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Since being named the interim manager, Jerry Manuel has been filling tape recorders with priceless quips and proclamations. This “breath of fresh air” was immediately embraced by the media, and we fans were fed the idea that the Mets would immediately start fighting for first place.
After a week, however, the Mets under Manuel are 3-4. Manuel’s promises about bullpen roles, resting starters on the road, and a new offensive attack have fallen by the wayside. For many, the talk from Manuel has been a lot of hot air – after all, actions speak louder than words.
On the other hand, Rome wasn’t built in a day, and a sub-.500 team can’t suddenly turn into a contender with the flip of a switch. The hiring of Jerry Manuel was one step of many in the process.
The buzz from Shea is that internal meetings are occurring now, “and changes are coming”.
We’ve heard enough talk. I, Joe Janish, am willing to give Manuel and the team’s front office 30 or so days to get these changes implemented. No doubt we’ll see obvious moves – such as personnel adjustments affecting Carlos Delgado and Oliver Perez. We should also see more roles evolving, particularly at second base and in the outfield. An energy spark from the farm system is a must – be it an arm or a position player or both – because the Mets have little in the way of trading chips for an impact player (think: 2005, when the promotions of Robinson Cano and Chien-Ming Wang boosted the Yankees).
At the same time, I fully expect Omar Minaya to continue working the phones to land someone who can make a difference. In addition, let’s look for the relievers to eventually settle into roles, the hitters to start bringing a game plan to the plate, and the team as a whole keep its focus and spirit no matter what the score.
As Ron Darling suggested, a month is a fair amount of time. Let’s talk then.
I think that’s as fair as you get, Joe.
I like the thought of someone from the farm coming up (see: Carp, Mike).
Castillo needs to be put down in the 8 hole. His bat behind Reyes absolutely KILLS this lineup’s flow. His glove is too good right now to be removed altogether. I think you put the Easley/Chavez platoon in the 2 hole. Wright needs to get his S together and beltran needs to stay hot. Delgado needs to retire. Isn’t our #5 supposed to be feared? I can’t honestly say that he is…
I like the idea of giving Carp a shot. But Castillo is far from this teams biggest problem- and you can’t platoon him and Easly because Castillo is a far better hitter from the right-hand side.
I dont think he’s this team’s biggest problem, i am just infuriated that the guy let’s hitter pitches go and then is FORCED to swing at a strike zone pitch….whether it’s a good pitch to hit or not.
Where do you s’pose that spark from the farm is coming from?
As well as Carp, Evans, and Murphy are doing, I don’t get the sense that any of them are ready for the show.
What spark?
Carp isn’t ready for the show? If batting .340 for the entire year isn’t ready, what is?
Not necessarily. He was batting .360 just 6 days ago.
He’s also at AA, not AAA. He’s also 21.
I’m not saying he would be a flop in the bigs, but he could easily be as bad or worse than Delgado when he gets here.
And by all accounts, he’s a butcher in the field, so he’s not likely to be an upgrade defensively either.
Jay Bruce is 21 too. Reyes was 20. Get ‘em here.
Exactly.
Wow. You think Carp will put up numbers like Bruce? You gotta be kidding.
Jay Bruce was at AAA and had a ton more power. He was also a much more highly regarded amateur.
Last year at this time Carp was awful.
He hasn’t done it long enough to prove anything yet. Hell, he didn’t even get a big league invite this spring.
You can call him up, but you’d better be prepared for him to be very raw, and not very good right now.
No, I don’t think he’ll be Bruce. All I need him to be is equal to Delgado. At least he’ll be learning.
The chances of him even being equal to Delgado at this point are slim. He has fewer dingers at AA than Delgado has in the bigs.
I’m not saying Delgado is any good, but to expect at this age, at this time, for Carp to be better is a tad foolish.
I just want to see what it is we have. Delgado isn’t getting it done. Maybe Carp will. If he doesn’t, that’s fine. At least we tried something else.
Well, to simply be on par with Delgado, Carp would have to hit .235 and hit an occasional home run and make half assed attempts to field balls.
And I’m not convinced he’s hit even the occasional home run, hit .235 or field at all.
