There’s a lot of buzz around New York Mets quality control coach Luis Rojas getting a big promotion. The Mets players are all for it.
Luis Rojas has a ton of minor league managerial experience, spending eight years as a minor league manager in the New York Mets‘ system.
Throughout that time Rojas has acquainted himself with a number of Mets’ major leaguers. He’s managed 12 of the players currently on the roster at some point in their minor league careers.
With the buzz surrounding Rojas at an all-time high, Nathalie Alonso of MLB.com asked the players what they thought of the baseball lifer. Jeff McNeil and Pete Alonso, were two of the players who Rojas managed in the minor leagues and they gave glowing reviews.
“I think he’d be a great big league manager,” McNeil said of Rojas. “He knows the game really well. He comes from a big baseball family. His emotions [are] real calm. He gets along well with the players. He’s just a baseball guy. I think he’d be a tremendous manager.”
That shouldn’t come as a surprise. McNeil spent parts of three seasons in the minor leagues with Rojas as his manager. He’s spent more time with him in charge than anybody else since being drafted. It makes sense he’d be attached to him.
Pete Alonso was a little less effusive with the praise, calling him, “One of the most even-keeled managers I’ve had.”
Like McNeil, Alonso sees how well Rojas keeps his emotions in check. That’s an incredibly important skill to have in the majors where high-pressure situations can make or break managers. It’s imperative to be able to stay calm in those situations.
Having two of the faces of the franchise on your side is a great way to land a big-league job. It seems to be just a matter of time before Rojas is calling the shots in the dugout.