines: "I only spent a couple weeks under Luis but I could tell
right away he is an advanced baseball mind. He's a manager that i really
enjoyed playing for!"; Matt
Blackham: “Coach Rojas understood that each of us has a different process
and he worked well with each of us. His ability to communicate and let me know
what I need to do to not only become a big leaguer, but also to become a
successful one was the perfect manager for a guy like me."
Per
SNY.TV Keith Hernandez weighed in: "This is kind of just my initial
reaction: I must admit I'm absolutely stunned at the choice -- not for any
negative reason," he said. "I'm not so concerned about how he handles
the press. He's a very bright guy, I think he'll be fine with the media. "My
concern is, and I believe that a manager has to be the leader of the team,
you're getting a very young manager with virtually no major league experience
taking over the team.”
Matt Netter of Mets
360 noted: “Just 38-years-old, Rojas will not only be the youngest managers in
Major League Baseball, but he’ll be younger than some relief pitchers and other
active players, including future Hall of Famer Albert
Pujols.”
Current Mets Players commented: Pete Alonso
– “Loved having Luis in ‘17 and ‘18 as my AA manager! It’s awesome playing
under him and having him on staff last year as well!!! Super pumped to have him
as the Jeffe.”; Marcus
Stroman - LUIS ROJAS! Love love love it. Loved being around him on the
bench last year. Always teaching and full of knowledge. Super laid back and
brings nothing but great vibes each and every day. Beyond even keel. Excited
even more for the year!
The MLB.com
announcement of the Luis Rojas hire includes video of Chris Russo’s take on the
hiring. “Can he handle the NY Media?…the talk shows?…We’ll have to wait and
see. We have no idea.”
John
Harper of SNY.TV says the Mets are taking a huge gamble with Luis Rojas. “The
more you hear about Luis Rojas, the more reason there is to believe he could be
a good major-league manager. But is he ready in 2020? Will his inexperience
cost the Mets in a win-now season? How will he react to being grilled daily
about every significant decision he makes?... Van Wagenen calls it
collaboration. Most everybody else calls it control, meaning the front office
will have as much say as it wants in dictating lineups and such. At least until
the game starts.”
Greg
Prince of Faith and Fear in Flushing noted: “Rojas has been hiding in plain
sight, doing whatever the Mets told him to do and doing it well enough to keep
doing it from 2007 forward. He did it promisingly enough to earn an interview
for Mickey Callaway’s vacated chair last fall. The consensus from those who
probably didn’t think about devoting his candidacy incisive analysis was he’s
young and probably required more experience before he would be taken seriously.
Three months have passed, one more manager has exited and, suddenly, young Luis
Rojas seems to have gained a world of wisdom.”
Reflections
on Baseball discussed the move as well: Therefore, much like Don Zimmer and
Terry Collins, Rojas is one of those “baseball lifers” who will likely have a
life after death if his appointment fails. The same cannot be said for Brodie
Van Wagenen. His tenure with the Mets is sketchy at best. J.D. Davis
does not make up for Jeurys
Familia, Robinson
Cano, and Edwin Diaz.
Per
SNY.TV: Brodie Van Wagenen pleased with Jed Lowrie’s progress. "We were pleased with his progress on
where he's at physically," Van Wagenen said, according to Deesha Thosar of
the New York Daily News. "We did some testing to measure his strengths
(and) he's progressing to the point where we're optimistic of having him
participate in a meaningful way in (Spring Training) games."
Also
Per SNY.TV: “Cespedes'
hitting progression has ‘reached the point where he's ready to go for spring training
on the offensive side,’ Mets GM Brodie Van Wagenen said on Wednesday.”
Per
SNY.TV: Two Mets make Baseball America's Top 100 prospects list for 2020. “Shortstop Ronny
Mauricio and catcher Francisco
Alvarez have come in at No. 66 and 67, respectively, on the list.” Wander
Franco of the Rays was rated the number one prospect by Baseball America.
MLB.com also
had the top shortstop prospects for 2020: Ronny
Mauricio was listed as #10. No
mention of 2019 Binghamton Shortstop Andres
Gimenez. Wander
Franco of the Rays also topped this list.
Per
Metsmerized’s John Sheridan: “Of note, Gimenez entered last season as
Baseball America’s 30th ranked prospect. Should he rebound, much like he did during
the Arizona Fall League, we may see him make his way back onto these rankings.”