Like I said, if you bring him up and don’t mind watching him flail, then fine.
What would be a shame is for people to expect him to come up and “save” this team. I don’t think he’s that type of player. Certainly not now.
If he proves me wrong, great!
I don’t think Carp will save the season by any means. But, Delgado isn’t going to either. I’d rather roll the dice with a younger guy than one who is on his way out if given the choice.
What about bringing back Nick Evans for another stint? He’s got a tad less adjusting to do in the bigs as opposed to someone like Mike Carp.
I’d prefer Evans as a platoon partner with Delgado. Evans can’t hit righties, Delgado can’t hit lefties. Its perfect.
That’s AA
How about Moises Alou for one game?
You mean like all 9 innings? Isn’t that asking a lot?
ok heres what I think
Delgado..bye bye Welcome Mike Carp
Church back from DL when ready, bye bye Robinson Cancel
Perez? I dunno what to do with him…send him to AAA in favor of a young guy?
there is no young guy worthy of coming up this season
Jon Niese probably wouldn’t do any worse that Perez.
That would completly f— with Niese. No need to do that to him.
I don’t think it matters very much to you or any of us if changes are implemented as long as wins are implemented.
There’s not too much that can be done to this roster to show an improvement other than Church coming off strong from the DL, but if the team starts finding ways to win, we’ll all be happy.
This 30 day thing seems like a load of crap to me. We could have said the same thing 60 days ago or 30 days ago and it would have the same meaning.
What are you going to do in 30 days when the mets are still a .500 club? Nothing probably except renew your patience for another 30 days
Amen.
Disagree. The thirty days is to absorb Manuel as manager, learn how he does things, adapt to his style, etc. If you’re not willing to see what a change in managers does, why did we fire Willie, again?
delayed comeuppance for september 2007 when, as opposed to now, the manager had a large effect on performance
TMU, I agree re: Manuel – but not re: the front office.
“I, Joe Janish, am willing to give Manuel and team’s front office 30 or so days”
I’m sure they’re quaking in their boots.
What happens after that? Another 30 days perhaps?
seriously joe, i literally laughed at loud when i read this.
I, gbaked, laughed and shook my head as well.
The front office mishandled the aftermathe of The Collapse. Most of the team’s current problems stem from that. They have had much longerthan a month to make moves to turn the page.
The thought processes in retaining randolph, giving Castillo four years, not obtaining a valid platoon/backup for Delgado, and staying with Moises without a solid backup or platoon are all inexplicable.
It’s hard to continue giving Minaya (whom I have always liked) and his crowd the benefit of the doubt.
*aftermath
The problem with this approach is that we all should know better after last season. Isn;t this what we did last season? We closed the door on the season in the middle of July and assumed it was all fine. Wouldn;t it make sense to play this out and see what happens? The way this division is going there doesn;t seem to be any one team that is willing to step up and grab a big lead. What happens after 30 days Joe? You’re going to bad-mouth your team mercilessly until what? It’s lame.
I’m all for making some changes here, especially at first base but jesus give Manuel and the team time to do it. Something tells me this team is going to finish strong. We’ve played like sh&^t and are still only 4 games out of first. Just let them play the games already a let the pieces fall where they may. This desperation garbage in mid season never got us anywhere and never will.
have we forgotten about Jonathan Niese. I will like him to replace ollie. I really liked his stuff back in spring training. he has a 90 mph fastball, a 12/6 curball and a good changeup
CALL HIM UP!!!!!!
he is having a good year in AA, 3.40 era, I think. maybe we have the next scoot kasmir in our system and we dont know…I only hope..
Not developed enough! Stop wanting to rush guys. You may be bitterly disappointed with the way the team is playing now, but calling up kids not ready will not improve their record now, and could impact the kids’ futures.
Unfortunately, we are pretty much stuck with what we’ve got for the time being.
I can see it for pitchers, but not as much for hitters. I would not bring Niese up this year. I would, however, go ahead and see if Mike Carp can play. I’m worried about his defense, however. Say what you will about cement-footed Carlos, but he can at least snag Wright’s errant throws.
