MIAMI – Sandy Alderson has contacted acting CEO Zack Scott several times to check on his well-being after his arrest last week by DWI, but the Mets president said Tuesday he did not know how Scott was doing.
“That’s a good question,” Alderson said before the Mets beat the Marlins 9-4. “It’s hard for him to know right now.”
Scott, who the club has put on administrative leave on October 7, will have to appear in court on October 7. Scott was found asleep behind the wheel of the car he was driving and was arrested at 4:17 a.m. last Tuesday in White Plains after he failed a field sobriety test, after refusing a breathalyzer test.
“It surprised us all, it’s very unfortunate, and I can’t say much beyond the statements we made earlier,” Alderson said. “At the moment it is a criminal case and until it is resolved there will be no further comment from us or anyone else from the organization.”
Alderson declined to say whether it was possible for Scott to return to the organization.
Scott, Jared Porter and Mickey Callaway were hired by Alderson and landed in embarrassing situations. Porter was fired as Mets GM in January, after it was revealed he sexually harassed a journalist while working for the Cubs. Callaway, the former director of Mets, was suspended until 2022 by MLB for sending inappropriate messages and photos to reporters.
“It’s incredibly unfortunate and I’m personally upset about the whole issue, but they are largely unrelated, each one of them, and I’m not sure it points to any flaws in our hiring process,” Alderson said. “But obviously it has given us a hard look, which we continue to do.”
Luis Rojas’ two-year contract expires after the season and Alderson was asked about the manager’s possible return for 2022.
“I think it’s a decision that will be made at the end of the year or later,” Alderson said. “I watch the first half of the season or half of the All-Star break and I think Louie did an exceptional job keeping this team afloat despite all the injuries and in some cases poor performance.
“It’s not surprising that in some minds we’ve got a tough stretch against some good teams, a lot of closed games, but we’ve recovered, so I think the credit goes to the players and I think to some extent it resides among the coaching staff. “We’ll see what happens and make a decision at the end of the season.”
Alderson was upset when asked about his intention to hire a president of baseball operations, a mission he failed last winter.
“Did I say we were expecting to hire one last year? Probably, ”he said. “I will not make the same mistake today. But we will certainly examine all our options and we want to strengthen the leadership of baseball, but we will see where it takes us ”.