Luis Rojas? My take?
I'll "manage" to keep this short, I promise.
Well, for one, he's getting lots of highly positive comments from his former players in the minors.
Keith Hernandez expressed some caution, though, given Luis’ age (38) to be jumping into a major league managers’ gig with virtually no major league experience.
But Rojas has managed 1,030 contests in the minors, the equivalent of over 6 full major league seasons.
Of course, his seasons are not really equivalent to major league seasons, as the majors are a whole different deal, but isn’t that - let me count - 1,030 more games than Mickey Callaway managed prior to becoming the Mets’ skipper?
Anyway, Luis Rojas is the son of the great Felipe Alou, who had a long career including 2 seasons with the Braves of 210 or more hits in the 1960's).
Felipe got his first managing gig with the Expos at the age of 57, and in his first 3 years, he was 238-163 (.594). He also had a great couple of seasons a few years later with his old team the SF Giants, going 191-132 (.591) in 2003-04.
Other than that, he was mostly a losing manager, going 604-726 (.454) in his other seasons, for a grand total of 1033-1021.
Team talent surely is a key factor in how many games a manager wins or loses. Just ask Casey Stengel.
Back to Luis Rojas.
Rojas was a .500 manager his first two minors season, but 80 games over .500 since.
Of course, in that 80 games over stretch, he had Pete Alonso and Jeff McNeil for a couple of those seasons, which can certainly skew a manager's W-L record to the W side.
Those 2 stars also skewed the NY Mets to the W side in 2019, in case you hadn't noticed.
Fortunately for Luis, both are Mets in 2020, too...so bring on some more Alonso/McNeil "W skewing", I say.
Interestingly, Luis Rojas played pro ball, very briefly, for the Expos’ GCL team in 2004.
37 games, .240/.315/.352 at the age of 22.
Mickey Callaway did better - he did make the majors, but his 4-11, 6.27 career record shows he wasn’t just bad at managing.
Lastly, Rojas turns 39 on September 1, by which time it will be clear if the Mets will be playing meaningful September baseball, and clear as to whether Rojas represents a real upgrade over Callaway. Rojas better be. By his birthday, it should be clear if he is part of the problem...or part of the solution.
How will he handle the inevitable rough moments?
We’ll soon find out.
We always live in interesting times in Metsville. Don’t we?
16 comments:
Big props from Rob Whalen, Stephen Villines, and Matt Blackham
We know the Mets are averse to spending money wisely. The corner into which Mr. Beltran painted the Mets made it somewhat critical that they hire a person who knows the internal cast of characters (both players and coaches). Therefore, it made it difficult to consider outsiders like Tim Bogar and expensive to get veterans like Buck Showalter and Dusty Baker. While I'm not enthralled by the choice, I feel he's a better one than the marquee name alone of Carlos Beltran as he has managerial experience and Mets system familiarity.
Yep, he seems very well liked by those who have played with him in the system.
You would also think with his father's 30 years in the majors, between managing and playing, that a lot would have rubbed off on Luis. I think he'll do fine.
I like the picture I added of him here - it made him look managerial, more so than my first take at the most commonly used picture.
Reese, all things being equal, I would have preferred Bogar, but I am willing to give Rojas the benefit of the doubt as of now...maybe we'll all find ourselves delighted with the choice as the season progresses.
To me, the Beltran's removal as manager shines a brighter focus just how poor the decision to choose Beltran over Girardi as the Mets manager.
That being said, I believe the Mets made the best choice they could given the timing and the fact that the entire coaching staff is already in place before choosing the new manager.
Making the matter worse, there have been reports that the Mets new bench coach, Hensley Meulens, could be a candidate for the Redsox or Astros job.
This situation was an avoidable problem if the Mets just made a better decision that was obvious to so many experts, from the beginning.
Bob, no argument from me. The Mets have gone with a higher risk candidate than had they hired Joe Girardi.
I don't give a f who his father is. That's irrelevant. All I care about is whether he can get the job done. Did not want Joe or Buck or Dusty.
Rds, his father’s involvement as both a star and manager for decades helps Luis, as compared to if Luis’ relation with pro ball started only when he was 22. Being around Major League Baseball growing up gives him more close-up experiential knowledge of the workings of Major League Baseball. And he has managed over 1000 minor league games, including games last year. It can’t hurt. Heck, if he needs someone to talk to, he can do that with his father too. Which ought to help him.
All of which doesn’t mean he’ll succeed. I hope he will.
Gotta love the years he put in the Mets minor league system. He has managed before and his players like him. Let's Go Mets.
I'm fascinated with this now. Talk about being bred to do something. This man has prepared his whole baseball life for this moment. He seems to be very much like his dad, which is a very good thing because Felipe was highly respected by everyone and revered by the Latin players with good reason. He was a winner and gentlemen and a great baseball mind. Luis seems to come from the same cloth. Granted, he is being thrown into the deep end end of the pool but I'm dying to hear him speak because he checks a lot of other important boxes for me.
And doesn't it just seem so Mets to find the right guy by mistake?
I agree Tom. Having come up in the game is an incredible advantage and he seems to have done it the right way and with true humility. Not unlike Mr Boone, who has done a heck of a job. It has the potential to be a turning point. Or not. We will find out soon enough.
Unknown, good points. And, let's not forget - Luis gets spring training, too, to work out the kinks. it is not like the Mets are bringing him to start managing games that count tomorrow.
Does anyone know if we will have to pay beltrans contract event though he did manage a game ??
Eddie, I have not heard of any details regarding compensation for Beltran. But he said ""Over my 20 years in the game, I've always taken pride in being a leader and doing things the right way, and in this situation, I failed. As a veteran player on the team, I should've recognized the severity of the issue and truly regret the actions that were taken.
"I am a man of faith and integrity and what took place did not demonstrate those characteristics that are so very important to me and my family. I'm very sorry. It's not who I am as a father, a husband, a teammate and as an educator. The Mets organization and I mutually agreed to part ways, moving forward for the greater good with no further distractions. I hope that at some point in time, I'll have the opportunity to return to this game that I love so much."
"Failed?" "Very sorry?" To me, that does not sound like a person who is getting compensated.
Eddie, reports are the Mets made a $200,000 donation to a charity in Beltran's name and nothing more. They got off pretty good.
I personally like the hire of Luis Rojas. He starts with the same number of World Series titles as manager as Showwalter and Baker. Enough with the we need the old guard to settle things down. The Mets won 86 games last year with a young core of very good, exciting players. Many of these guys played for Rojas and love him. And what's got me excited after watching 5 days in Flushing on SNY the other night, after the Wilmer dramatics was what Yo brings to the table. Cespedes is an absolutely no lose scenario as no one has any expectations but if, big if, he's healthy what a monster bat to add to the lineup. Imagine part of the lineup being Alonso-Conforto-Cespedes. And Diaz is filthy, watching him last year was tough because his stuff is so good. Kelenic might be the next Betts or he might be Lastings Millige, Diaz has proved he can be the best closer in the majors. Spring training is the time to dream, so let's get that equipment truck rolling and dream big.
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