Might Mel Rojas, Jr. be a fit for the Blue Jays?

Mel Rojas Jr., a left-handed hitter who stands at 6-foot-2 and 225 pounds, batted .349, hit a league-leading 47 homers and drove in a league-high 135 runs for the KT Witz in this his fourth season in the Korean Baseball Organization.

November 2, 2020

By Danny Gallagher

Canadian Baseball Network

Player agent Jay Alou doesn't represent any Blue Jays players at the current time, but out of the blue Monday he recommended a member of baseball royalty: outfielder Mel Rojas Jr.

Rojas, 30, a son of former Expos reliever Mel Rojas Sr., and a scion of the Alou family, is ready for prime-time in the major leagues, Alou said in an interview.

"He's tearing up the KBO,'' Alou said, in referring to the Korean baseball league. "I wouldn't be surprised if he gets a major league deal this winter. He's having an outstanding year. He came close to winning the Triple Crown.''

Rojas, a left-handed hitter who stands at 6-foot-2 and 225 pounds, batted .349, hit a league-leading 47 homers and drove in a league-high 135 runs for the KT Witz in this his fourth season there. He started playing in Korea halfway through the 2017 season.

Hyoung Woo Choi won the batting title with a .354 average followed by Ah Seop Son's .352 mark. Rojas' team is currently involved in the playoffs.

Rojas has yet to play in the majors, although he has reached the triple-A ranks on several occasions. He was drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2010 and bounced around the minors for many years but is making a name for himself in Korea where is earning $1.5-million (U.S.) this season.

Any interest in Rojas by from a major-league team will be impacted by the pandemic as many teams are cutting expenses because of the game's uncertain future, the fact there will be little or no season-ticket sales this winter and there may be no fans in the stands again in 2021.

"Money is the common denominator,'' Alou said. "It's not going to be pretty (trying to sign players).''

Slugger Rojas speaks perfect English, was born in Indianapolis where his father was pitching for the Expos triple-A farm team. Mel graduated to the majors and pitched for the Expos from 1990-96 and again in 1999. He is the nephew of the line-drive hitting Alou family, which consists of brothers Felipe, Jesus and Matty, who at one time played in the same outfield with the San Francisco Giants. Mel Rojas is a cousin of Moises Alou.

Danny Gallagher's Expos' book Always Remembered is available at Indigo and Amazon.