As far as being uninventive, I have to disagree with Marchman. How about that PH spot that Willie put Endy Chavez in with a runner on and down by a run late in the game with other bigger bats available? Endy hits a two run homer. Can’t give Willie all the credit, but it was an unconventional decision that worked extremely well. Willie’s benches have tended to work out pretty well as a whole. I don’t have the stats, but I’d surmise PH stats under him are above average. He puts guys in the right spots. And in 2006 when he had a deep bullpen he was quite inventive, using Chad Bradford and Pedro Feliciano against lefties and righties or Darren Oliver in the occasional late game spot.

I definitely agree that his problem was the kind of lack of personality that you describe. And who knows, from the “players manager” philosophy that may have been correct. It may have been more about instilling values in Wright, Reyes, Perez, and Maine and even someone like Delgado, who saw the postseason for the first time in 2006, or Beltran, who was receiving a mix of rave praise and harsh criticism from fans and the media. It really wasn’t until the last few days of the season that the Mets finally gave up the lead they had managed to cling to all season. I don’t think at that point it would have been to correct to change your temperment, especially when you’ve made such a point of keeping it the same all season, which until three games before the end of the season had been going reasonably well.

The thing we forget though is that Willie is still only in his third season as a manager. He’s learning this job as much as Wright or Reyes. He’s the managers version of a young third or fourth year player. What he did in 2005 and 2006 got him off to a great start, with the club improving by double digits in wins for two consecutive season. 2007 will be a large splotch on his resume, but its not as if he doesn’t have time to react to that.

We like to think of these people as these almost photographic images of what’s most fresh in our memories. But he has as much time to adjust what he does as Wright or Reyes do. I think we can all say for sure that “boot-camp” attitude will be right back there this Spring, as he kind of relaxed that before 2007. And maybe he will get a little bit more fiery. Who knows? Dispassion obviously didn’t pay off for him. I doubt we’ll see him fly off at some reporter during a press conference. But maybe he will try to show a little bit more fire in the dugout. Maybe he already does behind closed doors.

However, if these things don’t happen, and the Mets fail again next year, I completely agree that it will be time to look elsewhere. He obviously needs to make some adjustment. There is no reason a bunch that talented should have blown the lead they did against the teams they did it against. But there’s also no reason for me to believe he will or won’t do that. We just have to wait and see and try not to jump to conclusions based on what’s most fresh in our memories. Once something becomes a legitimate trend or habit, that’s when you actually need to start paying attention to it. Until then, lets just enjoy the ride.

I think we can at least give him until age 25 or so before labelling him a complete bust or BP fodder for life!

They do have a couple of core guys tht are good, but not particularly young any more (that is, they are at least at their peak, not going up).

Rowand had a career year, and is probably gone. Who know if Burrell can stay healthy and productive again.

And the pitching still is very thin.

I guess by overrated, I mean that they are about what they showed (a mid-upper 80′s win team), but some people are making them out to be some kind of 100 win Juggernaut.

If these players can’t realize on their own that they have to play every inning of every game and that no one is handing them titles on a platter, then there’s something wrong with the players. I don’t care if they’re vets or rookies.

Get rid of the players that don’t care enough. They’re the problem.

Or maybe the pitching was just not quality enough to get them to the playoffs. It sputtered down the stretch.

It’s beyond the purview of this my point if Omar’s work last season made sense at the time. The fact that it turned out the way it did is on Omar and not Willie.

Be that as it may… Virtually every pitching transaction that Omar made last off-season backfired. I’m hoping that the odds are against that happening again.

I’m not too sure whether the teams in the west are really any better. Colorado was going to roll over anyone. The break before the WS hurt their momentum.

His problems were with Peterson. Not Willie. He said this himself.

And who are all these young players who, for whatever reason, Willie doesn’t like? I am not aware of them.

Maybe someone can enlighten us with examples?

As I said before, these are grown men who play professionally…this is their job. If they really need their manager to get angry or sad or whatever to motivate them to play hard then we need to scrap the whole team, especially the veterans. I mean, do you really think that Carlos Delgado NEEDS Willie to get angry to motivate him to win or to make him care about winning?

If that’s the case, we’re in big trouble.