Aaron Boone always admired Luis Rojas and his coaching pedigree from afar - well, not too far.
As crosstown rivals and managers of the Yankees and Mets, the two had a mutual respect for each other during their time as opponents, planting the seed to eventually become colleagues in pinstripes.
“Gotten to know Luis a little over the last few years playing across town, and developed a little bit of a relationship,” Boone told reporters on Wednesday. “And just looking from afar, certainly somebody I respected. I enjoyed our interactions together.
“As we started to dig a little bit…the respect he’s earned across the board in this game from people we contacted, and how highly people spoke of him, certainly confirmed that we needed to interview him and wanted to talk to him.”
Another fateful interaction came roughly a month after the 2021 season ended, with Boone calling Rojas to discuss potentially joining his coaching staff. Rojas missed the call, but when he called back, and eventually spoke to other members of the Yankee organization, he began to quickly climb the ranks of potential candidates.
It also became clear that Rojas would be a great fit to replace Phil Nevin as the team’s third base coach.
“When we first started interviewing him, I think it was with third base in mind, but we were gonna let roles develop and evolve as we went through this interview process, and I think he really wanted to get back out to third base,” Boone said. “He enjoys coaching third base from doing it so much in the minor leagues.”
The Yankees didn’t take much time in deciding that they wanted to bring Boone back as their manager after the season ended with questions surrounding his future. Shortly after he knew he would be returning, Boone began to realize that Rojas belonged on his staff, as did the other minds involved in the interview process. If the confidence in Rojas translates to improved results in the outfield and on the basepaths, the Yankees will likely be even more ecstatic with their hire than they already are.
“As far as the interview went, I think he killed it with everyone,” Boone said. “He was one of those guys we thought and knew that we wanted to be part of this staff. From there, it moved pretty quickly. Not only have we added a great baseball man, but a great person to this staff.”
Follow Ryan Chichester on Twitter: @ryanchichester1
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