Fox
Business says that MLB commissioner says Red Sox World Series investigation
still ongoing. In regards taking the
World Series trophy away from the Red Sox and the
Los Angeles City Council asking MLB for Dodgers to be awarded 2018 World Series
title, Manfred said: “It’s a little hard to take the trophy away from
somebody who hasn’t yet been found to do something wrong”.
MLB
Trade Rumors checked in on the worst bullpens in the NL last year. That included the NY Mets. Regarding the Mets and Edwin Diaz
they stated: “At least in Diaz’s case, though, it would be reasonable to expect
a much better performance in 2020. He struck out over 15 batters per nine and
maintained his 97 mph velocity last year, after all, and isn’t going to
surrender home runs on 27 percent of fly balls again this season.”
MLB
Trade Rumors looked at who was left in their list of 50 top 2020 Free agents:
8. Nicholas
Castellanos OF; 37. Yasiel Puig
OF; 41. Brock
Holt, UTIL; 49. Pedro Strop,
RP.
Yankees
sign Luis Avilan to a minor league deal. “Last year, Avilan
struggled to a 5.06 ERA in 32 frames with the Mets. He recorded 8.4 K/9 and 3.9
BB/9, right in line with his career averages, but allowed quite a few more long
balls (1.4 per nine) than he has over the course of his career (0.5 per nine).”
The
Braves signed Peter O’Brien and Shane Robinson to minor league deals. The Ex Yankee and Ex-Marlin who caught a David
Wright pop-up in David’s final game, Peter O’Brien,
is currently playing for Phil Regan’s Toros
Del Este in the Dominican Republic.
Last night in the Dominican
Republic, the Final Series continued with the Toros
Del Este beating the Tigres
del Licey 5-2 (box). The Toros
Del Este now lead the series 2-0.
Jordany
Valdespin played right field and went 0 for 4 with a walk and a K.
Tim
Peterson pitched a scoreless inning, no hits, walks, or strikeouts.
Ramon E.
Ramirez got the save, one inning giving up a walk in a scoreless
inning.
No Games last night in Puerto Rico.
UltimateMets has the date
in Mets History:
Born on
this date:
- Bob Moorhead (1938)
- Charlie Greene (1971)
- Robert Carson (1989)
Died on this date:
- Ed Bouchee (2013)
Transactions:
New York Mets released Rich Sauveur on January 23, 1992.
New York Mets released Rich Sauveur on January 23, 1992.
Philadelphia Phillies signed Yorkis Perez of the New York
Mets as a free agent on January 23, 1998.
Houston Astros signed John Franco of the New York Mets as
a free agent on January 23, 2005.
New York Mets signed
free agent Ricardo Rincon on January 23, 2008.
Cleveland Indians signed David Aardsma of the New York
Mets as a free agent on January 23, 2014.
Want more?
Check out https://sportspyder.com/mlb/new-york-mets/news.
21 comments:
Keith expresses some words of caution about Rojas.
Great to see Lowrie and Cespedes getting positive comments from BVW.
I guess I'm getting old when the manager of the Mets was born AFTER I graduated from high school.
Saw Jordanny Valdespin play for the L.I. Ducks a couple of years ago. They also had Ruben Gotay.
Any NY Manager, Coach, or GM.
Pretty much everyone new gets unfairly judged by a few fans, pundits, and the "all knowing" press on radio and television in this big market area. It's par for the course actually and to be expected. It's the new person's baptism of sorts I guess.
I really like the Luis Rojas pick for NYM manager because he has briefly played in the bigs and knows that experience, he has managed at a lower NYM level for the equivalent of six seasons, and Luis already knows the younger players here, like Peter Alonso and Jeff McNeil.
As far as his age goes, how much should that really matter I ask you. Red Sox Epstein got criticized for his age when he took over in Boston as their GM. He was actually younger than Luis is now, if I remember correctly. Won the World Series not long afterwards. The age criticisms went away at that point.
I think Manager Rojas will be fine at the helm of these NY Mets, and I eagerly await the start of the 2020 season. LGM!
Bob W., this getting old thing is getting old - that much I can tell you. I ran the NY Marathon when Luis was 7 weeks old. I had no prior experience running marathons. Even without experience, I did OK.
Anonymous makes a good case for Luis' future success. Sometimes things can go right in Metsville.
Sneak In
Was a terrific first two quarters last night with the LA Lakers. Gutty first half where the NYK played even with LA, and had the lead in that first half several times.
NYK played the two units at first, with the second unit actually outplaying the first utilizing Robinson, Dotson, Ntilikina, Portis, and Knox. This is precisely what I have been talking about with the two unit format, because both units are relatively comparable in talent level. However, they should be allowed to remain totally intact and not broken apart during the games, like with Dotson being moved to the first unit because of his consecutive three-point play. This is basically the same approach as in NHL hockey, with their offensive three and four lines.
