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Changes

The slump has lasted longer than anyone wanted or expected it to. With the 2-9 record, rumblings have started concerning the job security of Jerry Manuel and other members of the coaching staff. The Mets have recently addressed those concerns and have said the coaches are safe for now. Is that the smart move, or is it now time to start panicking.

I still believe the Mets are going so snap out of this slump. It is ridiculous to believe that they will continue to hit .190 the rest of the season. Still there is the fear that by the time the Mets figure it out, they’ll be too far out of a playoff spot for it to make a difference.

Unfortunately there are no difference makers on the trade market. It seems like the Mets targets are an eight-inning guy and a reliable starter. I really doubt with the players on the market, that either addition will guarantee them a playoff spot.

Alright well what about a coaching change? I don’t think that is a great option either. The last time the Mets fired a manager mid-season it was to promote Manuel, and now there are questions about him. The team did perform better under him than under Willie Randolph, but that was due to poor chemistry with Randolph than top-notch managing from Manuel. The players did not like Willie Randolph, and switching to Manuel helped make the players happy. The players still like Manuel, bringing in a new manager won’t help much.

Perhaps firing the batting coach? That is probably the best course of action. Not that Howard Johnson has done a bad job, but sometimes the players need a different voice to get out of a slump. The Mets best option would be to promote Lamar Johnson, their minor league hitting coach, someone I don’t see as an upgrade over Johnson. If the Mets continue to struggle at home, fine I can see a move being made out of panic to get back in the race, and it could work, but please don’t extend the guy.

If the Mets miss the playoffs, the best move would be to clean house. Management has had a lot of time and financial backing to make a consistent and dominant team. It is possible Joe Torre, Tony La Russa, and Bobby Valentine will be available to take over as manager at the end of the season. The opportunity to land one of those guys is too big to pass up. Manuel has done wonders for motivating his players, but he handles in-game situations poorly. Cleaning house makes the team more appealing. These new managers will have the opportunity to bring in a GM of their choice and hire the assistant coaches of their choice.

If they replace these guys mid-season, I fear the team will make the same mistake of extending the interim manager if they simply compete down the stretch. Unless they think the team will do better under someone else, it is better to replace the guy after the season to have more options open to them. No more stop-gaps, we need a good manager and GM to lead this core to the playoffs again.

If they can go on an incredible run and make the playoffs, then fine I was wrong. But if not, it has been too many years of the same results and it is time for a change. Just wait till the end of the season to make the move, as very little good can come of it mid-season, and at the very least, let’s give these guys the chance to prove us wrong.

by Evan Slavit at the Sports Fan Blog Network

July 26, 2010 Posted by slavite | Bloggers, Evan Slavit, MLB, NY Mets Stuff, New York Mets, Original Content | , , , , , | No Comments Yet

Young Guns

For all the heat Omar Minaya got over the off-season, it is about time we give him some credit. While it was definitely warranted to question him in the past, Minaya has looked over a farm system that has provided some quality players for the big league team this season. I am talking about first baseman Ike Davis, and starting pitchers Mike Pelfrey and Jonathon Niese.

Ike Davis has solidified first base for the Mets, a position that has not seen a full season of production since 2006. Carlos Delgado never picked up his play in 2007 and while he went on a tear the latter half of 2008, his bat was pretty much non-existent the first half of the season. With the injury to Daniel Murphy the 2010 season was looking like much of the same with journeymen Mike Jacobs and Fernando Tatis splitting time at the position. Luckily for the Mets Davis had hit well enough in Spring Training and the start of the season for the AAA Buffalo Bisons that there was little resistance to calling him up. While he is barely hitting .260 on the year, he has still provided power with 7 home-runs, great defense, and more importantly…hope for the future.

Pelfrey has flat out dominated from the start of the season. I do not think it is a stretch to say that I feel more confident when he takes the mound than when Johan Santana does. All Pelfrey has done is go 9-1 on the season with a 2.39 ERA. He has given the team the 1-2 punch they have needed, and gives the team loads of confidence every time he takes the mound.

Finally there is Niese. He came up last season and pitched pretty well, but suffered a nasty hamstring injury during his third start since the call-up. The fear was he would not be able to recover enough to warrant a spot in the rotation to start the season. That fear was put aside early as he pitched so effectively during Spring Training that Jerry Manuel put him in the second spot following Santana. During the season Niese has managed to keep the optimism going with a stat-line that reads: 3-2 3.61 ERA 45 K/ 19 BB. To follow that up, Niese had only one blemish in his last start, a double in the third inning. Despite that hit Niese was perfect in a complete game effort where he shut-out the Padres.

Since David Wright and Jose Reyes were called up quite a while ago, the Mets have failed to add impact players to their big league team. This is Pelfrey’s third season, but following last year his career did not look as promising. While it has only been a few months, at this point it looks like Minaya has done a better job with the farm system than anyone has given him credit for. Not to mention the great acquisitions of Angel Pagan, Rod Barajas, Henry Blanco, Hisanori Takahashi, and RA Dickey.

by Evan Slavit at the Sports Fan Blog Network

June 14, 2010 Posted by slavite | Bloggers, Carlos Delgado, David Wright, Evan Slavit, Jon Niese, Jose Reyes, MLB, Mike Pelfrey, NY Mets Stuff, New York Mets, Original Content | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | No Comments Yet

Wally Backman’s hiring with Cyclones may manage to motivate New York Mets manager Jerry Manuel

I believe Wally Backman will end up managing at Citi Field eventually, and when it happens it will be a very good day for the Mets. But for the moment he is no more a threat to Jerry Manuel’s job than Jay Horwitz, PR man to the stars.

There is some history between Backman and Manuel that dates back to their days together in the White Sox organization a decade ago, and it seems fairly clear they weren’t trusting allies. Depending on who you talk to, it was either because Manuel saw Backman, then an acclaimed minor-league manager, as a threat to his job, or their personalities merely clashed.

Either way it’s irrelevant, at least for now.

The Mets did the right thing in bringing Backman back to the organization after all these years, giving him a chance to make everyone forget the off-field indiscretions that got him fired as Diamondbacks manager before he ever signed the contract.



Click here to read the full article – By John Harper of NY Daily News


New York Mets Sports Memorabilia
and other New York Mets Gifts and Collectibles

November 18, 2009 Posted by GameSetMatch | MLB, NY Mets News, New York Mets | , , , , , , , , | No Comments Yet

   

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