If you asked me a week after the season ended, I would have told you Luis Rojas needs to go. After getting a couple of months away from watching the New York Mets and assessing the small sample size of games Rojas managed, he deserves another chance to lead the Mets.
Luis Rojas will be our manager in 2021. #LGM pic.twitter.com/3aWtDIJdLk
— New York Mets (@Mets) November 23, 2020
Rojas came into the 2020 season and had to deal with plenty from the start. During Spring Training, he had to manage with the shadow of Carlos Beltran behind him, and COVID-19 stopped baseball operations toward the end of March.
Dealing With Upper Management
Like most first-year managers, Rojas dealt with plenty of bumps in the road throughout the season. Rojas made some questionable moves and could have shown a little more fire. Not that you want a manager getting into his players and getting thrown out, but Rojas did not get a single ejection all season. At the same time, I respect how he keeps his composure in strenuous moments and understands the importance of getting a message across the right way.
As with any manager working under a Brodie Van Wagenen/Jeff Wilpon regime, there is a lot of crap to deal with from them. In-game decisions are changed, and unnecessary acquisitions are made. Rojas had no starting pitching depth to work with either, which immediately put him behind the 8-ball when the season started. With those factors in place, along with a revamped analytics department, we will see his managing ability’s true colors.
Trust The Process
This is a good move because of his past success in the minor leagues. Whether it was winning games or developing players, his pedigree in the Mets system shows he deserves a chance. Rojas has strong relationships with a wide majority of the Mets 40-man roster and the prospects in the farm system. 60-games was not enough to determine his future, and the mistakes made during the 2020 season will be corrected in 2021.
There is no telling of how many games the Mets will win under Rojas, but what we saw from the 2020 Mets was not Rojas-esk. The Mets had many lackadaisical moments, poor baserunning, and defensive plays, which were not characteristic of Rojas led teams in the minors. The biggest difference in 2021 will come in cleaner team play, which sunk their postseason chances in 2020.
If Mickey Callaway somehow deserved a second year, Luis Rojas deserves on too.