A season-ending 5-0 loss to the Braves in Atlanta left the Mets with a final 2021 record of 77-85, their official mark of ignominy as the team that spent the longest amount of time in first place during a season before finishing under .500.
For a long time, the Mets held first place, with many believing they would only get better when all of the players they lost to injury early in the season returned. But while most (minus Jacob deGrom) came back at some point in the second half and they acquired Javier Baez at the trade deadline, the Mets went 29-45 in the second half, and finished with six out of seven months (including a three-game October) where they were one game over .500 or worse.
“As the manager you have to feel responsible for not winning enough games," said manager Luis Rojas. "You have got to feel responsible for not helping the team achieve the goal that was set at the beginning of the season. Managers get paid to win games and we won less than we lost this year. “We were playing pretty good baseball at one point in the season, and that fell apart.”
For Rojas, his first true full season at the helm – he was hired late in the 2020 offseason to replace Carlos Beltran, and only managed 60 games in the truncated season – was a huge learning experience.
"There are specific situations that a manager learns, and specific decisions that a manager learns and probably would do differently in the future. And there are some things that other teams do as well that you can say ‘okay, we can model, we can use that as a model,’” Rojas said. “Moving on to the future, I’m sure that coaches and managers, like players, keep developing, growing, and getting better, and that comes with experience. This year was a great experience for me.”
But will he get the chance to have more experience with the Mets in 2022, or will he be part of what many believe will be a full housecleaning by owner Steve Cohen?
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Rojas expects to meet with team president Sandy Alderson in the very near future to discuss his future, but in the interim, he’ll reflect on where he could’ve been better.
“Looking back, I feel responsible for a lot of what happened this year. We could have won more games, we could have been in a different position. That’s why I carry those thoughts,” he said. “The first thing that comes to mind is the disappointment of not achieving the goal that we were talking about from the offseason to Spring Training. It’s just disappointing that we didn’t get to where we wanted to.”
The skipper held a team meeting prior to Sunday’s finale to address the uncertainty of the offseason, and if Rojas’ second season in Queens was his last, well, Francisco Lindor, who just completed his first, will remember Rojas fondly.
“It was fun playing for him. He’s relatively young as a manager, and he has completely different ways of managing from where I come from (Terry Francona in Cleveland),” Lindor said. “I like him a lot, he brings a lot to the game. I had a lot of fun having him having him as a manager. He’s very even keeled, there’s not a lot of emotions from his part.”
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So, too, will Pete Alonso.
“I love playing for Luis,” said Mets first baseman Pete Alonso, who was on the Double-A Binghamton team Rojas skippered in 2017 before spending the last two years with him in Queens. “I’m always going to love every single experience that I’ve had, because he’s treated me so well. He’s always had respect for me. I’ve always had respect for him, and the other way around. “He loves what he does, and he cares not just about winning games, but he cares about everybody personally in that locker room, too. He’s a great man and a great baseball guy. I really enjoyed playing for him.”
Lindor, for one, will take Rojas’ message of remaining fearless with him as he enters the first year of his 10-year extension with the Mets in 2022.
"One of the biggest messages that he brought this year was to not fear what was gonna happen tomorrow or in a month from now, but to worry about what you got today, and I respect that,” Lindor said. “Sometimes we think about what the outcome could be instead of worrying about the process, and that can bring a little fear or a little bit of doubt to our minds. I’m sure he’s looking forward to the offseason, to continue to learn and get better as a manager, and so do we all. We’re all looking forward to working as hard as we can in the offseason and continue to be better.”
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And if 104-118 over two seasons is it for Rojas, what will he take with him?
“I’ve enjoyed my time here the last two years being the manager. It’s been fun every day just working with the guys and connecting with them and preparing. It’s been pretty special,” he said. “We haven’t achieved what we wanted to achieve, but even though we haven’t gotten the results, the atmosphere in the clubhouse has been one of the most important things that I can think of the last two years here.”
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