Reese Kaplan -- Lost in the Tuesday Press Conference

Fans and media are trying to out-gush one another with the joint Steve Cohen/Sandy Alderson press conference yesterday.  He said all of the things people have wanted to hear for many, many years.  Owner Cohen sounded more like a fan and less like a person whose only interest was in profitability margins and ruminations about how spending money on "value" picks was an intelligent way of building for the future.  He spoke about the need to build a team, spend when necessary and, more importantly, not just throwing money down a rat hole but to invest it properly.  Wow, it was as if the December holidays arrived early with a special message from some kind of guardian angel.

 

However, almost buried under all of the accolades came the tidbit from Sandy that Luis Rojas is likely coming back for round two in 2021.  That announcement didn't get the attention it probably deserved, didn't generate the cheers or moans one might have expected, nor did anyone over obsess over the word "likely" which suggests that the door is not completely open.  

 

So what does Luis Rojas mean for the Mets going forward?

 

Well, to be fair, his hiring under duress after the Carlos Beltran debacle put him immediately behind the eight ball.  He didn't have the proper time to prepare properly for the upcoming season.  Furthermore, the coronavirus pandemic shutting down traditional Spring Training pushed him further behind by not getting to see players perform in person in game situations as would normally have happened.  

Many people were quick to dismiss Rojas as a rookie who was in over his head.  I always found that evaluation laughable, just as I remember the now-named Manager of the Year Don Mattingly disparaged across the board by most fans and media alike.  They forget how many years of minor league managerial experience is on his resume, not to mention the major league in-the-dugout preparation he had which most managerial candidates from outside do not have the advantage of enjoying.

 

Now to evaluate the job done by Rojas in 2020 is a mixed bag.  No one ever played a 60-game season with players and coaches missing due to COVID-19 infections, players walking out of camp in mid-season and never before having a traditional minor league group of resources.  How many no-name players were added to the taxi squad while legitimate talents like Eduardo Nunez, Jake Marisnick, Hunter Strickland and Brian Dozier were virtually invisible while hardly household names who were scrapheap pickups like Erasmo Ramirez, Miguel Castro, Ryan Cordell and Ariel Jurado formed the replacement core?

 

Given a full season of analysis and preparation time, it would seem fair to give Luis Rojas a second chance rather than adding to the hiring frenzy in the front office.  Let Sandy Alderson and his associates figure out who will most help the team going forward, including a lengthier evaluation of Rojas.  After all, how much time did Mickey Callaway get (with a winning record, I might add)?  Or if you want a more painful comparison, how long was the perpetually unhired "experienced hand" of Terry Collins able to cash NY Mets paychecks while losing more games than any other Mets manager?  

 

No, give Rojas a proper roster to compete for the pennant.  Get him intelligent front office personnel and analysts to evaluate on a basis other than salary alone when making personnel decisions.  Get him people to back up the starters who themselves are capable of starting on the Mets or any other team.  Get him some pitching to begin and end games.  Then after all of those things have been done, make a longer term decision about whether or not Rojas is the right fit for the job.  Don't make knee-jerk terminations without sufficient data.