MORE INSIDE
In the second round of the NCAA Tournament, Miami on Sunday will face No. 2 seed Auburn, which is led by soaring, 6-10 scorer Jabari Smith and 7-1 shot-blocker Walker Kessler.
the 80-61 win, but it was that dunk everyone was still asking about Saturday.
“I watched it a lot, everybody tagging me in it,” said Smith, a projected NBA Lottery pick. “I watched it probably more times than anybody else, really. I’m still shocked by it. It’s something I’m going to show my kids. One to remember.”
When Miami players Jordan Miller, Kam McGusty and
Sam Waardenburg were asked Saturday if they had seen the dunk and what they thought departure Feb. 28.
“A little bit of extra work,” the 33-year-old Rojas said.
But through it all, he found a new appreciation for where he is in his career and new motivating factors as he enters his eighth season with the Marlins.
For Rojas, it all starts with family.
And when it comes to his biggest influences, of it, they smiled. Miller replied: “Yeah, we saw it. It was a good basketball play.”
Waardenburg, who often is called upon to guard the opponent’s biggest man, tried to downplay the second-round matchup against Smith, pointing out that Duke’s big men Paulo Banchero and Mark Williams are similar to Auburn’s Smith and 7-foot-1 shot-blocker Walker Kessler, a candidate for national Defensive Player of the Year.
“We’re in a league that has a lot of high-talented guys, we’ve seen guys make plays like that all season long,” Waardenburg said. “It’s noth
Norma and Rafael Naidenoff were among those at the top of the list.
Rojas inherited his positive aura and his ability to balance work and downtime from his mother.
Even when she was battling breast cancer — her first diagnosis came in 2011 before entering remission in 2012, only for it to return in 2016 and
UM women’s coach Katie Meier, above, and the Hurricanes face a tall task against No. 1 seed South Carolina in Round 2 of the NCAA Women’s Tournament,
NCAA scores and schedule,
AA
once more in 2021 — she did her best to stay upbeat.
Norma was a doctor by profession but a singer at heart. Rojas in 2018 helped her release a ninesong album of her singing famous boleros and classic Spanish ballads. It had a healing effect for her and helped her keep her mind off the tough times she was going through.
Rojas tries to embody that optimistic outlook whenever he can.
“That’s who she was her whole life,” Rojas said. “She told me something that was really important for me. It doesn’t matter the circumstance or where you are, you’ve gotta be flexible in all situations. ... And you’re always going to be the same person.”
While Norma gave
Rojas the positive perspective on life, Rafael helped bring out his love for baseball. He was Rojas’ coach throughout his amateur career.
Rojas’ most lasting memory with his grandfather came in December. They hosted a home run derby in Rojas’ hometown of Los Teques, Venezuela, on the same field where he began playing and where Rafael watched his grandson fall in love with the sport.
“He was treated like a king,” Rojas said. “He had a bodyguard right behind him, giving him water and beers and all that throughout
the whole day.”
When the derby ended, Rojas put his arm around Rafael’s shoulder and gave him a final thank you for helping spark his career.
“I’m happy he didn’t suffer,” Rojas said. “For me, he was a superhero that I thought was never going to die.”
His memory, however, lives on. Rojas is wearing Rafael’s No. 11 this season.
“I want them to know,” Rojas said, “that I’m carrying them in my heart and my number and with me everywhere.”
HIS BASEBALL FAMILY
Family for Rojas extends to his teammates on the baseball diamond and making sure the future of the sport is in a better place for the game’s next generation.
He got a glimpse of how that process works this offseason as the players and MLB negotiated a new collective bargaining agreement — a process that was at times contentious and resulted in a 99-day lockout that delayed both spring training and Opening Day.
The players received some wins on the economic side. They include an increase in minimum salary for big-leaguers, a $50 million annual bonus pool for top players who have yet to reach arbitration, an increase in the threshold for the competitive balance tax, expansion of the playoffs and a universal designated hitter.
Rojas, who is in his
third year as the Marlins’ player representative, wanted to make sure that he was the one having to worry about the particulars while keeping the rest of his teammates updated.
“You’re not just representing yourself,” he said. “You’re representing the whole clubhouse.”
2019 A TURNING POINT
Rojas began his rise as a vocal presence in the Marlins’ clubhouse in 2019. Miami lost 105 games that season but he affirmed his commitment to the Marlins’ rebuild as the trade deadline approached.
This wasn’t a role he envisioned when he made his MLB debut in 2014 with the Los Angeles Dodgers. He wasn’t fluent in English and he was a defensive replacement, one of the guys.
But he had help to get to this point — from Adrian Gonzalez with the Dodgers, and Martin Prado with the Marlins.
Rojas’ on-field responsibilities started to grow. He became Miami’s fulltime starting shortstop in 2019. His role helping to lead the team followed with it.
“He just keeps evolving,” manager Don Mattingly said. “He’s a guy that has worked extremely hard to get where he’s at.”
“He’s a part of our solution,” general manager Kim Ng added, “and where we want to be in the future.”
Rojas understands the importance of mentoring
younger players.
“I’m at that point in my career,” he said. “I’m helping everybody else to get where we want to get, which is a championship. If I keep getting better on my own, I might have a great career, but I want to win. If I want to win, everybody else has to get better.”
The Marlins, heading into the fifth year of their rebuild since the Bruce Sherman ownership group took over, know they are at the point where wins need to start coming.
No more selling hope. No more explaining when things will turn around.
The talk needs to be backed up on the field in a loaded National League East.
ADDING SOME BATS
The Marlins added pieces to the roster this offseason, signing outfielder Avisail Garcia and trading for catcher Jacob Stallings and infielder Joey Wendle to boost the lineup they hope will ease pressure on the rotation. Miami’s front office says it is still pursuing another impact bat.
“What we have in the clubhouse is something that is going to put us in a good position to compete,” Rojas said.
Just how competitive they will be is to be seen, but Rojas said he got the needed assurances from Ng and Sherman about the organization’s next steps.
“We’re still in the same boat,” Rojas said, “and we’re still paddling in the same direction.”