After meltdown, Mets set for overhaul

NEW YORK — The season was going so well for the New York Mets. And then Jacob deGrom got hurt.

Minus their injured ace, the Mets collapsed over the final two months and plunged to 77-85 in Steve Cohen’s first year as owner. They got outmaneuvered by close rivals at the July 30 trade deadline and finished third in the NL East, 111⁄2 games behind division champion Atlanta.

In other words, not even close.

It was a precipitous drop for a $186 million team that spent 103 days in first place — the most ever for a club to finish with a losing record.

“We dealt with a lot of adversity this year. Lots of up and downs,” star shortstop Francisco Lindor said.

On Monday, the fallout began when Luis Rojas was let go as manager.

A season that began with a fresh outlook and real promise thanks to Cohen’s deep pockets and Lindor’s arrival was plagued in the end by the same sort of embarrassing episodes that have characterized the Mets for years.

Lindor clashed with double-play partner Jeff McNeil in the walkway just behind the dugout — and then gave a goofy explanation for the altercation.

Javier Baez and Lindor ticked off fans and the front office with their thumbsdown celebration intended to mock booing crowds.

And acting general manager Zack Scott was arrested on a charge of driving while intoxicated, hours after attending a team charity event at Cohen’s house. Scott, placed on paid leave, pleaded not guilty to the DWI charge and three traffic violations.

On the field, the Mets went 21-37 from Aug. 1 through the final day of their fourth losing season in five years — and 10th in the last 13. New York has made the playoffs twice in the past 15 seasons, advancing only in 2015 on the way to a World Series appearance.

So what happened this time?

Truth be told, deGrom’s first-half dominance and some charmed wins led by bench players against a soft portion of the schedule despite a wave of early injuries probably masked a few warts that became all too evident down the stretch.

The lineup languished even when healthy, and an overtaxed pitching staff started to crack after deGrom (7-2, 1.08 ERA) went down in mid-July with a sprained elbow that sidelined him the rest of the season.

The team says the injury has healed and the twotime Cy Young Award winner is expected to be at full strength in spring training and ready to resume a normal workload.

“As we go into the offseason, I think we’re as confident in him as we’ve ever been,“team president Sandy Alderson said.

An untimely 2-11 stretch against the Dodgers and Giants, baseball’s top two teams, dropped the Mets from five games over .500 and tied for first place to 62-66 and 61⁄2 games out on Aug. 26. In a middling division, they lost the lead for good on Aug. 14 and never really recovered before being eliminated from postseason contention on Sept. 25 with more than a week remaining.

A missed opportunity. So what’s next?

ROJAS OUT

The team declined its option on Rojas’ contract for 2022, and said he’d been offered the opportunity to remain in the organization in a role still to be determined. The Mets said decisions about the coaching staff will be made in the next several days.

“I want to share such heartfelt gratitude to so many in the Mets organization for not only the last two seasons as manager, but for the last 16 years in a variety of roles,” Rojas said in a statement released by the team.

“We live in a resultsoriented business, and I am deeply disappointed for our staff and fans that we didn’t reach our goals this season,” he said.

ANOTHER OVERHAUL

Cohen and Alderson plan to hire a president of baseball operations this offseason, and the club is expected to target big names such as Theo Epstein, Billy Beane and David Stearns.