The New York Mets seemed to narrow themselves down to their final four managerial candidates, but a lot has changed over the last 48 hours. A “bombshell” candidate along with two others emerged to land second interviews.
Following up, Luis Rojas is indeed among those who will receive a second managerial interview with the Mets. Also (but not limited to): Joe Girardi, Carlos Beltrán, Eduardo Pérez.
— Anthony DiComo (@AnthonyDiComo) October 22, 2019
Luis Rojas is one of the lesser known candidates. At age 38, he is the youngest candidate for the job. Despite his youth, he has plenty of coaching and managing experience in the Mets organization. His coaching career began in 2006 by spending a year coaching the Nationals Dominican League team.
Ties in the Mets Organization
Rojas earned the same job for the Mets in 2007, then moved on to the Gulf Coast Mets in 2008 followed by the Savannah Sand Gnats in 2010. Rojas first managing experience was in 2011 in Gulf Coast, then held the Sand Gnat job from 2012-14. He managed the St. Luice Mets in 2015, then the Binghamton Rumble Ponies in 2017-18.
Rojas got his first big league gig in 2019 as the Mets quality control coach. He is a very interesting candidate because he has spend over 10 years in the organization and has helped develop a majority of the players on the roster now. Phil Regan had worked with multiple Mets pitchers in the minors and it ended up benefitting him when he became pitching coach. Expect the same effect if Rojas becomes the manager.
Colleague @Joelsherman1 reports that Derek Shelton will receive a second interview from Mets. That is at least 6 of the known candidates getting a callback.
— Mike Puma (@NYPost_Mets) October 22, 2019
Derek Shelton is also a good candidate for the job. He is currently the bench coach for the Minnesota Twins. He spent three seasons managing players like Robinson Cano in the Yankees minor league system. Shelton moved on to become the Indians hitting coach for five seasons before moving on to the Rays as their hitting coach from 2009-2016.
He spent the last two seasons as the Twins bench coach. Shelton is brings experience from coaching under Joe Maddon, Paul Molitor and Rocco Baldelli.
Who Deserves the Job?
Behind Joe Girardi, Rojas and Shelton should be listed a candidates B and C. They more qualified than Carlos Beltran, Eduardo Perez or Tim Bogar. The experience of Rojas and Shelton are very extensive and both have a good relationship with players throughout the organization.