The Padres have interviewed former Mets manager Luis Rojas as they look to replace recently fired skipper Jayce Tingler, per Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune. Rojas spent the past two seasons as the Mets’ manager but had a 2022 club option declined at season’s end and is now free to explore other opportunities.
It was an odd tenure with the Mets for the 40-year-old Rojas, who was set to enter the 2020 season as the team’s quality control coach before abruptly being elevated to manager after New York fired Carlos Beltran. The Beltran firing, which came on the heels of the league investigation into the Astros’ 2017 sign-stealing scandal, came just months after Beltran had been hired. He never managed a game with the Mets.
Prior to his unexpected run as the Mets’ skipper, Rojas had coached and managed at three levels in the Mets’ minor league system, in addition to managing in the Dominican Winter League. He was named South Atlantic League Manager of the Year for the Mets in 2014. Rojas comes from a family with a rich baseball history, as Rojas is the son of three-time National League All-Star and 1994 National League Manager of the Year Felipe Alou. He’s also the half-brother of six-time All-Star and 1997 World Series champion Moises Alou.
Under president of baseball operations A.J. Preller, the Padres have hired a pair of youthful, rookie skippers in the aforementioned Tingler and his predecessor, Andy Green. Rojas would make for a third straight hire of a manager aged 40 or younger, though he’s now spent two seasons managing a big league team in a major market — in addition to his prior work in the DWL and in the Mets’ system.
Rojas joins former Cardinals skipper Mike Shildt and former Tigers/Angels manager Brad Ausmus on the early list of reported candidates for the Padres’ managerial vacancy.
Brad Ausmus? Really? I know he played for the Padres, but all I can do as a Tiger fan is remember him spitting sunflower seeds in the dugout while his team sucked! The Tigers would get screwed by the umps, Ausmus would engage them in intelligence Dartmouth conversation, then calmly walk his humble self back to the dugout. The players wouldn’t play for him because he gave them no reason to do anything more than show up. Hard pass!
I believe Mike Shildt will eventually get the job. He has a winning record and experience. But, unfortunately we were not able to win the most important games in October when he was with the Cardinals. I wish him the best and if he is the right guy for the Padres, we will see him in the playoffs against the Cards at some point if we can win with Marmol.
Get to .500 then worry about playoffs
padreforlife- What you i say after reading this comment? The team that was expected to win the division or get to the playoffs. The team that have a great general manager named A.J Preller, lol. The Padres that traded many good prospects. You should worry first about your team getting a manager. Like I said before, Shildt is available and he’s a great guy.
I mean why would the Padres want to hire Ron Washington? Every player gone on record about Wash energetically praises him, some even using terms like “love” to describe the relationship. Multiple current and ex-players have attributed Wash as the person who most turned them into the baseball players they became (including gold glovers and silver sluggers). Washington, like few others, instills regular routines of baseball fundamentals. Wash is also known for really bring a sense of unity to a team. And he has an excellent track record for winning. He is also extremely confident in his abilities (essentially promising he would get the Padres over the hump). Is Preller that obsessive about having complete control? Why would they not even interview him? It is insane.
@Steve Garvey’s Son: I agree. I don’t get it. He finished 2nd behind Jayce Tingler the last time the Padres hired a new manager. Clearly they should have gone with Wash instead. I think you might be on to something about Preller though. Players really listen to Washington and value his opinion. He would be great for guys like Tatis and Machado. I think Preller literally does not want a manager who might have the players ear over his. Wash probably isn’t the type of guy that will do every single thing the front office says without looking into it and deciding if it’s the best decision himself. Preller might be worried that the players would support Wash more if he disagrees with him. Unless the Padres hire Schildt it seems like Preller wants to proxy manage the team himself. That’s too many conflicts of interest if you ask me. Preller will obviously trust the players he paid the most money to so he looks good to the owner. The highest paid guy isn’t always the best though and I doubt Preller will want to concede he made a poor decision by overpaying for a player who shouldn’t start.
Tingler was the choice over Washington, and was not good enough, so you now want the person who lost out to Tingler? First rule of personnel mtg is if a candidate did not get hired the first time thru the interview process, the only way they get hired a second time is if you lower your standards.
Styme — Uh, yeah, clearly they made the wrong choice with Tingler. Maybe they could reflect a bit and make a better choice? With your reasoning, one could say, “we choice Donald Trump. Since America chose him, and are never wrong (like the the GM of the Pads), why would anyone choose Biden or Sanders or Cruz or freaking a hole in the ground?”
Yeah! I’m sure Washington could BUMP that team back into contention!
@remove
Yea, that’s a bad LINE, you’re better than that. Let’s try to stick to the script & not go off the RAILS please.
Remove and others — drug jokes funny. Funny. A s s h o l e s like you, funny. I love funny.
