There are things to like about new Mets manager Luis Rojas, but there are also reasons for concern that have nothing to do with the man himself, WFAN's Boomer Esiason and Gregg Giannotti said Thursday morning.
The Mets are finalizing a multiyear deal with Rojas, general manager Brodie Van Wagenen said Wednesday. Rojas will replace Carlos Beltran, who mutually parted ways with the team after being named in MLB's report on the Astros cheating scandal.
Rojas is entering his 14th season in the Mets organization and spent last year as the team's quality-control coach. He began as a coach for the Mets' Dominican Summer League team in 2007 and later spent eight seasons managing in the minors.
The 38-year-old is the son of former All-Star player and Expos and Giants manager Felipe Alou and the brother of six-time All-Star outfielder Moises Alou.
"I do love that Luis Rojas worked for everything that he got, and he's not someone who is just a player and then was given the job," Giannotti said at the start of the "Boomer and Gio" show. " ... This was someone who, by the way, could have benefited from nepotism because his father was Felipe Alou, his brother is Moises Alou. He could've benefited from that, but, no, he started from the ground, he worked his ass off, and now he is here."
Esiason said that, by hiring Rojas, it appears the Mets are emulating the Yankees model with manager Aaron Boone.
"One of the reasons I think we thought it was going to be somebody from within was because of the collaborative efforts that Brodie Van Wagnen and (COO) Jeff Wilpon are trying to get this team to fall into," he said. "And to me, I think I finally realized what they're trying to do. They're trying to recreate the Yankees' way of doing things. And I can understand that the imitation is the purest form of flattery, and it does make a lot of sense. The difference is that you have a, what, 20-year GM for the Yankees and you have a two-year GM for the Mets."
Gio agreed that could potentially be problematic.
"I am a little bit worried because Luis Rojas, at 38 years old, Brodie Van Wagnen wanting to control the manager in a certain way," he said. "But what you said before is right. If (Yankees GM) Brian Cashman controls (manager) Aaron Boone, I'm OK with it 'cause Brian Cashman has got rings, he's got smarts, he's the man. He's one of the best GMs in sports. Brodie Van Wagenen is a guy who has made a lot of mistakes in his short tenure here, and I don't know if I want him telling Luis Rojas what to do all the time.
"Now Brodie talks about collaboration. Hopefully it's true collaboration, and collaboration isn't some sort of code word for 'you stand there in the dugout in a uniform, but I run the team from a suit in the box.'"
Rojas interviewed for the Mets' managerial opening last fall. Giannotti dismissed criticism that the Mets are now settling for a manager they weren't sold on just a few short months ago.
"One thing I keep hearing was, 'Well, the Mets didn't believe in the first round of interviews that Luis Rojas was ready for this opportunity right now, and now all of a sudden he's ready for it,'" Gio said. "Well, of course, circumstances have changed, and why are we going to trust the Mets anyway in what they believed a couple of months ago? They might have, by mistake, hired the best manager in their history. Who knows? We don't know."
To listen to the open from Thursday's "Boomer and Gio" show, click on the audio player above.