The whole idea here with this is quite simple. The two units practice together, get to know how one another plays and where they are on the floor. The familiarity with one another is imperative and should allow each line to grow quicker as a unit.
In my scheme of the two units suggested just yesterday, I have Randle and Morris both at the PF position, but on separate units. And then, at the SF position, Brazdeikis and the new Westchester "super-fly" Wooten at the other. The reason being is that these two SF's are both quite young and very athletic coming in here with strong credentials. They also bring to the units the serious energy necessary for success and endurance.
If you watch a lot of NYK, it appears that by the middle of quarter three, there is somewhat of a repeated slowdown due to perhaps tiredness normally with unit 1. The two units being played at about a 60%/40% ratio (with the better unit matchup in that particular game playing more)should help to alleviate this energy and focus natural letdown.
This is not how things have been done in the past in the NBA, I do realize this. Normally, a team plays their best five players, then makes substitutions with their best bench players to supply rest to the starters. But in this team's patiular case, and with so many really good younger player bench possibilities here all with about even talent, I feel that my suggestion here with the two units is quite an intriguing and sound one if employed in the above way.
Anon - I agree. I like the pick as well. Actually Brodie and I said the same thing "he earned it". Agreement with Brodie - pigs must be flying.
Bob W. Ruben Gotay! He came up big one year. Pretty sure him and Reyes went back to back to open a game. One of the few Mets pairs to do so. Think Reyes and Asdrubal Cabrera did it as well.
Lowrie and Cespedes
First off, who are they? (Just kidding)
I hang with Yoenis Cespedes definitely, especially with the one year remaining on his agreed to contract. The guy is a "trench warfare monster", the kind I like best of all, and he is precisely what any wise team would want as an outfielder addition.
Imagine for a moment here, Yoenis, Alonso, JD, Wilson, and "No Shirt Corntoes" all smacking dingers in the same one game? And Jeff and Brandon setting the table. ("Holy Cow" man!)
If Yoenis doesn't do as well as we all think that he probably will knowing him, I guess the Mets always could put the calcium deposits back into his feet and send him to the Braves after the season! But I bet he gets an extension here first!
As far as Lowrie goes.
This guy is a "gut player" as well. One with ample experience. It's not like he is too old or anything, he isn't. And to be quite honest here, Jed is no stranger to playing big games at the higher level, and the Mets with him (even just off the bench alone) would be greatly improved as a baseball team.
They are both keepers to me. It's just the amount of money thing here in order to do that I guess. We'll see.
I think right now, if I am not mistaking, Hensley Muelens was the guy Beltran had named as his bench coach. Does this carryover with Luis Rojas as the newest new manager? Just wondering.
Good question Anon. Could be a moot point if Hensley takes the job in Boston.
As of now, Meulens is staying. Boston may have talked about him, but they have not contacted the Mets for permission to interview him.
John: Yes, you never know who you'll see out at Bethpage Ballpark. Last year, it was Kirk Nieuwenhuis (don't ask if I spelled it correct) before he called it quits in July. Matt den Dekker was on the roster too, but retired before playing. A few years ago, the Lancaster Barnstormers came to town, and who was on their team? The great Lastings Milledge.
We also got to meet Wally Backman at a pre-game autograph session. (Wally is the Ducks manager.) I told Wally that the Mets needed him back. Wally just kinda rolled his eyes and didn't say anything.
Albany John
Is it me here or is there a lot of Latino managers being talked about for openings around the league lately? Seems to be the new trend happening now anyway. American managers with "attitude issues" are no longer being signed, except for Girardi because he played with Jetes I suppose.
Imagine "Arod" as a manager in MLB? No.
In the NBA
The trend is the admittance into the NBA of all the "super giant" centers from the Euro League. It is not uncommon to see centers 7'2" now that are BOTH strong, quick, can bump and rebound with the best, and have offensive game. Should be fun watching this development as time goes on. I think the big and slow center era is now a gone by.
Giants Eli Hangs 'Em Up
Would have been maybe fun seeing Eli Manning and Tom Brady on the same one team sharing halves of the games. Unlike Brady, I think Eli really wanted to make sure that he could "walk away" from the game.
Larry Walker
Was great to see this outfielder/first baseman get into "The Hall". Held many records and played sixteen very impressive seasons with three teams. Was a beast of a player and always just a natural person with a "can do" attitude.
