By Jordan Long
The New York Mets thought they had their new manager for the 2020 season. They hired Carlos Beltran on November 1, 2019 to replace Mickey Callaway who was let go after 2 seasons. The Mets were 163-161 under Callaway and didn’t make the postseason. New York hoped Beltran was the answer even though he didn’t have any managerial experience.
Beltran spent 20 years as a player in Major League Baseball including 7 with the New York Mets. In 2018, he was a special advisor for the New York Yankees under Brian Cashman. The Mets took a chance on him since he knew the Major League game.
It didn’t last. Beltran was part of the sign stealing scandal involving the Houston Astros in 2017 which was his last year as a player. During that season, the Astros used a camera feed from center field to a television behind the dugout. This helped the players in the dugout see the sign of the pitch and know which pitch was called. They smacked a trash can to alert the batter. Houston won the World Series in 2017. For his involvement, the New York Mets decided last week it was best for the organization to move on from him.
New York was quick to hire a manager to lead the franchise in Luis Rojas. Rojas has some experience of being a manager. He spent 2011 to 2018 managing in the New York Mets farm system. The farthest Rojas went was Double A when he led the Binghamton Rumble Ponies. He managed there for two years, 2017 and 2018. Rojas’ combined managerial record in the minor leagues was 555-475, a winning percentage of .539.
According to CBSsports.com, New York Mets’ General Manager Brodie Van Wagenen said, “He’s respected by the players, he’s trusted by the players and he’s someone that we have great confidence in his ability to lead our team now and his ability to put our players and put us in the best position to succeed. He’s very, very well qualified. We anticipate him to be a great addition to our team. We think he has the ability to be consistent, to be calm under pressure and to understand the opportunity that this team has as we head into the 2020 season.”
The Mets are anticipating Rojas can end their postseason drought. They haven’t made it back to the playoffs since 2016 when they lost the National League Wild Card game. The Mets need to be patient with him. It could take a season or two for the Mets to even be in contention for a Wild Card spot. Only time will tell if Rojas was the right man for the job.
Leave a Reply