I think sending Ollie to the minors is a big mistake… He probably still has trade value for a team with a pitching coach who think he can change him or teach him…trade the guy..even if its to a competitor…anything now is better than nothing later
It may be a moot point if he continues to stink it up in the majors, but I’m sure a demotion would ruin all of little chance there is for Ollie to retain his “A” player status, thereby providing us with 2 draft picks when some team caves to Boras’ demands this winter. After having a great ‘07 and taking us for $6M, I hope we can get more from Ollie’s departure than a single sandwich pick.
I would trade Ollie to the Sox , Yankees or another American league team in the hunt. At least we should get some prospects for him because I can;t see signing him long term after this year.
first of all i’m pretty sure he can’t be demoted without his consent which he obviously will not give.
second, we have no one better to replace him. we are gonna sink or swim with ollie. maybe vargas could have taken his spot but omar inexplicably DFAed him.
Not entirely true. Figueroa equaled his stats in his stint and it is entirely possible that Armas Jr can do the same thing. Hell I would bet Vargas could do the same thing if given the opportunity to start. (I know he was sent down recently).
Bottom line is Perez has been weak.
The best we could hope for in terms of preserving his A level status as a free agent to be would be for him to get hurt. That might provide the impetus to give him a pass on this years mediocrity and might make those that make this decision look upon his previoius 15 – 10 yr with a mid 3 era and 170 Ks as the real OP
Jerry Manuel has exhibited that he’s a very capable guy. My only criticisms of him are that he took Reyes out that first game which resulted in a loss after some tempered enthusiasm, that he bats Endy 8th instead of 7th with Schneider in the game, and that he doesn’t give Castro enough at bats. Offense is what the Mets need, and Castro is a better offensive option than Schneider…it’s that simple. You have to play Castro more…..
Outside of those concerns…Manuel has been a 100% upgrade over Willie. The things Manuel does that are so much better than Willie aren’t things that might produce instant results, but over the long haul they’ll show. Things like assigned roles in the pen, giving guys a rest…..Knowing when to take a guy out….I’m very impressed with how Manuel has handled the pitching staff…while we all want immediate results….the things Manuel is doing are definitely for the betterment of the club. It still doesn’t change the fact that they need another bat. It’s time they signed Barry Bonds. Stop pussyfooting around here. Sign Barry.
K ~
“…it’s that simple.” Well why didn’t you say so before? Hey, do you know where the switch is that will turn Wright back on? How about keeping OP consistently good? What else is so simple that no one else has figured out yet?
Casey Stengel, Miller Huggins, John McGraw — none of them could do anything with this team. IT’S THE PLAYERS, STUPID!
Nothing will change unless the Mets rid themselves of Delgado, Castillo and Perez just for starters.
Promote Jonathan Niese and Mike Carp. Bring in someone who can play second base and hit the ball farther than 90 feet. Get a righthanded bat with some pop for the outfield (Nady, Bay, etc.) and get Ryan Church back!
Challenge the pitchers to go 7 innings or throw 120 pitches.
Consider firing Hojo. I loved him as a Met, but this team has been in an offensive funk for a year now.
Enough is enough, ive ha dall i can take of blaming the managers and coaches, that blame can fall only so far. Willie was blamed and fired and things arent really much bette ron the field now, they may be better in the clubhouse, but they arent better as far as the W’s are concerned. The blame falls saurely on 3 places, Omar, Ownership and the Players. Instead of bringing in a fresh manager to attemt to right the ship, they give it to Jerry. Now i dont think Jerry is doing a bad job, i actually like the way he handles the team, but obviously he isnt doing something that is making a big difference. Omar set this team up to fail last winter when he went out and made this team old and crippled. He picks up Moises Alou, he Lets Chad Bradford and Darren Oliver go to other teams, and then this winter he does absolutley nothing other than have Santana Gift Wrapped for him (lets face it, the twins had no choice but to Trade him to the mets, they had no other options). Before Santana he signs Castillo to 4 years, crippled aging knees and all, and picks up the option for the aging Medicare Poster fossil, Alou. Now picking up Santana is ahuge plus for the Team, but Santana wasnt going to singlehandedly get this team a championship. I will however give him credit for the Church/Schneider trade.
