The Yankees have hired former Mets skipper Luis Rojas to serve as their third base coach for the 2022 season, per a club announcement. He’ll take the place of Phil Nevin, whom the Yankees dismissed following the season.
Rojas, 40, served as the Mets’ manager for the past two seasons. He’d been serving as a quality control coach after more than a decade coaching and managing in the Mets’ minor league system but was unexpectedly elevated to the manager’s chair when the Mets moved on from Carlos Beltran following the revelation of his involvement in orchestrating the Astros’ 2017 sign-stealing scandal.
The Mets were 103-119 under Rojas’ watch, fading down the stretch this past season after spending much of the year in contention for a division crown. Injuries played a large role in that decline, with Jacob deGrom’s absence looming particularly large, but the Mets nevertheless elected to decline a third-year option on Rojas, making him free to join a new organization for the first time in 16 years.
Rojas interviewed for the Padres’ managerial vacancy but was passed over when longtime A’s skipper Bob Melvin was surprisingly made available to them. He reportedly interviewed with the Yankees last week and, clearly, made a strong impression when doing so.
In Rojas, the Yankees will be adding a bilingual coach with managing experience and plenty of experience working with the Mets’ analysts and players alike. Rojas is a former minor league manager of the year who wore a variety of hats throughout his 16-year run in the Mets organization. He’s also a member of a legendary baseball fan, as the son of three-time MLB All-Star and 1994 NL Manager of the Year Felipe Alou and the half brother of six-time All-Star Moises Alou.
Can’t be worse than Phil Nevin.
That play in the playoffs where Judge was out by 30 feet was grounds for firing alone.
I’ll give him pass on that as the RS made a great defensive relay. However, the team was among league leaders at outs made at homeplate.
Phil Nevin was infamously selected by the Houston Astros instead of Derek Jeter ( Chief Scout ( and Hall of Famer) Hal Newhouser quit over that decision.
Hell yeah, thats the type of ‘philosophical differences’ that one quits over, or gets fired for… kinda like if Walt Jockety traded Albert Pujols for 17 games of Carlos Hernadez in 2000 would have been grounds for termination, it’s crazy how a small decision like that, one bad choice like not drafting Derek Jeter can really hurt a organization? Imagine Craig Biggio and Derek Jeter batting 1 2 in front of Jeff Bagwell and turning 4, 6, 3, or 6, 4, 3 double plays all season long?
I would have quit to
They were the league leader.
I agree somewhat. But many of those outs can be attributed to the team “concept” of running from third on contact. Those aren’t Nevin’s calls.
Gotta agree with this.
There were few teams ( if any) worse on the base paths then the Yankees. Was it all Nevin’s fault? No. But he gets a lot of the blame.
The issue was less Nevin than with the Yankees philosophy with runners in motion, and their always-run-on-the-contact-play approach. They simply don’t have the athleticism to always send the runner. Rojas will have the same issue unless they up their speed and/or change their approach. Nevin likely was a sacrificial lamb here as they had to make some change. That said, Rojas should be a good hire for the coaching staff.
Rob is exactly right.
People forget the next batter up on that play was Joey “contact” Gallo. So he had to send him and risk it for the biscuit!
Excellent!
Meanwhile, cross town, Steve Bannon turned down the GM’s job for the Mets.
Lmao even as a Mets fan you can’t help but laugh at this one
And yet somehow I was able to.
This is a good selection. Rojas was the fall guy for a bad situation in Flushing ( the fact the so many people are avoiding working for the Mets is proof of that).
@NY_Yankee, Yep. In my opinion, he has a chance to be Gabe Kapler 2.0. Two years of growing pains in the NL East, followed by managerial success elsewhere Rojas will land on his feet and the Yankees did well with this hire.
He also might be a good influence on some of the Latin players ( especially Gary Sanchez who needs someone to motivate his sorry ass).
If you paid attention to the Mets as I did these past couple of years, you probably see Rojas as a bright young baseball guy. That a team in the same market would scoop him up soon so after he was let go should be viewed in his favor, shouldn’t it?
@Cey Hey I know the Mets are your second favorite team but can you name 1 situation in which Rojas made a game breaking decision that lead the Mets to win a game? I can think of atleast 50 times he blew the game for them but I cant think of one time he actually made the right decision. Using a reliever who hadnt pitched in 2 months in a win now game in the 12th inning, pitching to Bryan De La Cruz with a base empty and 2 outs in the 9th inning tie game, using Mazeika to pinch hit over Mcann with the bases loaded and 2 outs when Mazieka is not even a tenth of the hitter Mcann is. What does Rojas do right?
I don’t have a second-favorite team. But having grown up in the NYC area, I watch the Mets a lot as well as the Phillies and the Braves. Most nights, the Mets are my JV game before the Dodgers’ varsity game begins on the West Coast.