Fundamentals like failure to stay sober multiple times, failure to stay faithful to his wife multiple times, and sexual harassment accusations. Today managers are being fired for accusations of any of those, let alone it actually happening. I am sure that the owners of teams want that to be what is beeng asked about their new manager. As a 3B coach he is not out front. As manager he is.
Padres fans — accusations. Plural. Do we even know, for sure, there was even ONE accusation? There may have been. And, if true and credible, yeah, the Padres don’t need that. But I haven’t seen any proof, yet. And I KNOW for a fact there has NOT been mention of accusations, plural.
@Steve Garvey’s Son Haha ask Pads about his other accounts Koamalu and websoulsurfer! He loves that!
Oh yes, and something on topic. I am as big a supporter of due process as you will ever meet so simply “accusations” of anything mean nothing to me. And I say this despite not wanting them to hire Ron Washington as the manager.
Maybe because he quit on Rangers due to sexual harassment and he’s ex coke head
Padresforlifeinjail — I’m an ex-coke head. What’s your point? And I’ve seen you down on the strip so I know you are, too.
Ausmus lives in nearby Del Mar. His wife has been calling AJ Preller. She wants him out of the house lol!
I think Bochy will be brought back to SD. It’s the only logical choice since Washington appears to be out now.
Bochy was lucky, not good. Wash is good, not lucky.
You don’t win 3 WS titles with luck. Bochy is a HOF manager. How many rings does Washington have again?
Bochy not actually good? Surely you don’t actually believe that, right?
1) Bochy will not tolerate Preller’s micromanagement.
2) Preller is not logical.
Preller will go for Rojas who he can push around.Shildt wants nothing to do with this team.Ausmus career is over and this is a last ditch effort for a Mgr job he also will do anything Preller ask.What a joke the Padres have become.Tatis will be screaming to get out next year when they are in 3rd place again watch.
The person they really need to interview is Tony La Russa.
<.<
I know you’re just kidding, but in reality they do need someone that can get the team in line… too many players from the crystal generation that need to get schooled
Come on bro he need to retire
Im surprised that the Padres haven’t looked into a reunion with Bruce Bochy granted he’d be willing to unretire?
Bochy is not the kind of guy who would take any crap whatsoever off of Preller.
You got that right! Bochy does not suffer fools gladly.
Mets are not on the save wavelength as Bochy.
They aren’t paying what it takes to get Bochy
And he is a mediocre manager who got lucky. Washington is an excellent manager who got unlucky (and did his own self sabotage).
From Tingler to Rojas sounds exactly like a Preller thing to do
Too bad they already found a pitching coach; I hear Mickey Callaway is available lol.
It’s such a Preller thing. Technically, Rojas is “experienced.” He has exactly the same experience as Tingler. He also knows how to crash a team at the end of the season, just like Tingler and Green. I’ll bet he’d be a good puppet for Preller – he doesn’t have enough time in the league to stand up to Preller. Why do you think Wash and Buck “aren’t being considered” and Bochy is just a popular rumor here in San Diego?
PRELLER WANTS A PUPPET!
Bochy retired
Only a matter of time before the Dodgers hire Davey Martinez. The triplets of the East go West.
I hope they hire Rojas. One less wildcard team for the Mets to compete with next season
Lol. Please save this comment for when the Padres are good and you realize Rojas was not the problem.
Ill screenshot this and repost what you said a year from now if he gets the job
And don’t get me wrong, I don’t think Rojas is some savant. But I really don’t think any manager in baseball was going to fix the Mets situation. Injuries, terrible lineup and underperforming stars…too much for a manager to fix. Rojas was used as a scapegoat. The Padres are in a better situation IMO. With a healthy pitching staff they can compete for that WC spot in a tough division.
Rojas got an interview only because his brother, Moises Alou, serves as a special assistant to POBO and GM A.J. Preller.
Its not what you know; as Rojas doesn’t know a thing about managing but who you know and who you are related to.
Padres fans should be angry at this; you need the best person for the job not who is related to the job!
Excalty.. rojas cost us like 10 games…. In the 2nd half…
Hitting cost them the other 75.
No manager has ever costed a team 10 games one way or the other. IMO the managers’ job is less about wins and losses than people think. Rojas did fine. The Mets dealt with injuries and a terribly constructed lineup. They flat out don’t hit. It wasn’t a one-year fluke.
*cost ugh
Yes, managers have cost their team wins.
I didn’t say they didn’t. I said no manager ever made a 10-win swing one way or the other. These are professional athletes, not children. They don’t rely on one guy to tell them how to play. The manger is likely responsible for 1-3 wins tops in a season. If a manager really cost a team that 10 games, the players would ignore him and do their own thing.
A good manager wins with a good team. Yes, a bad manager can lose 10 games, even with a good team.