Now the reason i blame ownership is because for Years and Years now this team has notoriously made HORRIBLE decisions, you cant tell me that it has been all done by the hand of the GMS, you want to tell me every GM keeps making these bad calls? and even if that were the case, the OWNERS picked the GMS!!!!!!!! As long as the Mets are under current ownership we are doomed to be a once every 20 years or so championship team.
Face it, we are the Knicks of Baseball only not quite as bad….YET.
This “breath of fresh air” was immediately embraced by the media, and we fans were fed the idea that the Mets would immediately start fighting for first place……………
I did not buy this for one second. The team is the same and Jerry’s jokes won’t make them win games. The 2008 Mets are a bunch of Mutts with or without Willie.
You do love your sweeping statements. “We fans were fed the idea that the Mets would immediately start fighting for first place” — uh, no. The entire mets structure and we fans were hopeful that something could get this headed in the right direction, but as has been pointed out above, the pieces and the possible options are limited. So, sure, give them 30 days. If we’re not in first in 30 days, we won’t have to hear any more from you?
Correct. Janish can only speak for Janish. People were optimistic, but realistic. I, for one, fully expected (1) a Willie hangover followed by (2) a slim chance at a team that would begin to fight for first place once that wore off, with the emphasis on slim. To me (and a lot of fans, I think), replacing Willie was a logical first step in what will likely be a significant overhaul.
What I don’t like are the calls for Omar to magically work a deal we can’t think of. He can’t be blamed for not making a deal. (Of course, he can be blamed for his role in creating a situation that (1) requires a deal and (2) left him with nothing to deal, however.) “Make a trade” is not a solution. We don’t even have enough for the Ryan Freels of the world.
You hit the nail on the head my friend.
We have enough for BARRY BOND!!!!
K ~
Barry Bonds too….
K ~
I’ll stick with Bond. He’s not under indictment.
Your chores for the day:
(1) potty train self
(2) stop trolling
Good luck with those….rather non sequitor of you to feel compelled to blurt out your daily itinerary like that…sounds like you have a rare distant form of Tourette’s syndrome…..are you on medication? I think you need to be….maybe you if took the medicine you needed, the anti-depressants would stymie your incessant urges of wanting the Mets to lose, and you’d want Bonds like you should….
K ~
There’s no edit button, I didn’t see you said those were My chores for the day….I stopped reading your boring loser posts….
K ~
Uh-oh! Watch out, Wilpons. Joe Janish has layed down the gauntlet!
It’s clobberin time!
This team isn’t ready for anything. Stop saying bring up Carp, Evans, Murphy, etc. None of them are ready to make a difference. Can I please see one of them go to AAA and produce before I say bring them up?
What is the problem with this team and how they manage the minors. None of our best prospects ever go to AAA. It’s like in order to be a member of the Zephyrs you have to be 35+, and if there’s a chance you have a future you’re stuck in Binghampton. I know it’s closer to NYC, but none of these guys are gonna face near MLB caliber opponents there.
Maybe the person running the minor league teams should be fired (ahem! ahem!)
Binghamton.
This team has only 1 potential quick fix available since no good FA’s are out there yet and their minor leagues are depleted…..
you guessed it, fire the worst hitting coach in baseball. You know the one who presides over a team that scored 2 runs in 18 innings vs the Mariners, and these games arent an abberation, they are the RULE in queens.
Hojo is a joke, and for all of the fire Willie guys that were out there…now that Willie’s gone and the team still cant hit can we please figure out the problem is Hojo. Please, pretty please.
yeah our minor leaguers that have any potential are in AA…which means…they are not good enough for AAA…let alone the majors!!!!!!!!!! common sense.
Janish is a breath of fresh air, I enjoy everyone of this guys posts. keep em coming, lately you have more to say than matt.
I actually disagree. I consistently find myself disagreeing more with his posts. Janish was the guy who told us about 30 games ago that “things [were] looking up!”
I just don’t understand the reasoning behind cutting Vargas. I mean he has pitched better than Perez. Why cut him?
I know we’re a New York team and no New York team likes to rebuild but I have no idea how that isn’t gonna happen with this team. Great, young players going into free agency is a thing of the past and who knows how long it’ll take this farm system to get some guys up to AAA, produce, and be promoted to the majors.
