The Orioles have interviewed Yankees third base coach and former Mets manager Luis Rojas amidst their ongoing managerial search, according to SNY’s Andy Martino. Rojas is the first candidate known to have formally interviewed for the position. Baltimore interim skipper Tony Mansolino also remains in the running, while Jon Heyman of The New York Post suggested that former O’s infielder and current Cubs bench coach Ryan Flaherty could be in the mix.
Rojas, 44, has served as the Yankees’ third base coach for the last four seasons. Beginning his coaching career with the Nationals’ Dominican League team in 2006, he joined the Mets organization the following year and began a long stint as a coach and manager at various levels of the organization. A promotion to the big league staff as the Mets’ quality control coach came in 2019, and Rojas was then unexpectedly elevated to the top job in January 2020. Carlos Beltran had been hired as the Amazins’ manager just over two months earlier, yet after the Astros’ sign-stealing scandal broke, Beltran stepped down from the post before he’d ever managed a single regular-season game.
This sudden promotion for Rojas came right before the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, making for quite a trial by fire for the first-time skipper. The Mets finished with just a 26-34 record in Rojas’ first year, yet he was retained for a second year in 2021. New York was in first place for a big chunk of that season but collapsed down the stretch, going just 29-45 after the All-Star break to finish with a 77-85 record.
Rojas’ club option for 2022 wasn’t picked up by the Mets, and he then stayed in the Big Apple by joining the Yankees’ coaching staff in November 2021. Before heading to the Yankees, Rojas interviewed with the Padres about their managerial vacancy that autumn, and he also interviewed with the Marlins in 2022 before Skip Schumaker was hired.
With so few public candidates identified in Baltimore’s search, it isn’t yet clear if the team is primarily focused on people with big league managerial experience (like Rojas or Mansolino) or if the O’s are more partial to Flaherty or another first-timer being elevated to the job. Whomever the choice may be, they’ll face a challenge in trying to get the Orioles and their young core back on track after a very disappointing 2025 campaign. The Orioles followed up consecutive playoff appearances with a 75-87 setback this year, though Mansolino did post a 60-59 record after he took over from Brandon Hyde in May.
Good pickup. If they don’t give him the job, they could offer him a cookie
What a joke Rojas was, completely lost control over the team.
Players were giving the fans hand gestures short of the bird!
Attacking each other in the runway; sad as a longtime fan.
2 years of dick pic Callaway No experience
2 years of related Rojas No experience
And now going on 3 years of Mendoza line; no experience to start
Experienced Tito cleaned his clock with practically no MLB talent and 200 million plus less to spend
He was bad with Yankees as a 3rd Base Coach with questionable sends ( Stanton ) and was wrong in recruiting Marcus Stroman who was a disaster. Hard pass
nypost.com/2024/02/25/sports/luis-rojas-lobbied-fo…
nypost.com/2024/10/29/sports/what-yankees-luis-roj…
Hard Pass here if I were the Orioles. He was only appointed the Mets Manager because Carlos Beltran was fired without managing a game because he lied to Joel Sherman about his cheating with the Astros.
His body of work thereafter was nothing to write home about.
Why is his last name not Alou as he is the Son of Felipe never understood that.
It seems to be a culture clash issue. You can have multiple surnames in many Spanish cultures. So “Felipe Rojas Alou” was his actual name. One son chose to use Rojas, another uses Alou. Shrug
Moises on the other hand who played for Felipe was an Alou
It could’ve been Rojas was trying to make his own name in the game so we went with Rojas. I wonder how many of Felipe’s kids use Rojas, Alou, or Rojas Alou
Blue Baron why are his Baseball playing brothers Matty & Jesus and his Son Moises named Alou? Confusing since they are well known in the US with that name
Just researched this. Moises and Luis are half brothers from different Mothers. Luis is from Felipe’s 3rd Wife while Moises is from a previous marriage.
Oh brother….elias wants a shill.
What does Luis Rojas have that Tony M does not and Tony M knows the O’s…Luis does not
It’s an interview people not an offer. Any good leader will interview a wide variety of candidates and try to learn from each one. Relax and let it play out. Luis will not be the Os manager.
Mathany
Flaherty
Bo Porter
No x3! Would be better off with Mansolino if these were the three candidates
zantigm – Always liked Bo Porter. I’d love to see him back as a manager.
Fredi Gonzalez would be a better choice I think and Porter would definitely be an asset on his staff. They were together in Atlanta years ago
Flaherty intrigues me. Buck loved him. I’d be interested in him but I thought we wanted to bring in experience? Regardless, Flaherty would be more relatable for the young fellers but no big league experience. Neither did Hyde but he became the scapegoat for Elias’ lack of work on the pitching side.
O’s should bring back Buck and get this ship righted!
The game has passed Buck by.
Incorrect, my friend.
Same thing happened with Buck that happened this year with Hyde. A team many picked to win the division underperformed and looked bad doing it. At least with Hyde, you could see that it was largely due to injuries and the lack of pitching depth, along with the failure of almost every batter to improve on their performance (O’hearn being the only exception). I don’t know what the buck happened when Showalter’s team tanked.
Why not Eduardo Perez
If Buck lost 162 games his final season people would still suggest a reunion. It’s perfectly OK to hire someone who has zero previous ties with the organization.
During the end of season interview, Mansolino repeatedly said that he wanted the players to feel loved and to feel loved and to be loved and to feel appreciated and heard, and it was nauseating.
He sounded like a cross between a priest and a counselor. He said nothing about the discipline of fundamental baseball. He talked instead about being their friends and the last thing a manager needs is to be somebody’s friend. I bet everybody loathed Earl Weaver, but he was very successful.
The best managers I had kicked my a$$ but still had my back with everyone else.
Terry Francona can both be a stickler behind closed doors and go to bat for his players, for example.
Of course, but Tony came across as wanting to be their friend instead of their boss, Hyde too.
There was no sense of professional distance or authority.
And Tony constantly said during post game interviews that he would leave decisions up to his players, such as whether they wanted to bunt or to steal, so even in areas where he was supposed to take charge and give instructions, he abandoned his own authority. It’s impossible to respect a person like that as a manager, even if you respect him as a person.
They need an outsider who is not impressed by the fact that alot of these guys came up through the system together. A guy who stresses fundamentals and accountability.