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Today is John Maine’s 27th birthday, 
and Church of the Fonz has baked him a cake.
Speaking of Maine, he is still the team’s second-best starting pitcher, according to Joel Sherman and his blog for the New York Post.
Meanwhile, at Faith and Fear in Flushing, Jason writes a letter to Fred and Jeff Wilpon suggesting they begin looking for Willie Randolph’s replacement, such as Larry Bowa, Wally Backman or Bobby Valentine.
…bowa…seriously…has it really come to that…yikes…
Brady Clark chose to accept an assignment to Triple-A New Orleans, instead of retiring, a decision that his family supported, explains Bob Furtos in the Times-Picayune.
According Gene Duffey, at MLB.com, Nationals manager Manny Acta is committed to playing Lastings Milledge in center field.
Lastly, Ed Ryan at Mets Fever explains why Marlon Anderson should be starting at first base over Carlos Delgado.
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I can’t wait till they fire Willy and he goes on to another team and ends up doing well, maybe earning a ring or two, and every single person who called for his head and gave the most ridiculous replacement suggestions all start yapping in unison about how stupid the Wilpons were for letting him go….
ok apologists, tell me why he doesnt deserve to be fired?
Seriously, I think the tide has really turned on Willie. Nobody seems to have any confidence in him, and I’d have to think that it’s a problem for the players to have confidence in a manager that nobody else does.
It’s only a matter of time before the Shea faithful start showing up at games wearing “Free Willie” t-shirts.
Before him the team stunk, now its good.
Because he didn’t assemble the team.
Because he doesn’t strike out 4 times in one game.
Because he doesn’t throw hanging change ups to major league hitters for HRs in big games….like a certain one that prevented us from going to the WS….which Lo Duca didnt want him Hman to throw so it wasn’t a call from the dugout…
Because he doesn’t control rotator cuff and taxi cab accident shoulder injuries.
Because he doesnt control Mota getting busted for steroids and loosing out a roster spot for 50 games.
Because he doesnt make poor defensive plays.
Because he doesnt lollywag to first base on routine ground outs (which he called out Reyes for).
Should I continue?
Half the team lollygags to first on routine ground outs. Half the team looks lazy in the field and lazy running the bases. Isn’t it the managers job to motivate the players and make sure they play smart baseball if they can’t do this themselves?
Willie trotted Mota out there every day last year when Mota clearly had nothing. I guess thats Omar’s fault though he should know he has to Willie-proof the team.
How about the Mets being among the league leaders in pitchers used per game since Willie has been here. There are way worse bullpens but somehow Willie has to use every arm every game so they are always tired.
Delgado has looked washed up since last year but he still plays almost every day. Theres no reason not to give Marlon and Easely a start a week.
Obviously Willie doesn’t play the games so you can’t blame everything on him. However hes not much of an in-game strategist, and he doesn’t seem to be able to motivate his players anymore so what does he bring to the table?
I don’t think anyone needs to point out that Maine is the team’s second best pitcher, he doesn’t have a lot of competition for it
Maine is impressive. He didn’t have his best stuff for all of April and battled and still put up a 3-2 3.48 record. If his last start is an indication of what’s to come, I’m thinking he’ll put up an all star first half.
and he’ll still probably get snubbed by Clint Hurdle when it comes time to select pitchers for the ASG
True. Roy Oswalt will get the nod even if Maine puts up better numbers because hey, it’s Roy Oswalt.
I wouldn’t be broken hearted to see Anderson at 1B on a regular basis. I also wouldn’t mind seeing a young guy (like a Carp) get a shot. It would be nice to see a real glove over there for a change. maybe someone that can get to a ground ball, or at least bend over?
I’m curious as to why everyone is so anxious to see Carp. The way I see it, unless Omar is still the GM and he acquires some 32+ year old to play 1B or trades away some more minor league talent for quick fixes, it’s going to be a competition between Carp and Michel Abreu.
carp is worse than delgado defensively.
…suggesting they begin looking for Willie Randolph’s replacement, such as Larry Bowa, Wally Backman or Bobby Valentine.
Ugh. Geez, Bowa was so hated by his players they held a players-only meeting to discuss how to deal with Bowa’s negativity. They decided to play for themselves only and NOT Bowa.
Valentine lost his players totally in 2002.
Backman would be interesting.
But I would go for someone like Oberkfell if they make a change after the season. The Mets will not make a managerial move during the middle of this season. Bank on it.
The Wilpons will not consider Backman due to his less than stellar personal record (DUI, bankruptcy, domestic abuse).
If mets playing only .500 ball by All-star break he is gone.
You wanna bet?
That will not be enough to get Willie fired during the season. And I think the Wilpons know most of the responsibility for the play of the team is on Omar.
Not so sure about that. Omar was hired by the Wilpons and was courted personally by Fred. Willie was brought in by Omar alone. If it came down to firing either Willie or Omar, Willie will be the one given the cardboard boxes and pink slip.
Yeah, and the Wilpons hired Steve Phillips. Just because they hire someone doesn’t mean they won’t fire him. That’s silly to think so.
What’s most important to them is putting a winning product on the field. If they think Omar is the one who is most responsible for that product, then they will fire him.
The only question then is do they see it that way? The way Jeff Wilpon talked about who is responsible for the team’s play down the stretch last year leads me to believe they do. And they will not hesitate to fire both Omar and Willie if the team doesn’t make the playoffs.
