NEW YORK — The Yankees hired former Mets manager Luis Rojas as their third-base coach on Monday, a month after he lost his job with the crosstown rivals.
Rojas managed the Mets for the past two seasons. The team declined its 2022 option for him on Oct. 4, a day after finishing third in the NL East at 77-85.
Rojas will take the spot of Phil Nevin, who had been the Yankees’ third-base coach since the 2018 season. Nevin was let go last month, shortly after he waved home Aaron Judge in a key spot in the AL wild-card game at Boston — Judge was easily thrown out, and the Red Sox went on to win.
The Yankees tied with Kansas City for making the most outs at the plate this season with 22.
Several ex-Mets have found success over the years after leaving Queens and finding new homes in the Bronx.
Former Mets stars David Cone and Darryl Strawberry won World Series rings with the Yankees and Dwight Gooden pitched a no-hitter for them. Former player and manager Joe Torre won four championships guiding the Yankees.
The 40-year-old Rojas, the son of former big league player and manager Felipe Alou, spent the last 16 seasons with the Mets organization. The Mets were 103-119 with him as manager.
When the Mets dismissed Rojas, they said he had been offered the opportunity to remain in the organization in a role that had yet to be determined. Rojas had been the Mets’ quality control coach in 2019 and previously been a minor league manager and coach for the club.