Sorry Jerry.
I don’t like anything I’m about to write, but fans of the Mets Police know I call them as I see them.
I’ve enjoyed Jerry Manuel’s time as Mets manager, and I in no way blame him for any of the disasters the 2009 have faced. (I am looking in to the rumor I started that Citi Field was built over ancient Indian burial grounds).
I don’t think anybody could have coaxed 90+ wins out of the “Nieve/Berroa/what was the name of that guy who was the SS for a week” Mets.
This was a season in which somehow Gary Sheffield and Livan Hernandez became really important. That was never anyone’s plan.
Think back to March. I had the Mets going to the playoffs. You had the Mets going to the playoffs. Look at SI’s baseball preview. Look where they picked the Mets. Even at my most cynical I had the Mets finishing second. Don’t act like you knew this team would be a disaster. You didn’t. Nobody was talking about depth at Buffalo in April.
So to sit back now and suggest that Omar Minaya put together a lousy team is unfair.
However, Ownership won’t be able to market 2010 as “Everyone’s Back!” Telling us that the crew that was here for the biggest collapse of all time, the worst stadium closing in history, and the all-time injury bug just isn’t enough for the fans.
You can’t break up the core because you will get diminished value for all four. Nobody is sure how healthy Delgado, Beltran and Reyes are – and do you think trading David Wright when he has 8 home runs is going to get you back what if might have a year ago (not to mention the Seaveresque riots that would follow)? Plus pesky things like no-trade clauses and such.
So you have to sell change. That change, unfairly, is going to come from the managers chair.
Who will it be. Mazzilli, Backman, LaRussa or Manny Acta? None of those guys for reasons we can talk about in the days to come.
There is one man for this job.
The job is about more than managing ballplayers. It’s more than trying to coax a performance out of players (which is a Buck Showalter type job; he too won’t be the choice).
The job in 2010 is about distraction.
Appease as many fans as you can, give the sportswriters something to write about other than lack of pitching depth, and give the haters an enemy.
A fallen hero will return.
Distract the fans.
Casey Stengel is dead. So is Billy Martin. That leaves one man.
This is going to pain me to type, because I think the name I am about to write might take the team to second place, but his teams start slow, and the fact is he just hasn’t won the big one.
That being said, I know who the next manager of the New York Mets will be, and he will be the distracting face of the team for 2010 and 2011 while this organization gets its act together.
The next manager of the New York Mets will be…..
Bobby Valentine.
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He would be a welcome change from the last 3 clowns.
take the Mets to 2nd place… yeah okay, he coaxed an amazing performance out of a bunch of overachievers and got the Mets to their first World Series since 1986 against team steroids. That series was about more than just NY vs NY, Subway Vs. Subway, Torre vs Bobby, Clemens vs Piazza, Goliath vs. David… it was about Riods vs. Clean and sadly, Riods won.
Anyways, Bobby V put together a heck of a ball club in Japan, winning the big one there and I'll welcome him back in New York. Imagine if he had the talent this Mets squad has back in 1999. The money and resources… its day and night, but fact of the matter is, Bobby V gets the best out of his players.
Yes, he can be distracting, but it's worth it, cuz he'll get the job done. He doesn't always play by the rules, but thats because he's more than just a manager… he's a symbol. A fake mustached guardian. A watchful manager. A Dark Knight.
BOBBY V in 2010 baby!
There was no reason the 2000 team should have been so good except for Valentine…and the collapse of Rick Ankiel. He'll handle all the prima donnas in the clubhouse b/c he knows more about baseball than any of them. We had the best bullpen in 2000 b/c Valentine managed them so well. Can't wait to see if it happens. The minute the Chiba team let him go, I've been hoping for a return for Bobby V.
Los mets are missing something. B. Valentine.
For Minaya, job is a job, not a friends clubs, or better, you sure go!
I'm sure he wouldn't have said he was definitely leaving Chiba Lotte if he thought he didn't have a chance of getting a job somewhere in MLB. The Mets could do with someone who's able to manage the resources that are put at their disposal.
You're probably right. He'll be a good distraction, and obviously there's no shortage of fans waiting to welcome him back.
That Valentine's first season with the Mets was the ONLY one in which the team had a winning September obviously doesn't matter to a lot of people, nor does the fact that 1997 was also the only season under him that the Mets won the season series against the Braves. That 5-game losing streak to end 1998 and blow the wild card is apparently a distant memory, too. And oh yeah, the fact that no American team he's managed has EVER won a division in 15 tries doesn't seem to bother folks, either, for some reason.
People, there's a reason Willie Randolph was passed over for more than a dozen jobs, and there's a reason Bobby Valentine ended up finding a home in Japan.
With all the hoopla about the Mets' preference to Latin American players, I have to wonder if some fans are just that desperate to see another white guy in the dugout.
I'll say this. Re-hiring Valentine would be *the* quintessential Wilpon-Minaya Era move. Bread and circuses at its finest. If the fans are ignorant enough to fall for it, the state of this franchise then becomes their fault, too, for enabling it.
Sparks you hit the nail on the head. "With all the hoopla about the Mets' preference to Latin American players, I have to wonder if some fans are just that desperate to see another white guy in the dugout."
As Much as I would welcome Bobby V back with open arms It's not gonna happen because Minaya and Manuel are tied at the hip.Don't expect a managerial change until 2011,and unfortunately it won't be Valentine.It will probably be Manny Acta or somebody else that the fans can't identify with because that's the Met's way.
enough with bobby v, i must be in the minority i dont get all the love for him, if you to bring back someone how about davey johnson, itll never happen but it makes more sense
I love this guy, I used to go to 40+ games a year when I was in high school because i loved the mets and lived in bayside. I used to go early for every game watch bp, get autographs, talk to(sometimes at) the players,try to collect baseballs.
Bobby V actually took a lineup change idea I was yelling at him from right next to the met dugout before every game of a 3 game series and used it in the fourth game.
Oh and his players ALWAYS play for him….
Bobby V + Mazz as bench coach+ Beltran plays first=95 wins
Biggest mistake the Wilpons ever made (think about the implications of that for a second) was letting Steve Phillips fire Bobby V. Valentine was one of three great managers the Mets have had in their history.