The new Mets are keeping the old manager, for at least next year.
Team president Sandy Alderson said Monday that he was retaining Luis Rojas as manager, something he previously only committed to being "very likely."
Rojas, 39, was the first Latino man to manage the Mets. He was the second hired to do so, replacing Carlos Beltran, who was fired less than three months after his hiring because of his involvement in the Astros cheating scandal as a player.
"I'm thrilled to be the manager under the leadership of Sandy and to try to win a World Series," Rojas told the Daily News. "We look forward to putting in the work and making our fans proud."
New owner Steve Cohen said at his introductory press conference that his goal was to win a title within three to five years, although Alderson slightly pumped the brakes on that Monday. "I don't think we're a player away," Alderson said. "I think we need more than that."
Alderson hinted that the front office would give Rojas more of a "roadmap" common in other organizations for in-game decision-making. He also tweaked the Wilpon-era Mets' famously threadbare analytics department.
"As a person who's able to relate to his players, both in terms of their professional work, I think he's exceptional," Alderson said Monday.
"I think that on the professional side, managing a game, he will be better. We need to make sure that he has all the necessary resources to be better and make good decisions, based not only on his own judgment but information that's available. He's very open to that."
The Mets went 26-34 in his first season as manager, missing the playoffs despite an expanded postseason field, but Rojas' reputation escaped largely unscathed.