The on-field decisions criticism is 20/20 hindsight by fans. A move not working doesn’t mean it was a bad move. Sometimes, it just doesn’t work out. As a fan. I don’t pay attention to that stuff. It’s up to the players to produce. Fans in Philadelphia said the same thing about Kapler. Heck, Dodgers fans said it about Roberts and Braves fans about Snitker. Wrong on all counts.
The Mets’ problem wasn’t the manager. It was having a roster full of mediocre players. You noticed what happened during that 13-game stretch against the Dodgers and Giants, right? They simply weren’t up to the task. Mets fans need to stop overrating the players on the roster. I doubt other teams aren’t clamoring to trade for Mets players.
From everything I’ve seen and learned about Rojas, I think he can be an excellent big-league manager for a long time. He has excellent leadership and communication skills and has shown a willingness to work closely with the front office. Thanks to his embracing the shift, the Mets were transformed from a terrible defensive team to an adequate one, even though the defensive personal is mediocre aside from Lindor. How many games might they have lost otherwise?
The biggest Rojas negative for me was his constant badgering of the umpires over balls and strikes. It was often confrontational, which doesn’t help your team. I thought might have affected how the hitters approached their at-bats. I can’t remember ever seeing an entire team take so many pitches down the middle. It’s as if they were overly concerned about borderline pitches. I can appreciate him wanting to protect his players; he just needs to scale that back, in my opinion.
Rojas’s only claim to fame is who he is related to; without that he could not manage a little league game. Not only did he preside over the thumbs down incident; which shows his players had no respect for him he also presided over the “Lindor choking out McNeal in the tunnel rat incident and cluelessly lied to the media about that, The Alou name got him this job with the Yanks as the name has gotten him everything else in MLB. Gee third base coach from manager thats a real step up?!
But with that being said he is not a bad guy personally just a horrible manger I wish him well and pray he grows and has success.
“I can’t remember ever seeing an entire team take so many pitches down the middle. It’s as if they were overly concerned about borderline pitches.”
Very good point as I thought this at the time also and believe it did hurt the Mets on close calls out of the zone
The Mets have offered Billy Eppler their general manager’s position, a source tells
@TheAthletic
.
Always great to have a bilingual coach.
Going from Moreno to the Mets would be like going from the Raiders to the Detroit Lions. One mess to another.
Nevin only sent Judge because Gallo on Deck had been playing so horrible. On a another note do the Yankees really need someone from the Mets. I mean come on now no one else available. Yankees need to give Willie Randolph or Showalter a call.
Showalter and Randolph are not going to be coaching third base.
Lol….Randolph was Mets manager and Yanks announcer David Cone played for the Mets too.
I don’t believe Randolph was considered a strong manager. Love the guy, but he wouldn’t be my choice as a manager, especially after all these years. Showalter is a very strong manager, but probably too strong for today’s GM’s. He’s too old school. He’ll take all the data and information, there is no more prepared manager, but he’ll then run the team on the field as he sees fit. Teams today are looking more for the too-cool-for-school uncle, not a strong leader or on-field strategist.
Say what
The heir apparent to Aaron Boone
If Boone doesn’t show some improvement, it could be.
What would you say he needs to improve Joe? I’m not trolling either, I’m really asking. While they haven’t won a title, they haven’t been terrible under Boone. While I try to follow as much of the league as possible, I’m not super familiar with his in game style….
Magnet Salesman,
Boone has to take some of the blame for keeping Torres at short long after it was obvious that he was Not a SS. Again he takes some of the blame for letting Sanchez continue to not perform as a major league catcher. Sanchez was eventually benched in the playoffs and Torres was moved to second, both moves were too little to late. Cashman also takes a lot of the blame. In game strategy was poor with Boone. There were too many examples to even summarize here.
Boone needs to improve his bullpen management. He made poor decisions all year that cost Yanks games. Brought the wrong relievers in, left relievers in too long, etc. seriously, Yanks could have probably won 10 more games with better decisions from the manager. Now, were those decisions dictated from above? Many think yes, but that is not 100% clear.
Magnet Salesman, he can’t settle on a lineup for one thing. When they went on that late season run, he kept the same lineup most every game. It also took him until September to move Torres off of short. And his pitching moves are very questionable.
Maybe that’s why they brought Rojas in. Ask him who to bring in and pull a George Constanta and do the complete opposite. That’s got all the makings for success. Rojas had no clue when it came to the bullpen or when to or not pinch hit, make defensive replacements. Man if you watched any Mets games it was embarrassing day after day. These guys saying he had respect for being a baseball guy clearly didn’t watch the games.
He’s actually a good manager but for some reason he gets hate because his players go soft when they need to go hard. I’m sure some will give the old shtick about how he’s horrible with the bullpen as well. Aren’t all managers since the beginning of time horrible with the bullpen? You work with what you’re given and managing current players with their egos isn’t easy. It’s about managing time off more than in game decisions. Most in game decisions are fairly easy calls to make but with guys needing mental health days and days to rest it’s become a different job.
