Luis Rojas has been unemployed for over a month now, after the Mets declined to pick up his option and retain him as manager for 2022. But he may have a chance to stay in the Big Apple, as Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports that he was interviewed by the Yankees for one of their base coach jobs and “made a positive impression.”
Rojas had been in the Mets’ organization since 2007, working his way through the ranks of the minor leagues and eventually becoming quality control coach at the big league level in 2019. He was shoved into the manager’s chair after Carlos Beltran was fired in the wake of the Astros’ sign-stealing revelations and lasted two seasons. He hasn’t yet found a new position for 2022, but seems to have interest around the league, as he also interviewed for the Padres’ managerial opening before that was filled by Bob Melvin.
The Yankees are going to have a high degree of turnover in their coaching staff before next season, despite manager Aaron Boone being extended for three more years. First base coach Reggie Willits, third base coach Phil Nevin, hitting coach Marcus Thames and assistant hitting coach P.J. Pilittere have all either stepped down or been let go in recent weeks. If the Yankees end up getting Rojas to put pen to paper, Boone can be supported by a coach with a couple seasons of managerial experience under his belt.
More tidbits from around the league…
- Joe Kelly’s 2021 was arguably his best season since becoming a reliever, but it ended on an ominous note. In the regular season, Kelly logged 44 innings with an ERA of 2.86, strikeout rate of 27.5%, walk rate of 8.2% and groundball rate of 58.9%. But then he left game five of the NLCS with an arm injury that ended his season, and the Dodgers declined his $12MM option for 2022, reportedly because they didn’t expect him to recuperate before spring training. However, it now seems like his outlook isn’t quite so dour, at least according to one medical professional. Dr. Neal ElAttrache, who performed shoulder surgery on Kelly a year ago, provided an update on the situation to Rob Bradford of WEEI. In regards to a team asking his opinion about the hurler, ElAttrache said, “I would tell the front office and their team doctors that I would be very optimistic that he would be ready for spring training.” If the 33-year-old is indeed healthy, he figures to be one of the most sought-after relievers this offseason, alongside guys like Raisel Iglesias, Kenley Jansen and Kendall Graveman, though he’ll likely have to hold a showcase at some point in the new year to prove his effectiveness and assuage the concerns of interested teams.
- Jack Harris of the L.A. Times reports that Angels’ director of pro scouting Nate Horowitz has left the team. In recent weeks, the club has been shuffling a lot of chairs around behind the scenes, as they also parted ways with scouting director Matt Swanson and replaced him by bringing in Tim McIlvaine from the Brewers. The persistent narrative around the Angels in recent years has been their inability to build a well-rounded team to support their marquee players such as Mike Trout, Shohei Ohtani, Anthony Rendon and Justin Upton. Despite the presence of Trout, arguably the best player of his generation, the Angels haven’t finished above .500 since 2015 and haven’t won a playoff game since 2009. There have been some positive signs recently, as younger players like Jared Walsh, Brandon Marsh, Jo Adell and Patrick Sandoval have started filling some holes around the veterans. But the shake up in the scouting department suggests the club is still trying to reshape their approach to team building in order to give their stars a chance to shine in the postseason.
Just don’t see Joe Kelly at the top of the list if healthy. He had a good year but he has not been consistent. Plus he’s not the youngest.
Kelly could be at the top because after Iglesias, who else is there? Jansen? Not for me. Regardless, his inconsistent history does not mean he will get big money. I’d like him back on Boston but only at a reasonable cost.
If Justin Upton is considered a “marquee player” then the Angels are truly bad.
Agreed. And which respectable baseball mind has an argument against Trout being the best player of his generation?
He got hurt and stopped playing well. The good news is the Angels have money this year, the bad news is they won’t next year. Arbitration is going to kill them next year.
When did Trout stop playing well? He was off to the best start of his career when he tore his calf muscle sprinting to third base. He isn’t injury prone. He has missed time with injuries that aren’t indicative of an injury prone player. He has no chronic injuries to date. Broken bones when hit by a pitch or sliding into second are not self inflicted. Guys who play as hard as he does will get injured once in a while. Look for a huge bounce back season.
This section of comments was about Upton.
Not sure about your math– next year $28MM comes off with the end of the Upton contract. Between this year and next they have about $110MM to spend through the next two years– that’s a lot. They’re fine.
“Despite the presence of Trout, arguably the best player of his generation…”
————
You can delete the word “arguably.”
“Boone will also not be allowed any input into putting his staff together, according to Rosenthal. As Yankee GM Brian Cashman stated, ‘He doesn’t need to worry his pretty little head about all that. We will give him all the necessary tools to continue following orders.'”
