N.Y. Mets name Luis Rojas as general manager
1/31/2020, 6 a.m.
Luis Rojas grew up watching his father, Felipe Rojas Alou, manage big league baseball teams.
Now it’s Luis’ turn.
Rojas, 38, is the new manager of the New York Mets after 13 years working in the franchise’s minor league system.
Rojas managed Mets affiliates in Port St. Lucie, Fla.; Savannah, Ga.; and in 2017 and 2018, the Binghamton Rumble Ponies of New York in the Eastern League.
He made numerous trips to The Diamond in Richmond to play the Richmond Flying Squirrels.
Rojas’ father managed the Montreal Expos from 1992 to 2001 and the San Francisco Giants from 2003 to 2006. He was National League Manager of the Year in 1994.
Alou was an outstanding player from 1958 to 1974. He was the first Dominican to make a big league baseball roster and also the first Dominican manager.
Rojas’ uncles, Jesus and Mateo Alou, played in the big leagues, along with his brother, Moisés Alou.
The Mets job came open when Carlos Beltran, a native of Puerto Rico, was terminated in the wake of the Houston Astros’ and Boston Red Sox’s illegal sign stealing scandal.
Also losing jobs due to the cheating was Boston manager Alex Cora and Houston manager A.J. Hinch.
Rojas becomes the second youngest manager in Major League Baseball behind the Minnesota Twins’ Rocco Baldelli, who is 24 days Rojas’ junior.
The two MLB African-American managers are the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Dave Roberts and Dusty Baker with the Houston Astros.
