Revamped Guaynabo METS seek their first Double A baseball title
By The Star Staff
The Guaynabo METS, with the goal of winning their first championship in the Puerto Rico Double A Superior Baseball League, presented their new technical and managerial team for the 2024 season earlier this week in Guaynabo.
Franchise manager Wilfredo Cameron Santiago announced the hiring of Eric Santiago Gómez as manager and highlighted his innovative approach to run production and pitcher development. Santiago Gómez, with an outstanding career in baseball, is an essential part of the plan to win the long-awaited championship for Guaynabo.
Cameron Santiago emphasized that “we are going to field a team with the talent, ability and dedication necessary to bring the city of Guaynabo its first Double A Baseball championship.”
“This is the team that will fulfill the dream of the founders of this franchise in 1968,” he said at a press conference on Wednesday.
The METS’ general manager is Miguel Rodríguez, and the technical team includes José Rodríguez, Héctor “Purito” Rivera, David Ritchberg, César Velázquez and Francisco “Frankie” Rodríguez, among others.
Of Santiago Gómez, Cameron Santiago said: “This is a unique young man whose life has been baseball.”
“In each of the facets in which he has worked, as a player and manager, Eric has incorporated new techniques, joining a team-centered regime, essential to achieving success,” he said. “His innovative style, focused on run production, pitching staff development and attention to detail, will ensure the METS win big in 2024.”
The team will play its home games at Moisés García Stadium and, Cameron Santiago noted, the league has accepted several player changes, forming what he called a “championship roster.”
Present on behalf of the Guaynabo Mayor Edward O’Neill Rosa were the municipality’s deputy sports director, Samuel Almodóvar, Sen. Juan Oscar Morales Rodríguez and Rep. Ángel Morey Noble.
The METS finished the 2023 season at the top of the Metro Division with a 14-5 record.