Kirk Newey
To me, he seemed to have all the natural God given abilities to be something really special in the bigs. But to my eyes (and I could be wrong here) he reminded me of people I used to play with as a teenager that had multiple interests outside the game and never quite grabbed hard enough at the baseball brass ring.
Everyone is different i suppose. And thank God for that too or it would be awfully boring.
With Luis Rojas
For some reason (because I have no direct knowledge of this from meeting him) Luis seems like a somewhat quiet and more studious type person. He analyzes statistics, yet it has been said that he gets along easily with his players and superiors as well.
I like all this for here.
With a little bit of time, I am absolutely certain that Luis can and will develop (if he has not already) very keen visceral intuition and be the manager that he is intended to be at this big league level.
I hope that everyone will support Luis and allow him to be his own man here.
Wishful Thinking
NYM - I am quietly hoping that the Mets in 2020 will divide their seven relief pitchers into two groups so that they can be used in alternating games. The seventh reliever could be the all purpose one, used when there is a specific need for another lefty reliever.
How "could" this look in implementation.
Something like this maybe and please do realize that this is just speculative on my own part with the names.
Unit One: Wilson (lefty), Diaz, and Lugo Unit Two: Familia, Peterson (lefty), and Betances
With the Alternate Reliever maybe being Kevin Smith (lefty). In this way the bullpen is four right-handers and three left-handers for balance purposes.
Day Dreaming Only
Opening Day Possible Batting Lineup:
1. CF Brandon Nimmo
2. RF Jeff McNeil/Michael Conforto (pick one)
3. 3B JD Davis
4. 1B Peter Alonso
5. LF Yoenis Cespedes
6. C Wilson Ramos
7. 2B Robinson Cano
8. SS Amed Rosario
Under this day dream conjecture, McNeil would would alternate between second, third, and right field getting in 5 of the normal 6 games per week cycle. We need his bat and Jeff is athletic and versatile enough to be able to do this quite easily.
But man, what a frickin' lineup Chris Farley!
(Chris was my favorite all time SNL player. If you ever need a hilarious moment or two, go to youtube and look him up doing the "Chippendales thing" with Patrick Swayze. It's quite the bomb actually.)
Anon is off his meds today...
Lookup Online Things regarding Alzheimers, if you have not already. There is an abundance of articles and research online there. These are some of what I found and are separate topics.
- Bernard Baumel, MD: Evaluating Stem Cells in Alzheimer Disease
Also: Aug 31, 2019 - ... and Neuro-Regeneration-Alzheimer's Disease and Stem Cell Therapy. ... of the Johannes Gutenberg University, 55131 Mainz, Germany.
- Positive effects have been seen with neural stem cell transplants given to mice with a disease similar to AD (Alzheimers Disease), but researchers are still studying what these stem cells are doing and how they might help repair the brain. Brain Tumors, Alzheimers, Schizophrenia, and Autism all being studied for Stem Cell Therapy.
- Look up also: Charlotte Lozier Institute and www.sparrowclinic.com/stem-cell-therapy for more info.
They are already using stem cell therapy in Alabama (a few places) for some things less complicated than brain ones.
Lookup Online Things regarding Alzheimers, if you have not already. There is an abundance of articles and research online there. These are some of what I found and are separate topics divided by a - .
- Bernard Baumel, MD: Evaluating Stem Cells in Alzheimer Disease
- Also: Aug 31, 2019 - ... and Neuro-Regeneration-Alzheimer's Disease and Stem Cell Therapy. ... of the Johannes Gutenberg University, 55131 Mainz, Germany.
- Positive effects have been seen with neural stem cell transplants given to mice with a disease similar to AD (Alzheimers Disease), but researchers are still studying what these stem cells are doing and how they might help repair the brain. Brain Tumors, Alzheimers, Schizophrenia, and Autism all are being studied for Stem Cell Therapy.
- Over the past seven years, first one, then two, and now three programs in advanced stages of development that targeted amyloid have failed. Other ongoing programs targeting amyloid should expect similar results. Each program was run by a pharmaceutical company with significant experience and unlimited access to expertise and the financial resources needed to ensure success.
- Look up also: Charlotte Lozier Institute and www.sparrowclinic.com/stem-cell-therapy for more info.
- They are already using stem cell therapy in Alabama (a few places) for some diseases.
- They are getting really close in Japan as well, I read today.
OMG!!!
I WAS JOKING!!! 😄
Anon...you are rocking. You need a regular post here. Maybe even your own web show.
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