The search for a manager is now over. After nearly a week of parting ways with Carlos Beltran, the New York Mets are giving Luis Rojas the opportunity to be the new skipper, according to a report from MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo.
In the last few hours, Andy Martino of SNY reported that the Mets had narrowed their list to three candidates: Rojas, Hensley Meulens and Tony DeFrancesco.
Rojas, 38, is the brother of former major leaguer and New York Met Moises Alou, and the son of former player and manager Felipe Rojas Alou.
The Dominican has been with the New York Mets since 2007 in a variety of positions. He managed minor league teams in five different levels, and in December, he was named the team’s first quality control coach. That was going to be his position until Wednesday.
He will have his first opportunity to manage a Major League team. Per DiComo, the Mets are finalizing the details on a multi-year contract with Rojas, so he won’t be an interim manager.
What does Rojas offer to the Mets?
Rojas is no stranger to analytics, which combined with his youth and fresh ideas, will be his best traits as a leader. Mickey Callaway, back when he was managing the Mets, praised Rojas: “He does a great job of filtering through some of the analytical numbers and stuff like that to make them a little more usable.â€
The New York Mets clearly like Rojas’ profile, and given his familiarity with the young players, he fits in. Rookies and veterans, they all respect Rojas.
As a manager, he has experience at Rookie ball (2011), Class A (2012-14), Class A Advanced (2015-16) and Double-A Binghamton (2017-2018.)
He has already managed Pete Alonso, Jeff McNeil, Dominic Smith, Amed Rosario, Brandon Nimmo and Tomas Nido, among others.
He has a very good baseball resume as a coach and manager in the minors. This, however, will be by far his biggest challenge so far. The Mets are trusting him the reigns of their roster.