Matthew Cerrone

Note: Acta and the Mets
By Matthew Cerrone - Apr 17, 2008 4:26 pm

During his appearance on WFAN, SI.com’s Jon Heyman expressed concern with the way several people on the Mets treat Manny Acta around the batting cage before playing the Nationals.

According to Heyman, many players and people from the front-office – not Jeff Wilpon – spend two to three hours treating Acta like ‘some sort of returning hero,’ and he feels it is very disrespectful to Willie Randolph.

hmmm, this is very ‘behind the scenes’…it’s tough to comment on this without actually having seen it with my own eyes…but, i recall heyman pointing this out, regarding acta, before – towards the end of last season, when there was lots of talk about willie possibly being undermined by people in the front office…again, i can’t really speak to this…but, it’s interesting nonetheless

To listen to Heyman’s entire interview, go to WFAN.com.

41 Responses to “Note: Acta and the Mets”

  1. zen says:

    ed coleman said the exact same thing about the front-office and the manager with the worst record in mlb this year, manny acta. it’s disgusting that they do this with the opposition on the field.

    willie knows championship baseball. our front-office better learn it.

    enough with the drama :) let’s go mets.

    • dontstopbelieving says:

      Yes, I’m sure the Nats’ record has everything to do with Acta, and nothing to do with the fact that their starting pitching is so horrific that Odalis Perez is their #1 starter.

  2. Steal Home Jose! says:

    Oh whatever. He was well liked within the organization and had to go elsewhere to get a promotion, so there should be no bad blood. I see no problem with this and don’t think it has anything to do with Willie.

    Besides, do they think Acta would just drop what he has to come back to the Mets if offered the manager position? I doubt it.

  3. altru426 says:

    who caresssssssssssssss?

    Acta knows like 90% of the freaking team, so they are going to talk with him. It’s not a sign of disrespect. They are talking with a friend. Most of the Mets talked with Milledge and Lo Duca in the outfield for a while too. Is that disrespecting Ryan Church and Brian Schnieder? WHO CARES and no it isn’t. JEEZ

    This is just a stupid article trying to stir up drama.

    • gipper91375 says:

      Agreed. Much ado about nothing,

      If it makes Willie squirm:

      1.) He ought to have more self-confidence.
      and
      2.) He ought to know his job is already on the line.

  4. gipper91375 says:

    Um, hard not to notice that the most recent job approval rating (41% at last check) is still not posted in the upper left hand corner sidebar of the home page like it had been when it was in the 80s and high 50s.

    • zen says:

      what does it prove anyway? if they win 5 straight it would go way up. it was over 70% to start the year even with the collapse. it was actually higher than the confidence in the team after the first series.

      • gipper91375 says:

        Zen,

        It’s not a matter of proving anything. Or disproving anything. Nothing on any blog proves/disproves much of anything, from what I can tell

        Just odd that it was there when it was over 50%, but not there, now I believe 3 days since the poll was run, when it is 41%. The Confidence rating went up within hours of that poll being run…and it ticked up marginally.

        When people first brought this up, I defended Matt, as I have always seen him as retaining his independence from SNY/Sterling Mets.

        But, as each day goes by since the poll was run and had such low results it is notable by its absense from its former home. That is all.

        • zen says:

          i understand your point. you’re probably correct that it should always be up or not at all. i’m guessing it’s gone for good which makes sense since it really is the same measurement as team confidence rating (in my view)

        • kandiman says:

          Thats a pretty serious accusation.

        • gipper91375 says:

          Zen,

          Actually, I see the ratings as very different. The team confidence rating question is far wider-ranging, and asks about the direction of the whole franchise, and explicitly includes the new network and stadium, etc. in ints wording.

          Thus, one can - indeed I did - vote positively on the overall direction of the franchise, while also voting negatively on the Willie job approval. Then again, maybe that’s just the lawyer in me.