Thanks for the laugh this morning Ducky.
Only thing Boonie needs to worry his head about is keeping it at hip level to Cashman.
Ironic that both Luis Rojas and Carlos Beltran might be hired by the Yankees as coaches / front office positions. Just what I am hearing reading between the lines.
You either heard it or you are reading between the lines. Unless you’re hearing words in your head ⚾️
I multitask. I read everything and listen to alot at the same time. This is what I am relaying. The Yankees have been talking with both Rojas about coaching position and Beltran probably a FO position. Stay alert and keep eyes and ears open.
I guess that is as much as the Alou family can get Rojas now since he sucked so bad as a manger! That is about his speed though; lets hope the Yankee fans don’t run him out of town. Wish him well seems to have gotten everything by who he is related to but wish him well.
Ángels should sign One of the top available SS and at least, 2 SP. Given the long terms on Trout and Rendon and assuming they sign a high end SS like Story to name some one, They shouldn’t look into any massive deal with a SP.
I’ll say Story at SS to pair up the middle with Fletcher and then, go out and try to steal Kershaw from the crosstown rivals Dodgers. Then sign one of the Vets in Verlander or Scherzer to round things up. I think that’s a case scenario that will improve the Halos. Iglesias should be brought back as well.
The Angels are going nowhere if they can’t give the ball to reliable relieves in after the fifth inning. Starters are great, but very few average much more than six innings.
They need a bullpen. How does anyone watch the playoffs and not realize the game has changed. Even if they make the playoffs, it will be a short trip without a pen.
Cashman became enamored with that Big 3 bullpen model that the ’15 Royals rode to a championship. Difficult & expensive to build, however.
We are now watching him switch gears to the 6+ deep bullpen like the A’s & Ray’s have been using. Lots of regular season & some postseason successes with that model. But it’s probably easier to maintain that pen configuration as opposed to completely building one.
In the end, both systems are effective & proven formulas.
When it comes to putting together a starting staff, I think Bloom for the sox has a good approach. That being 4 (or more) above average starters. That was the absolute backbone of their pitching staff. Huge reason they hosted the play-in game & went on a LCS game 6 run. Their guys kept you in the game for 4-6 innings every night. I think he is on to something there, man.
Difficult to build, yes. But less risky than starters and if you go with pitchers who are likely be good rather than studs, they’ll be no long term nightmares.
Get guys who are likely to be good, and you have to be able to evaluate players.
And if you can build starters, that’s great. Talk about hard.
The Angels will lose Raisel Iglesias so their bullpen will even get much worse!
I moved to Angel Honk land in 2010 and only live and work a few miles from Angels Stadium, seems like my wait for the playoffs might get longer!
Only one brief stint against KC in the playoffs its been a long wait.
1.Fletcher 2B
2.Story SS
3.Trout CF
4.Rendon 3B
5.Ohtani DH
6.Walsh 1B
7.Marsh RF
8.Stassi C
9.Adell LF
1.Kershaw
2.Scherzer
3.Ohtani
4.Sandoval
5.Canning/Suarez/Barría
A much better scenario for the Halos…..Upton needs to go though !
Upton is a 4th outfielder. With how often the outfield misses time, he could have significant value. Who do you want as a 4th outfielder?
The Angels can’t afford Story.
Another thing, Ohtani and Walsh will never hit back to back. Fletcher should not lead off.
They’re not getting Kershaw and Scherzer either. Maybe they could get one (doubtful) but not both
LF Brandon Marsh
CF Mike Trout
DH Shohei Ohtani
3B Anthony Rendon
1B Jared Walsh
RF Jo Adell
2B Chris Taylor
C Max Stassi
SS David Fletcher
Max Scherzer
Shohei Ohtani
Alex Cobb
Patrick Sandoval
Griffin Canning/Jaime Barria/JoseSuarez/Sam Bachman?
Might as well keep Upton as a 4th OF the same as they did with Vernon Wells in 2012. They’d have to eat his salary in any kind of trade anyway, so might as well keep him for depth. I say stick to the youth regarding starting pitching or use them in trades since they all showed promise and that they are major league ready.
Canning is likely a trade candidate with Adell. Marsh will play left not right. They’ll use six starters not 5. They’re not signing Kershaw with his arm issues. They’re looking at Scherzer, Verlander and Ray– they want two of those three, and they want Iglesias back, and they might sign another dominating bullpen piece like Jansen to pitch the 8th and part time close. That’s where all their money is going. They will sign a Cesar Hernandez type for short money and be fine.. Verlander may present a real value.
The Angels fix is simple and quick… In the near term (this off-season!) spend $55-65m more on the pitching side!! The Angels need TWO top quality starting pitchers and 1-3 RP.