I like Boone I like his style and I like that he enjoys dressing down an ump now and then. Is it his fault the Yankees traded away two pretty good pen pieces to make room for Joey Gallo, who by the way couldn’t hit water if he fell out of a boat? Is it his fault that Cashman seems to have forgot that you need to have guys hitting at the top of your lineup that can get on base and maybe have some speed? How about a couple left handed bats. Is it Boone’s fault that Stanton and Judge can never seem to be healthy together for long stretches? Last year was an aberration for those two as I think they both actually played 140 or real close to it. Hell I think Boone’s done a great job considering.
He’s not a manager, though.
Not like the kind I grew up with, anyway.
He is an administrator. Nothing more. He is “given input” into decision making: lineup, pen management, etc. But he makes no real decisions. He “handles the media” &….I dunno…gives pep talks?
The fact of the matter is, none of us has any idea if he is actually a good manager or a complete fiasco. None at all. We do know Cash likes how he follows the various front office edicts. & That’s really about it.
Like when Deivi Garcia started a ’20 playoffs game for an inning and then JA Happ came in. Boone’s job was to convince Happ to buy in to that idea and he didn’t.
Good example.
& the complete opposite of when Joe G started Romine at first as a clear statement to get Kkris Kkkarter off the roster. He burned his back up catcher. Joe G did! Man. More than anything, I feel that little act of insubordination is what cost Girardi his job. Can’t have that now…
Lol Mets suck
Best thing in the Mets favor? The Jets are around ( they make the Mets look like the Steelers).
Yankees wisely see Rojas as an in house replacement for Boone.
I have withdrawn my name from the Mets gm race
How original.
Any idea what happened to the last guy??
Well that could mean Ohtani to the Mets in a couple years.
Seems like a decent move from the outside looking in. Did what he could in Queens, but it would be hard for anyone to be successful dealing with that circus. Definitely has a good rep in the game.
Lol….Randolph was Mets manager and Yanks announcer David Cone played for the Mets too.
Yes, that is funny!
Seems like a solid addition to the organization as a coach. Rojas scored very high marks while in the Mets organization working with players throughout the minors. His tenure as a manager didn’t go well, and who knows if that was his issue or just general issues with the Mets right now, or probably a combination of both, but the experience will make him an even better coach. He’ll also get to see how a professional organization operates.
@RobM, one thing about Rojas that people don’t mention is how his rookie year was interrupted by the pandemic. Not an ideal situation for anyone, especially a first-year manager.
Yes. Pandemic his rookie year, compounded with other issues this year related to Cohen’s first year owning the team, specifically the multiple GMs. A manager and GM have to have tight relationship, and that was never allowed to develop. Whatever happened will simply make him a stronger MLB coach. I’m sure he’ll get a chance to manage again too. The Yankees picked him for a reason.
I think he’s going to be bored out of his mind.
Right. The Yankees hardly ever have runners past second base
They have lots of runners past second base as they jog around the bases for a home run. But they don’t play the kind of baseball that would make it interesting being a third base coach. About the only signal they would need is the take sign.
Filed Under: sure, fine, whatever.
Wasn’t Nevin the only coach Boone was allowed to pick? Blaming the 3rd base coach for a team that was slow, ultraconservative yet somehow able to do all kinds of truly baffling **** on the bases seems…ineffective.
But Cash does get another of His Guys on the bench. I think Rojas is actually a good coach. Don’t get me wrong. Don’t see how he can possibly hurt us. Nevin just doesn’t really fit as a fall guy for me, however.
I’m more interested in who the next hitting coach may be.
You mean something that may actually have an impact? Yeah, me too, Creature.
Not a bitter Met fan at all because I wanted this guy to succeed but he’s just not that good. I’ve read alot About how his hands were tied and how he didn’t have any control but Good luck Yankee Fans. He had no idea how to manage or teach baseball fundamentals. It will be interesting to see what his total outs at home vs runs scored is on sending guys home because I wouldn’t trust him.
While (obviously) the Mets’ ’21 problems don’t fall completely on the shoulders of Rojas, I do think he was “Peter Principled.” Seems like he wound up in a perfect situation for him, kind of the equivalent of a player re-establishing his value.
I won’t be very surprised if he’s managing again before long.
No, seriously.
Rojas was obviously overwhelmed. He’ll never manage again.
very good hire
brings a lot to the table
That’s a demotion. Then I hear Brad Ausmus is up for a manager job.
I wonder if he will attend the Mets World Championship parade?
In 2037.
2037?
Bit of an optimist, are ya?
If monkeys can type Shakespeare, the Mets can win. Equal probability.
So yes, 2037 is optimistic.
A big nothing hire. Yankees are going nowwhere this off-season. Phil Nevin was the only one with fire on that coaching staff. I remember seeing several times him protecting the players and going at it with the umps while Boone just stood and watched. Congrats to the rest of AL East
How is it possible that the New York Yankees can’t do better than this?
How?