          Fine by me if Matt ditches the Willie confidence poll altogether - just not if it reappears magically when it is a positive result and disappears when it is a bad result. Frankly, I doubt Matt is like that - nothing in his history would suggest it. It just is something many of us have noticed as odd.

        • Slob says:

          I can’t think of a less important part of this site than the fan confidence rating.

    • MetLifer says:

      I actually never saw this poll. I think Matt should leave the polls on the right nav all the time. The poll seems to pop up every now along with the posts and is easy to miss.

    • toomanyuniforms says:

      I’d love to see the poll after every game. That way, we’d see how it would shoot up after every win and dive after every loss, and it would show us how absurd some Met fans’ behavior/expectations can be.

    • Frank Taveras says:

      All the access Metsblog gets, along with the sponsorship by SNY, means that this site isn’t going to be as useful or objective as it could be.

      Matt has always liked Willie and Omar, but one has to wonder if the new connections are going to result in a Yank-al-jazerra-ing of the site.

      I hope not.

      • gipper91375 says:

        I hope not, and I am sure Matt is trying to avoid any such problems. In fact, some of Matt’s most critical posts have been post-SNY partnership.

        However, I must confess, the Willie job approval poll disappearing once the results were poor is……interesting.

  5. metsfansberealistic says:

    if everyone was happy with the job Willie is doing, this wouldn’t be an issue at all

    bottom line, this is a typical Stubborn Mike & the Ignoramus non issue

    & Heyman should know better

    • gameball says:

      Agreed — Heyman was just feeding the trolls with this one.

      • gipper91375 says:

        I agree that Heyman was just stirring the pot on a non-issue….but I dosagree that anybody who dislikes Willie as manager of this team is necessarily a troll….after all, the latest Metsblog Willie job approval poll showed approx 60% of respondants would therefore be trolls.

  6. kingrw says:

    heyman is more like a washer-woman gossip than a baseball insider. he loves to dish that kind of dirt.

    he keeps bringing nudgy little stories up over and over again.

    i’m surprised he didn’t offer up his favorite little story about jeffy and randolph arguing over a golf outing….

  7. C Dubb says:

    Maybe they just like Manny as a person. They could think he’s a horrible manager (or not…it’s irrelevant), but are happy to see him and chat with him. Jon Heyman probably has no friends and has therefore never experienced such social interactions. So he chooses to observe and write about them and to make up stories in his head about what they mean.

    Jon Heyman is like the guy who throws a temper-tantrum when his girlfriend talks to another guy at the bar.

  8. Deadpanwalking says:

    Potential nicknames for David Wright:

    Mr. Wright
    The Virginia Violator
    The Wright Stuff (accompanied by the seminal NKOTB song)
    David Betterman
    The Chesapeake Kid
    The Chesapeake Champ

    • toomanyuniforms says:

      Anything but “D-Wright”

    • Frank Taveras says:

      I like “David Wright”. It fits him.

      • toomanyuniforms says:

        That’s pretty much what I’m thinking. What’s Tom Brady’s nickname? Cal Ripken? Albert Pujols?

        • huge_mets_fan11 says:

          I think Tom Brady’s is the “Golden Boy.” Cal Ripken’s was “Iron Man.” But I don’t think Pujols has one.

        • toomanyuniforms says:

          Hmm. . . . “Iron Man.” That wasn’t much of a “nickname.” More of a description. No fans ever sais anything like “here comes Iron Man!!” or “Iron Man mashed that ball!” Nothing like “A-Rod” or “The Big Hurt.”

        • kandiman says:

          winnie the Poohjoles

        • Necciai27 says:

          “But I don’t think Pujols has one.”

          He’s called “el Hombre” by the Cards fans. I’ve also heard “Prince Albert” and “The Second Sultan of Swat.”

  9. biscuitz says:

    uh, wasn’t Cal Ripken the “Ironman?” I still agree with you tho…

  10. CharlieH says:

    Heyman is a bit of an arse.

    He’s showing up more and more as Wally Matthews Lite.