No word on acting GM Scott
MIAMI — Sandy Alderson has reached out multiple times to acting general manager Zack Scott to check on his well-being following his arrest last week for DWI, but the Mets president said Tuesday he didn’t know how Scott was faring.
“That’s a good question,” Alderson said before the Mets beat the Marlins, 9-4. “Difficult for me to know at this point.”
Scott, who has been placed on administrative leave by the club, is due in court on Oct. 7. Scott was found asleep at the steering wheel of the automobile he was driving and was arrested at 4:17 a.m. last Tuesday in White Plains after he failed a field sobriety test, having refused a breathalyzer test.
“We were all caught by surprise, it’s very unfortunate, and there is not a lot that I can say beyond the statements that we previously made,” Alderson said. “It’s a criminal case at this point and until that is resolved there won’t be any further comment from us or anyone else in the organization.”
Alderson declined to say if it’s possible Scott would return to the organization.
Scott, Jared Porter and Mickey Callaway were all hired by Alderson and landed in embarrassing situations. Porter was fired as Mets GM in January, after it was revealed he sexually harassed a female journalist while working for the Cubs. Callaway, the former Mets manager, was suspended through 2022 by MLB for sending inappropriate messages and photos to female reporters.
“It’s incredibly unfortunate and I am personally chagrined by the whole thing, but to a large extent they are unrelated, each one of them, and I am not sure it points to a single flaw in our hiring process,” Alderson said. “But it’s obviously caused us to take a hard look at it, which we continue to do.”
➤ Luis Rojas’ two-year contract is set to expire after the season, and Alderson was asked about the manager’s possible return for 2022.
“I think that is a decision that will be made at the end of the year or right thereafter,” Alderson said. “I look at the first half of the season or the half through the All-Star break and I think Louie did an exceptional job keeping this team afloat in spite of all the injuries and in some cases underperformance.
“Not surprisingly in some minds we hit a rough stretch against some good teams, a lot of close games, but we rebounded from that so I think the credit for that resides among the players and I think to some extent it resides among the coaching staff as well. We’ll see what happens and we’ll make a decision at the end of the season.”