A tumultuous season in Queens has given way to what’s sure to be a busy offseason for the New York Mets. After a disappointing 77-85 record, good for 3rd in the NL East, the Mets declined to pick up the third year option of manager Luis Rojas. Rojas was Major League Baseball’s 2nd youngest manager and had been with the organization in a variety of capacities prior to his promotion. The Mets also had a losing record last year under Rojas going 26-34 during the COVID shortened 2020 season.
While a sub .500 record certainly fell well below expectations of fans and ownership alike, it was more so the manner in which the team arrived at their final win-loss total that sealed Rojas fate. After leading the division for the better half of the season, the Mets faltered down the stretch, punctuated by a 2-11 stretch in mid August that saw them fall from 1st place to 6.5 games back.
Injuries played a massive factor during 2021 for New York. Key pieces of the Mets roster like Syndergaard, deGrom, and Lindor all missed significant chunks of the season due to a variety of ailments. Matters weren’t helped by questionable decisions down the stretch by Rojas, who will reportedly be offered another position with the organization when all is said and done.
By finishing below .500, this now marks the 10th instance in the last 13 years where the team has failed to post a winning record. Under the new ownership of Steve Cohen, New York made a series of bold moves prior to spring training which they hoped would kickstart a new era of baseball at Citi Field. Unfortunately, it looks like it will be back to the drawing board heading into 2022.
After failing to secure a president of baseball operations prior to this year, the Mets rolled with a series of ill fated hirings who made as much news off the baseball field as the team did on it. Jared Porter, and his subsequent replacement Zack Scott were fired and placed on administrative leave respectively due to non-baseball related offenses. This led to the team promoting Sandy Alderson to the position of team president, though this didn’t come without its own set of hiccups as well. Most notably, the 73 year old Alderson clashed with several Mets players over their “thumbs down” gestures to fans down the stretch.
New York is likely to cast a wide net to secure a top end talent to come in as president of baseball ops, who can then assist with hand picking a new team manager. Whoever is selected will certainly have their work cut out for them as the Mets have a series of impending free agents including Stroman, Conforto, Baez, Familia and Syndergaard amongst others.
It wouldn’t be an MLB offseason if there wasn’t some sort of drama surrounding the Mets. At least this time fans can rewatch the “Once Upon A Time In Queens” documentary this winter and relive some of the team’s glory days from years gone by.
-Kyle Skinner
Twitter: @JKyleSkinner