Good morning Mets fans,
Here’s how I see the manager race from behind the plexiglass.
1. Wally Backman. Maybe it is high risk poker but so what? What’s gonna happen, the Mets go 72-90? That might happen anyway. Wallyball gives Sandy a year to clear out the mess Omar left.
2. Nobody.
3. Chip Hale. Why? He isn’t Melvin or Colactus. I know zero about him. He may be the man sitting next to me in the train.
4. Colactus. Maybe he is the new Joe Torre. Maybe he’ll lose the clubhouse. The one with K-Rod still in it. Seems like high risk poker so why not take option 1?
5. Bob Melvin. I have been hearing his name back to the days when every other blog post was titled Willie Watch. Was manager of the Diamondbacks and got fired. See option 1.
…
I was reading some tweets from the Rockies last night. They too let the starting pitcher pick the uniform.
Sandy once asked why would someone turn their company over to a middle manager?
I ask the Mets (and Rockies) why would they let the visual representation of the brand be picked by the likes of Oliver Perez (or in the Paul Lukas Charlie Samuels version the likes of a man who may have bet on baseball?) It seems that someone upstairs should decide what the Mets look like when on the field.
Are the Yankees still struggling with their merchandise sales? They need to get some alt jerseys in there with names on the back.
Chip Hale was, by all reports, a good third base coach. I feel we need to go outside though.
Also, Hale was the infield coach. So while the infield improved a lot last year to correct the 2009 mess of Manuel or Shines or whoever took care of that (nobody maybe?) there were still issues, like David Wright’s struggles going left? or his throws which I actually thoguht improved with that looping throw Hale taught him.
I’m with you, Chief. The biggest thing this team needs in a manager is someone who can, well, *manage* the players and get the most of of them. Two guys who have already failed at that aren’t the way to go. Might they be a better fit here than at previous stops and be successful? Sure, but as the other writers are saying, throwing your new manager into this fire on the defensive from Day 1 about why he was hired is bad news.