Disagree with the 2nd part and I think people overestime the impact of a manager.
Then you must be in favor of those micromanaging GMs who know nothing about in-game strategy and tactics.
Managers Matter.
Not at all. I’m in favor of talented player who know what to do and deep bullpens that make a manager look good.
Luis Rojas was in a bad situation with the Mets. He was supposed to win now as a rookie manager…….with a flawed roster. He’s going to be a very good MLB manager, and will retire managing at least 10 more seasons.
It’s nice of the Padres to give him an interview. But he’d be walking into a similar situation as the Mets.
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By the by – Rojas’ hiring by the Mets reminded me a lot of the Brad Ausmus hiring by the Tigers. They had a veteran team – in their case packed with stars and superstars – that were fighting to bring a championship to Detroit. The last thing they needed was a rookie manager……that had never managed before. But he was a sharp baseball guy, had been a team leader wherever he went, learned a lot from Joe Torre among others, so Dombrowski overlooked his lack of experience and hired him. Terrible move all around. Asmus would have been better working with a young team coming through a rebuild…….and that’s where Rojas is today. So here’s one: if Francona retires in the next few years, the Guardians would be a great fit for Rojas. They would do well to hire him as a coach and have him learn the ways of the organization while being mentored by a HOF manager.
…………glad your crystal ball is tuned into Luis Rojas frequency…………I am hip to your jive…………totally PC…………
Lots of teams will interview him. Its required by MLB to interview a variety of candidate for EEOC purposes. He fits a category. Makes it look fairer when they hire the white guy.
Lol stymeedone strikes again stop trying to create controversy where there is none.
Its not nice of the Padres to give him an interview his brother who works for Preller arranged it so lets be real here! 10 more seasons if his brother hangs around that long. Rojas was and is clueless at the MLB level.
He lost respect of his players in the thumbs down incident and the dugout tunnel “brawl” incident.!
Padres should hire Shildt and manager and Rojas as his bench coach. Both to one year deals.
Padres aren’t winning anything until Preller is gone. Does any GM scream “ I am In charge “ more than Preller. Complete headline grabber
Rojas is a good man. But…He was not ready for the majors as a manager. His style is better suited to player development and managing in the minors.
Rojas should not manage above single A ball
I’m betting on them hiring Sandy Alomar.
I’m surprised this is the first I’ve heard his name mentioned for the job. Makes a lot of sense.
Wouldn’t hate it
He should be able to walk into any managing job he wants after working semi-successfully for the Mets for two years
Sorry Padres fans. Preller absolutely wasted your core, while hiring jobbers for managers. AJ should’ve been fired by brass YEARS AGO. Apparently he’s got some sort of J.R. Ewing-level blackmail scheme on ownership.
While they have definitely not delivered as everyone thought, to say they “absolutely wasted their core” is a ridiculous statement. Tatis-22. Machado-29. Croenenworth-27. I could go on. This is a young team. It’s not like they are super far away in that division. LAD has some big change coming. SFG should be good again, but they are NOT winning 105+ Again next year. COL-ARI are presently not even in the conversation.
Padres are super far away in that division 28 behind Giants 27 behind Dodgers and 6 ahead of Rockies. A better manager might help but the Padres have less than a ten percent chance of winning the division with any of the managerial options unless they sign two top tier starters- say Scherzer and Gausman – and the Giants and Dodgers stay pat. Not too likely. Trades like Patino who gets paid pennies for Snell who gets 40 million do not help. Preller is not the worst GM, he did some smart things before he joined the Padres. And we don’t know if ownership is involved.
Smart things like what
Snell gets nowhere near 40M
Snell 40 million over three years per baseball reference
Snell 40.8 million for 2021, 2022 and 2023. And Patino is cheaper healthier and before too long also better. And they sent Patino, Mejia and a couple other guys to acquire Snell’s contract.
Ausmus. Now Rojas. The news for Padres fans keeps getting worse.
Could it be Ron Washington is not being officially mentioned because of the tampering rules?
Just a thought.
Could be wrong but prsr the Red Sox were allowed to interview Alex Cora despite the fact that the Astros were still in it. The only thing they had to wait to do because of the tampering rules was officially announce Cora as their new manager but like, it was an open secret that they were going to as soon as the Astros won/got eliminated. I’m assuming they didn’t decide hire him without an interview.
If the Padres want a good leader, they’ll get Washington, even if his history isn’t great off the field. If they want a sniffling puppet, they’ll get Rojas. Essentially, who they hire shows how this team operates. Who knows though, maybe Rojas becomes the next Gabe Kapler(He’s not).
I think we already know how Preller operates. And he will hire yet another puppet with zero backbone.
Idk about puppet but if they want someone “sniffling” then Washington is their guy.