By Rob Rains
The Cardinals’ recent success has been due in large part to the infusion of talent coming out of the organization’s minor league system, including manager Mike Shildt, new coaches and numerous players.
Another veteran of that system could be on his way to the majors in the near future too – only it would not be with the Cardinals.
Gary LaRocque, the Cardinals’ director of player development and a key member of the organization for the last 10 years, has emerged as a strong candidate for the general manager’s job with the New York Mets.
The Mets are said to be looking at candidates for their next GM, who would succeed Sandy Alderson, who have a strong background in scouting and player development and LaRocque certainly has those qualifications.
He also has a background of working for the Mets, serving as the team’s scouting director and in other player development roles from 1998 through 2006 – just part of his 43 years working in professional baseball.
LaRocque’s candidacy for the GM job also could receive a boost from his friendship with Hall of Famer Sandy Koufax from his years working for the Dodgers. Koufax also is a lifelong friend of Fred Wilpon, the 81-year-old owner of the Mets. The two went to high school together in Brooklyn and were teammates on the school’s baseball team.
It is Wilpon, according to media reports in New York, who is pushing for the team’s next general manager to have that traditional baseball background as opposed to the trend in the industry for teams to hire younger GMs with more experience on the analytics side of the game. LaRocque is 65, but has the enthusiasm and energy for somebody 20 years younger.
It is not known when the Mets will begin interviewing candidates for the job to replace Alderson, who took a medical leave of absence in June when he announced his cancer has returned. Alderson is not expected to return to the team, which has been run for the last two months by a trio of team executives. It is likely the Mets would want to have a new GM ib place as soon as possible after the season ends to begin planning for 2019 and beyond.
John Mozeliak, the Cardinals president of baseball operations, said Friday he could not confirm if the Mets have asked for permission to interview LaRocque for the GM job.
The Cardinals lost a key member of their scouting and player development staff, Jeff Luhnow, when he was hired as the general manager of the Astros prior to the 2012 season.
Losing LaRocque as director of player development would be a major blow to the Cardinals, as he has guided the overall success of the different levels of the organization for the last several years. It is not known if the Cardinals would try to stay inside the organization for LaRocque’s replacement or bring in an outsider, as LaRocque was when he was hired, first as a senior special assistant to the general manager. He also served as a senior adviser to player development before becoming the director prior to the 2014 season.
Even if LaRocque does not leave to become the Mets’ GM, there could be other changes coming to key personnel in the Cardinals’ farm system before next season.
Some of those changes could also be a result of the success the major-league team has had since making the managerial and coaching changes the day before the All-Star break.
Three members of the coaching staff were promoted from roles in the minor league system, Ron “Pop” Warner, Mark Budaska and George Greer, and if the Cardinals drop the interim tag from Shildt’s title some or all could remain in their now interim roles as well. That would create openings in the system for an assistant field coordinator (Warner), the hitting coach at Triple A Memphis (Budaska) and an offensive strategist (Greer).
Warner also was in line to succeed Mark DeJohn as the field coordinator after next year, when DeJohn plans to retire, which will open another significant job in the organization.
The Cardinals also will need to find a replacement for Steve Turco, a longtime manager in the organization who has served this year as a roving instructor, also filling in as a manager when some of the regular managers are on their Cardinals’ mandated vacations. Turco plans to retire at the end of this season, his 37th working in professional baseball.
There also is a belief among at least some people in the organization that the Cardinals should hire a roving instructor to work with the catchers in the farm system, and perhaps a baserunning instructor as well, although that is viewed as a lesser priority.