Rojas 'very likely' to remain Mets' manager

NEW YORK -- Despite a significant shakeup in the Mets’ front office, Luis Rojas is “very likely” to return as manager under the team’s new regime in 2021.

Mets president Sandy Alderson said Tuesday that he has spoken multiple times with Rojas to provide assurances about his future, including as recently as Monday. Alderson did not, however, commit 100 percent to keeping Rojas, because he wants to leave open the possibility that a new president of baseball operations might choose his own manager.

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“I left the door slightly ajar for respect for the process we’re going through now to find a president of baseball operations,” Alderson said. “I don’t want to foreclose that person from having some input, but I did have those conversations with Luis, and my expectation is that he will be managing the Mets in 2021.”

Rojas joined the Mets in 2007 as a Minor League coach, three and a half years before Alderson began his first stint as general manager. It was under Alderson that Rojas began his climb to prominence in the organization, becoming a Minor League manager and rising all the way to Double-A Binghamton. A year and a half after Alderson’s departure, Rojas became manager as a last-minute replacement for Carlos Beltrán.

In his first year at the helm in 2020, Rojas went 26-34 as he dealt with multiple issues stemming from COVID-19 and a shortened season.

“We’re all aware that we’re in a transition right now,” Rojas said in September. “I had a great relationship with our ownership, being in this organization for 15 years. Now as the manager, knowing that we’re in a transition, I can’t wait for the process to unfold and just to engage in the relationship with whatever happens. My mindset right now is I’m the manager, and I’m thinking of the team for 2021. I’m thinking of the things we can be better at.”

Alderson appears to share that vision, with Rojas leading the way. But he will not commit fully to the 39-year-old until he knows the identity of his leading baseball operations executive. To that end, Alderson said he conducted his first interview on Saturday, with more to come in a process that should be relatively swift.

“We’re already on our way. We’re already involved in the process,” Alderson said. “We’re currently evaluating exactly how many and who we will pursue, but this shouldn’t take a long time.”