4 NY Mets managers who were let go without receiving a fair chance

3) Luis Rojas

Following close on the heals of Carlos Beltran was Luis Rojas. Without a manager and with the season only weeks away, the Mets were left without a field leader. Luis Rojas had managed several teams previously in the Mets minor league system including the Binghamton Rumble Ponies in 2017 and 2018. The Mets had just named Rojas to their major league coaching staff as the quality control coach for the upcoming 2019 season. General manager Brodie Van Wagenen decided to look internally for the team’s next manager and promoted the 38-year-old Luis Rojas.

Luis Rojas had the pedigree for the position. He is the son of former major league manager and player Felipe Alou of the famous Alou baseball family. Injuries cut short his promising playing career but he slide smoothly into coaching. Beginning in the low minors, Rojas rode the buses and paid his dues. While he may have been one of the youngest major league baseball managers, his age represented 38 years that were all spent in baseball in one form or another.

Luis Rojas' first year as manager turned out to be the year of Covid-19. It was a shortened season played in front of cardboard cut-outs for fans filling the empty seats while the nation attempted to cope with the pandemic. The Mets finished the regular season 26–34, tied for last place in their division. Brodie Van Wagenen, the team's general manager and the man who had hired Rojas only a year before, was fired at the end of the pandemic shortened season and replaced by Sandy Alderson.

The 2021 season began with much promise. The Mets were in first place for over three months that season but finished with a record of only 77-85 and a third-place finish in the National League East. The Mets became the first team in major league history to sit on top of a division for more than 100 days in a season and yet finish with a losing record. After the conclusion of the season, the Mets declined the option on Rojas's contract. On October 4, 2021, Luis Rojas was released as manager of the NY Mets. He would later go on to become the third base coach of the cross-town Yankees.