2 SP: $48-55m (tier 1-2 SP, no fliers on tier 3-4 SP)
1-3 RP: $10-12m
Ideally these players should be signed for 2-5 years, depending on the player of course, but this does two things…
1. it gives the team some continuity with skilled players. Do they really want to be reshaping the starting 5 every year with 1year guys?? No.
2. It allows the younger prospects time to develop in the minors. The Detmers and Cannings and those 17+ recently drafted pitchers need AA/AAA time to develop and hone skills.
Iglesias needs to be retained 3-4 yrs, $16-18m Aav. With the final year either a team option or guaranteed. GET IT DONE!
bullpen needs a solid setup guy or two.
I want everyone to understand how I feel about starting pitching. YES!!!!
But it’s incredible long term risk, and I don’t blame a GM or owner for taking such risks.
EVERY playoff team has 2-3 solid starters, a few even have 4 solid starters some years. They don’t all need to be ACEs but at least 3 tier 2 guys.
If you were to look at the 2021 playoff teams 1-2-3 starters and the Angels 1-2-3 starters… which Angels starter(s) would you swap in??
The answer is only 1… Ohtani.
In 2020 it was Bundy only.
Playoff teams have 3-4 solid starters to rack up 93-107 wins and have a shot in DS, CS, WS.
And yes I know the Braves only won 88 to reach the playoffs but, typically ~93+ wins = playoffs. More of a sure thing anyway.
Who did the Braves and Astros start in the playoffs? You add Ohtani to our staff and all the Angels need to do is find one pitcher, providing you have a bullpen.
You don’t build a bullpen by making the horrible moves that Perry made last year.
I have no problem with the Angels not throwing big money at starting pitching. It would be nice, but I don’t get mad about it. What I do get mad at are the imbecilic bullpen moves.
Iglesias was a Perry move in case you forgot. Lol
I didn’t forget. Did you forget everything else? What good is a ninth inning guy when you can’t get the ball to the 9th inning?
I’ve been writing the same thing for a year… in case you forgot.
I’m well aware…but the Angels can’t even get to the 6th inning consistently before going to the bullpen. That’s a problem!
Btw here is the playoff teams top 3 SP, not all are “top names” but they have more 1-2-3 talent than nearly any Angels SP not named Ohtani.
Braves: Morton/Fried/Anderson
Dodgers: Scherzer/Buehler/Urias/Kershaw
Giants: Guasman/Webb/Desclafani/Wood
Brewers: Byrnes/Woodruff/Peralta
Cardinals: Wainwright/Flaherty/…
Astros: McCullers/Valdez/Garcia
Red Sox: Sale/Eovaldi/Rodriguez
ChiSox: Lynn/Giolito/Cease
Rays: Mcclanahan/Baz/Patino
Yankees: Cole/…/…
——
BlueJays: Ryu/Berrios/Manoah
Angels: Ohtani/ … / …
Your points are valid, they need both. And a lot of pitchers were not healthy and or effective in the playoffs.
If the Angels don’t add RPs, they are going to have to draw to an inside straight with the starting pitching.
It’s easier to address the bullpen. If they can’t address the bullpen, why would anyone expect them to have success with the rotation?
Still need to replace innings by Bundy, Heaney, Cobb etc. Graveman and Knebel would be decent bullpen additions, along with extending R. Iglesias.
Verlander, Robbie Ray, Jansen, and two more solid bullpen pieces. Backfill at second or short through a trade with an affordable league average player.
The LAA need to package Adell & Trout for 10 prospects.
Why not just trade Trout for nine? Adell is a prospect.
1) Cut the already skimpy scouting staff to save $$$
2) Get rid of the scouting directors because, hey, scouting has been shoddy.
The Moreno touch….
Where did they save $$? They we’re replaced with Perry’s guys.
It’s not a cost cutting move– they’re changing personnel.
Tasks of a first-base coach:
1. Collect elbow guards, shin guards, and batting gloves from guys who make it to first base and hand such equipment to the bat boy.
2. Help the new baserunner to put his oven mitt on and tell the runner how many outs there are.
3. Point the base runner in the direction of second base.
4. If the base runner almost gets picked off, tell him to take a shorter lead.
5. Use your stopwatch to time the pitcher’s delivery and if the batter doesn’t put the first pitch in play, tell the base runner what that interval is.
6. If there is a runner stranded on first base when the third out is made, guide him to the dugout, and send him out to his position with a “go get ’em”. (does not apply if it’s the DH).
7. In the dugout, ask the manager if he needs a cup of water or a Gatorade and express optimism that the next inning is going to be a big one for us.
It’s not a cost cutting move– they’re changing personnel.