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According to Jon Heyman at SI.com, ‘the Mets will retain manager Jerry Manuel in 2009.’
Manuel was 55-38 as the team’s manager after taking over for Willie Randolph in May.
Mets GM Omar Minaya, regarding Manuel, while speaking to reporters following yesterday’s game:
“I sat down and talked to him. I’m going to sit down with ownership and give them my recommendation, because he is an interim manager. But I told him the same thing I’m telling you guys: that I was very pleased. The job that he did, I thought, was a very good job. I think if you talked to the players, they would tell you that he did a very good job.”
David Wright, regarding Manuel, said:
“What Jerry’s done here has been remarkable. You won’t find a guy in this clubhouse that doesn’t look up to Jerry, doesn’t respect Jerry, and think that Jerry’s one of the best baseball minds in the game. I’ll forever owe Jerry quite a bit, not only for this year but for what he’s taught me since he’s been here. Jerry has my utmost respect.”
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What happened yesterday wasn’t Jerrys fault. He had no one step up in the pen and down the stretch they got no timely hitting. None!
Jery did a good job with what he had.
I have to agree. Jerry deserves more time to prove it out. He made the METS season actually as they were under .500 or about .500 when he took em over and he was part of the reason the season went all the way to the last day..
I am sure it will be written over and over how this team collapsed and did not make it to the playoffs again but this was not a team worthy of it. They were completely disheveled by the last month of the year. The final blow was when Maine when out. We could not sustain more hits to the pitching staff. Plus, Castillo coming back hurt the team for a while also before Ramon Martinez played the last 4 games.
I am crushed by the loss and lack of playoffs this year but I am realistic and can quite easily see the core that is terrific and can be built around.
Santana and Pelfrey are two gems to begin the rotation with
Wright, Reyes, Beltran, Murphy and possibly Delgado are 5/8ths of what should be a very good offense.
No one in the pen should be safe
I have questions about what Church will be next year and then we have to give a real look at LF as well.
I believe we need to try Murphy at 2b full time next year and find a big time RH hitter to play LF.
The pen is someone elses problem but safe to say we need a new closer and at least 2 more quality set up guys to pitch the 8th inning.
In the rotation…Maine can be counted on to be the 4th guy next year (not the 3) with Santana and Pelfrey being 1 and 2.
To me we will need 2 more very solid starters and should not resign Pedro or OP. I’d look at Garland as the new 5th starter and would love to find some lefthander who consistently pitches innings and can be a real #3 starter. I do not know who that is.
I’d also spend the offseason considering a package to get Holliday from Colorado for LF for some package of FMart and others.
A lineup of
Reyes
Beltran
Holiday
Delgado
Wright
Murphy
Church
Schneider
Would be amongst the best top 7 in the league. very deep 1 – 7
that lineup would kill righties and struggle against lefties. Way too one sided, especially with all the LH starters in the NL east.
I’m sorry, but you have to come with something better than that.
Jerry should come back…. One candidate I would seriously look at though is Buck Showalter…. I think he would be a perfect fit being that he is a NO NONSENSE HARDNOSE MANAGER who doesn’t take crap from any of his players…. Buck Showalter’s upside is tremendous being that he knows great deal about baseball and is a fiery manager who demands Respect from his players… Mets have too many soft players on this team and I believe Buck can straight them out for boot them out of town… Love to have Buck as a NY METS MANAGER FOR A LONG TIME…
sure thing. bring in buck because you know the mets will win a world series after he leaves. see the yankee and the d-backs.
the rangers…well…tom hicks is their owner so there you go.
If not Jerry then who? Other than promoting Ken-O, I don’t see any better options. Might as well have them BOTH onboard.
Great, let’s maintain status quo. At least give Jerry autonomy with his coaching staff, rather than having it filled with Minaya goons.
This shouldn’t be the question. The question should be: do I want Omar back. And, if it is already a given that Omar is back, then the questions should be: do I think he has earned a four-year extension. Those are the real questions worthy of debate.
Agreed. I would hope the Wilpons re-consider giving Omar a 4 year contract. Not saying they should fire him outright, but at least keep him on a short leash.
I agree, if nothing else 4 years is to much.
Buck Showalter in 09….. He will toughen some of the sissies on this team….
a .514 career winning percentage…..
i’m certainly not sold on him…give Jerry a full year….if you give him a full year, we possibly run away with the division
But think… when we fire Showalter, we’d be guaranteed to win the World Series!
I’m good with Jerry getting a full year.
But either Omar needs to be fired or he needs to tell the fans that he’s going to acquire the players this team NEEDS.
Matt,
Put up a poll on Omar. Please.
Agreed, It would be interesting to see what we think of Omar.
