The New York Mets are sticking with Luis Rojas for the 2021 season, as team president Sandy Alderson explained to reporters on Monday in a press conference. Although Rojas was appointed as the skipper under the Wilpons and Brodie Van Wagenen’s time, new owner Steve Cohen and Alderson decided to give him another opportunity.
Rojas is a longtime member of the New York Mets in a variety of roles, from minor league manager to bench coach to coach of quality control. For more than a decade, he’s been involved with the organization.
He’s highly regarded as a good manager and has the respect of the players and the front office. He even managed several of the Mets’ current stars, such as Dominic Smith, Pete Alonso, Jeff McNeil, and others while they were going through the minor league ranks.
A disappointing first season with the Mets
In his first season in charge of the Mets, Rojas compiled a 26-34 record, the worst in the National League East division. The team’s performance was viewed as a bitter disappointment given the talent available in the roster.
However, he had to deal with a myriad of injuries and two very important players opting out of playing due to COVID-19 concerns: Yoenis Cespedes and Marcus Stroman.
Now, the team is searching for a president of baseball operations and a general manager, although recent reports state that the Mets will probably ditch the former position and, instead, focus on the latter.
The Mets are expected to be major players in the free agency period, although Cohen and Alderson have said that they won’t spend money just because. They need to find a starting catcher, replace the suspended Robinson Cano at second base, and find a couple of good starting pitchers, not to mention patching up the relief corps.