(ducks)
From what I read, the Mets have a club option on Jerry for 2011. Stay with me….
Lets go back in time to April 2010 where I have been named manager of the Mets. Here’s my lineup given the cards I have been dealt…
Jacobs, Castillo, Cora, Wright, Bay, Pagan, Frenchy, pick a catcher, Santana/Pelfrey/Niese/Perez/Maine
A few weeks later Omar hears you and gives you Ike, and Reyes comes back. So…
Ike, Castillo, Reyes, Wright, Bay, Pagan, Frency, catcher, pitcher of the day. Isn’t that who you would have started?
So you tell Omar you need a pitcher and Dickey shows up. You still start the same 8.
You are two games out at the All Star break and Beltran is coming back. You might actually like your chances, no?
Now lets go to 2011. The 2011 Mets have been on the field for a month and they aren’t very good.
Maybe you just let Jerry ride out the lost year rather than saddle Wally with 75 and 85.
Maybe you let some contracts run out, eat the year, and start the new beginning in 2012.
Tough pill to swallow for fans but maybe it’s worth considering.
Of all the problems, I don’t think it was Jerry’s fault.
I know that you’re just posting this to get a reaction.
Jerry can’t handle a bullpen, has difficulty with in-game strategy and can’t seem to motivate his team to play aggressively without Chase Utley’s help.
The Mets problems this year haven’t all been Jerry, but he’s been a significant part of them.
Paul, actually it’s not a “push everyone’s buttons” post. I’ve been meaning to write it for a few weeks. I don’t think Jerry is to blame for ’09 or ’10. Do i think they should turn the page, yep….but I thought it was worth the discussion.
How did the 2010 Mets get to be a .500 team?
1. Injuries (Beltran, Reyes, Bay … okay, maybe injured Bay > playing Bay)
2. Horrific offensive plan (giving Cora, Tatis, Catalonotto, Jacobs and GMJ ANY ABs)
3. No decision if the team is going young Josh Thole/Ruben Tejada or staying with Castillo/Barajas until too late.
4. Poor organizational depth.
I believe #2 and 3 are the domain of the manager. Forget the organizational decisions — Oliver Perez is not at all Jerry’s fault. But even if we choose to overlook his questionable managerial decisions, I think he could have done better with the hand he was dealt.
Agreed that Manuel doesn’t hold all the blame. I said back in March this was a 3rd- or 4th-place team. However, he also didn’t get the most out of it, and you have to start somewhere turning this thing around. While a new manager alone doesn’t turn this team into a contender over 162, a Backman probably does get more out of it and rids the field of the poor decisions and lackadaisical play that drive us all nuts.
The more important thing, though, is that changes are made higher up the ladder. If they keep the Omar/Jeff brain trust intact–which I very seriously fear they may–they may as well keep Jerry, too.
Shannon
Puhleeze
Jerry was and is incompetent.
He mis- managed the pen into the ground viz Nieve ,Mejia , over and mis-used Feliciano.
Was not able to react in-game.
Did not install the fundies.
Did not fire Hojo.
Was not gangsta, allowed players to play
without passion.
Don’t get me started.