For those clamoring to call up Carp, Murphy, etc, I think you are way, way, way undervaluing the difference between the major and the minors.
Let’s not forget that:
1) Nick Evans, who save for one game, looked completely overmatched in the majors, has an OPS of 941 at AA. He is also the team leader in OPS.
2) At New Orleans (AAA), Tony Armas has an ERA of 2.50, and Nelson Figueroa has an ERA of 2.89. Last year, Tony Armas’ ERA was 6.03, and Nelson’s ERA is 5.12 in the majors.
3) Remeber when Anderson Hernandez was hitting .330 a few years ago at AA/AAA, and everyone was excited, and the Mets called him, and he couldn’t hit at all? It’s three years later, and he still can’t hit. Sometimes young players have great, fluke years.
4) As far as the Mets “doing something” with Deldago and Castillo, I just don’t see it. If you assume that Wright, Reyes, and Beltran are untouchable, the only Mets that have any value are Ryan Church, Duaner Sanchez, Joe Smith, and Pedro Feliciano. And given how inconsistent the bullpen has been, and how overexposed Chavez has become, its not like any of those guys are dispensable.
5) I think what you see is what you get with this Mets team. We don’t have the pieces to make any meaningful moves for September.
You forgot Wagner. I’m sure he has a NTC, which I’m sure he would waive to go to the Red Sox, Angels, White Sox, etc.
None of those teams would be willing to pay Wagner’s salary though, especially when a) they all have excellent closers that are all better than Wagner and b) he would not waive his NTC to be an 8th inning man.
Shawon, so what are you saying? Do you ever bring up minor leaguers because sometimes they fail? Everybody is different. Sometimes they can play and sometimes they can’t. As far as Carp is concerned, I wish people would stop talking about last year. He stunk because he was hurt. He’s slumping a little now, but this year he has crushed the ball and Toby Hyde said the pitchers have totally started pitching around him, which may account for the recent slump. I don’t care whether he is at AA or AAA. the difference in talent level between them is slight. The major difference between AA and AAA is the player age. What I do know is Delgado is about the worst 1st basemen in the national league and has been for quite some time. Low batting average, middling and waning power, zero range at first base.
beltran and wright are 2 of the top 5 or 6 most overrated players in the league. castillo and delgado are way past their prime, and alou and church are hurt.
when are people going to realize that this team is not very good. to expect a huge strech of 10 out of 12 or something similar is assanine. especially when your 150 million dollar pitcher can;t get out of his own way. maine cannot put a hitter away for his life, pedro and ollie suck..
i have more confidence in pelfrey than any other starter right now
wow thats sad, not even worth watching
back up the truck and do it fast.
show me a 75-87 team that shows me some balls and ill be happy.
News flash: everyone is pretty much on board with the team not being that good.
I completely disagree with this post. In fact, Manuel has already completely changed the culture of this team and has done it in just a week’s time. Since he took over, David Wright has had a day off, Carlos Beltran engaged in a shouting match with an umpire, and Jose Reyes began playing his best ball in 2 seasons after being disciplined by his manager. These events are unprecedented and never happened under Randolph. It is further ironic that Joe would write a column like this when you consider that these are PRECISELY the types of things that the Randolph was criticized for not doing when the team was struggling. In a way, Manuel has immediately tried everything we have asked for, and now that the team has not yet succeeded, we are going back to criticizing the manager’s style. Make a decision already, either the manager is bad, or the players are bad. At this point, I’m leaning towards the latter. Dump Delgado and Perez for prospects, call up some minor leaguers, make some trades, and then if the team still doesn’t improve we can re-ignite the blame game.
the more i read this post, the more i think it’s ridiculous.
chien-ming wang? robinson cano? yeah, i agree, let’s call up a bunch of guys that don’t exist.
off topic, you guys have got to see this if you’re a baseball fan.
Go to YouTube and on the search field type in “Ballgirl Catch”.
You have to find the video that’s still available. It’s the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen. If the Mets would give just HALF the effort this BallGirl gave we’d be in first place. Unbelievable.