Rojas fired as Mets search for answers
Luis Rojas was let go as manager of the New York Mets Monday after two losing seasons.
The team declined its option on Rojas’ contract for 2022, a day after finishing third in the NL East at 77-85 in Steve Cohen’s first year as owner.
The move was no surprise, the first of several significant changes coming this offseason for a club in constant turmoil.
“I want to share such heartfelt gratitude to so many in the Mets organization for not only the last two seasons as manager, but for the last 16 years in a variety of roles,” Rojas said.
“We live in a results-oriented business, and am deeply disappointed for our staff and fans that we didn’t reach our goals this season.”
The Mets said Rojas has been offered the opportunity to remain in the organization in a role still to be determined. The club said decisions about the coaching staff will be made in the next several days.
Rojas made a series of questionable in-game decisions down the stretch, and the collapse was complete when the Mets were eliminated from the postseason with more than a week remaining.
White Sox
Chicago thinks pitcher Carlos Rodon will be healthy enough to help them in the playoffs after the All-Star left-hander was limited down the regular-season stretch. “We remain optimistic that he’s going to be able to contribute over the course of the next month,” general manager Rick Hahn said.
Dodgers
Mookie Betts and the reigning World Series champion Dodgers had four of the top 10 selling jerseys in Baseball this season. Betts was followed at No. 2 by Padres star Fernando Tatis Jr.
Elsewhere
The major league batting average dropped to .244 this season, its lowest since the year of the pitcher in 1968, though offense picked up markedly after baseball’s midseason crackdown on grip- enhancing substances for pitchers.
MLB’s stricter enforcement had the desired impact, ending a run of 12 consecutive full seasons in which strikeouts had set records annually. While there were 42,145 strikeouts, a slight decrease from 42,823 in 2019, hits declined from 42,039 to 39,481 as computer-aided defensive shifts proliferated.
The big league batting average was .271 in 1999 at the height of the Steroids Era, when there were 45,327 hits.
As for attendance, MLB drew 45.3 million this year as fans gradually were allowed to return, down from 68.5 million over 2019 in the last season before the coronavirus pandemic. The Dodgers led the major leagues in home attendance at 2.8 million. They did not start selling at full capacity until games in mid-June.
Meanwhile, umpire Joe West has officially informed MLB he will retire after the postseason. West, 68, broke the record for most games umpired, held by Bill Klem, when he was behind the plate for No. 5,376 in May.
When he set the mark for most games umpired, Hall of Fame manager Tony La Russa called him “the perfect guy to set the record because he represents what a lot of umpires should be.”