New Yankees coach Luis Rojas learned of Mets status after season

It was widely believed even before the New York Mets were mathematically eliminated from the playoffs that they would ultimately part ways with manager Luis Rojas, a decision they confirmed one day after the season ended on Oct. 3. 

The Mets offered Rojas an opportunity to remain with the organization, but he instead made somewhat of a surprise move to the Bronx on Monday to become the New York Yankees' third-base coach under manager Aaron Boone, who received a three-year extension from the club in October. 

Rojas spoke with media members on Tuesday and said he only learned the Mets declined the 2022 option on his contract after the season finished. 

"At the end of the season, that’s when I got the news," Rojas said of his departure from the Mets, per Scott Thompson of SNY. "I can share with everyone here, that’s not something you think on a day-to-day basis what’s going to happen in your contractual situation. So I think after the game we played into Atlanta, going into the next day I was looking forward to a conversation and I think I had the question a few times from the media about it and my honest answer was always that no one ever talked to me about it.

"After that, it’s always tough when you hear you’re not going to keep doing something you’ve been doing for a couple years. Changes sometimes surprise you, but changes are good things a lot of times. I think that after that, I had the freedom to talk to other teams, though an offer to remain in the organization was talked about in that last talk I had with the Mets. I didn’t give an answer, but I did have permission to talk to other teams."

Rojas reportedly interviewed with the San Diego Padres about their managerial vacancy last month but will instead stay in New York. Under his guidance, the Mets went 103-119 across the past two seasons and missed the playoffs both years, and rumors emerged as far back as August the club could consider making a change following a dreadful start to the second half of the campaign.