It doesn’t have to be either/or. They can fire both.
True, they can fire both. Jeff’s comments down the stretch targeted everyone, Omar, Willie, the players. He didn’t seem to single any one person out. I guess we’ll have to wait and see. The funny thing is, Brian Cashman is in the last year of his contract, and if the Yankees don’t make the playoffs, he could be out of a job too.
I don’t think much of Cashman either. If I were a Yankee fan, I’d be calling for his head. Even though I know to some extent he’s been dictated to by Hank and King George at times.
Agreed. I’ve always wondered what made Cashman so special…He played no role in drafting ALL of the key cogs in the Yankees four World Series (Rivera, Jeter, Petitte, Posada, etc.)…They were all Stick Michael guys…
He also worked with an enormous payroll in a period before other teams really started spending anywhere near the amount of the Yankees…
And the list of bust moves Cashman has made is long. See: Randy Johnson, Carl Pavano, Kevin Brown, Jaret Wright, Javier Vasquez, Kyle Farnsworth, etc. etc. etc.
Cashman’s overrated….
Bobby Valentine is just what this club needs. He is a master baseball strategist and a dubious player’s manager like in the instance when he told Todd Hundley he needed more sleep as a motivator. His knowledge of the game is rivaled by few managers.
He would light the fire under the players by being aggressive, keeping the team from slipping into a cathartic state in late innings that Willie seems to favor.
Most importantly, Bobby Valentine brought general excitement to the Mets, with oddball antics, questionable comments, and risky decisions. His players may not have always been in favor of him, but he milked success out of clubs that were good, but not great on paper. He managed to turn a mediocre rotation into a stable force with Leiter, Reed, Yoshii, Mahomes, Hersheiser, and Rogers. What a rag tag rotation.
New York should welcome back Bobby V with open arms.
I certainly would. I love Bobby V. I was always confident that he would out-manage the other manager. I loved his little duels with Larussa. I would DEFINITELY welcome him back with open arms.
“Valentine is also infamous for a dubious incident during a 1999 game where he was discovered to have sneaked back into the team dugout after being ejected by wearing a disguise consisting of a change of clothes, sunglasses, and a “moustache” painted on with eye black.”
I’d be cool with this guy. He sounds like a real New Yorker. Is he still in Japan or what?
Bobby V is a baseball GOD in Japan. He is worshipped by his fans and is an all around massive star. I hear a lot of people saying he’s in baseball exile in Japan, when it’s actually anything but that. I would love to have Bobby V back, but I don’t think he’ll come back to NY. If he does ever decide to manage in America again, it’ll be for a cellar dweller team. He wants a challenge.
LOL
AMEN!
master basebal strategist indeed -
“According to Julio Franco, the Mets had a pickoff play they would run when there were multiple men on base and one of them was on second. Valentine would call the play from the dugout, then the pitcher and fielder would wait for a plane to pass overhead. When they heard the plane, the fielder would immediately break for second base and the pitcher would do his quick spin pickoff move. The noise from the plane would prevent the runner from hearing his base coach yell “back”. Franco said the play actually worked a couple of times. “
I would love to see Anderson more at 1st base. And possibly see Carp or Evans brought up also. Delgado isn’t getting the job done with the glove or bat.
.216 isn’t going to cut it, but he has hit safely in seven straight games. I think he is starting to find his swing; I think the question is, how quickly will he lose it and for how long?
That’s just it. We’ve seen this before in 2006 and more so last year. He’d have a horrible slump and show signs of life for a few games, and then fall right back into the slump. We’ll have to wait and see, but based on his performance last year, I’m not optimistic.
awesome name.
i’m a bit more optimistic. i think that he was showing more than signs of life before he got hurt in cincinnati last year.
i think he finally made some adjustments, and i think that his april was a reflection of those adjustments.
Hope you’re right. I seem to remember that even back in his Toronto heyday, he had a first half in one of those seasons that was horrible, so I guess anything is possible.
Matt, I know this is a blog and you need to post things constantly, but why this trash?
#1 Marlon has been as ineffective @ the plate this year as Delgado, sorry Ed
#2 There is a reason Backman got fired in a week in ARI, there is a reason Bobby V was let go here and Larry Bowa is an a$$.
Please remember Bobby V was the kind of manager who wouldve sat David Wright for the 3rd game of that Phils series that he went like 9-11 in. You can critize Willie for having “his guys” but Bobby not only had no allegience to anyone, but constantly sat guys who were on hot streaks.
Something to think about… Davey Johnson will be available after the Olympics. I never really understood what made him an effective manager, but every single team he managed steadily improved under his leadership. And you can’t tell me that they were all good teams. The first year he managed the Reds, they finished 5th. They won the division both of the following two years he managed them. He managed to get 100+ RBI out of Bobby Bonilla in ‘96, something he hadn’t done since ‘91 and something he’d never do again.
Davey is like King Midas. Everything he touches turns gold.
except the ‘69 World Series
Bobby V took pretty mediocre teams to the playoffs and World Series. Hes a good manager even if you don’t agree with everything he does.
Like you said Marlon has been as ineffective as Delgado but does that mean Delgado is more deserving of playing time? Delgado has been bad for more than a full season now, no reason not give Marlon and Easely some more playing time at 1b.