Not that it makes a difference. Wilpon doesn’t have much a voice…firing Manaya would take as long as it took Lions to fire Millen.
Need to give jerry more than a year if he is going to be effective. Minimum of 2 at least – with the condition that he never puts in Schoenpuss..
I guarantee at least one person is going to say bring back Bobby Valentine.
Bobby Valentine thinks he invented the game of baseball himself… No thanks to Bobby V he can eat all the sushi he can in Japan….
Bring back Bobby V!
i’m cool with jerry continuing, but would love to see bobby v back
I would like to see Wally Backman, as a 3b coach maybe. A little bit of a spark. I agree, no more Omar cronies who aren’t qualified to do the job.
I would like to see Ken O moved from 1B to 3B and maybe Wally to 1B. Aguayo can be shown the door.
Sandy Alomar is fine too, but if they decide to let him go, then bump Ken O to bench coach.
Waltham? meh.
I can go for that, we need a shake up in the staff. Not major, but some tweaking.
first and foremost the mets need to let Jerry pick his own staff.
Then during the offseason the mets need to address the leadership on this team. They need to acquire a winner like a Craig Counsell or David Eckstein someone like that who has done it before and can teach them how to win.
Next the Mets need to get rid of Luis Castillo and Aaron Heilman
Then go out and fix the bullen. They need an 8th inning guy and a 9th inning guy. My suggestions are Dennys Reyes of Minnesota and of course K-Rod for the 9th and if god forbid anything happens to K-Rod, Reyes has proven he can close games.
Next the mets need to let Perez walk and sign Derek Lowe to be the teams 3rd starter. Lowe has better numbers, is reliable and has pitched well in big starts.
In addition to Heilman and Castillo, they should also dump Feliciano and Schoenweis. In fact, other than Joe Smith and Bobby Parnell (who’s only been around a for Sept), I’d gut the whole bullpen. It has the stink of failure to it and needs to be disinfected.
True enough. The stench on that pen needs to be cut out to remove its spreading.
Heilman, Sanchez, Shoe and Feliciano all have failed beyond the point of considering them as part of the team next year in my opinion.
Joe Smith has a role. Parnell is completely unknown as is Kunz. No need to dump them. Same for Muniz as well.
To fix the pen, you have to work from the back forward.
First find the real closer
Then find 2 guys capable of being real 8th inning guys.
Ayala and Stokes can have roles in the pen next year as 7th inning guys. Both have enough stuff to get out guys and have shown flashes of more.
What the team really needs though is a drop dead closer and 2 guys capable of being legit 8th inning guys.
Stokes we can hold on to, but did you see Ayalas stats for us this year? He was terrible. ERA over 5, WHIP over 1.40, BAA at .307. I’d let them all go except for Smith, Parnell, Felciano (kills lefties), Stokes (for long relief), and dump the rest.
Bring in Fuentes, and try to get some seasoned guys or veterans who can help. I’m sure the Mariners would consider trading Putz, their team is in shambles. They are all threatening Ichiro.
Lowe will also cost more money and will strip the Mets of the first round pick, plus we’d lose another pick for signing KRod.
I’m not saying it’s a bad plan, just consider all the ramifications before posting suggestions.
well the mets need a closer and luis ayala is not the answer so if it costs the mets a first round pick then so be it.
we need a SP and Perez is not worth anywhere near the money he will get so who else can they sign Jason Marquis?
plus wouldnt we get a pick back for Perez anyway?
You follow this plan then you have to turn around and trade Maine and Murphy for a bounty of prospects like the A’s get for one of thier pitchers. Only way to have a farm system that isnt devoid of meaningful players if you are signing free agents left and right.
The plus side is that if you sign six free agents in one year you dont lose as many top draft picks as you would if you spread them out over three years. So they can choose this year to be a reloading year, I would be ok with that. But you have follow it up and get more prospects in return for something.
Counsell and Eckstein would be excellent additions to both the lineup and the clubhouse I think.
…two years ago
They still have an endless amount of grit and great intangibles. That never fades.
Typically the mets will go to war with the same group next year and hope for different results. As great as Jerry did he still represents the Willie regime and has also failed down the stretch himself. I would like to see someone that actually challenges Omar be our next manager.
They need to resign Perez and let Pedro walk. Then sign someone like a Lowe. Perez is not easily replaced. I think all of us would be happy with:
Santana
Maine
Pelfrey
Ollie
Lowe
The only real issue when you look back is that the Mets never truely addressed their needs. 2008 ended with the same problems of 2007 – the bullpen. That blame has to fall squarely on Omar’s shoulders – the same guy that gets a four year extension.
I was just thinking the same thing to myself this weekend – maybe Eckstein and Counsell are a little old, but definitely someone like that. We haven’t seen it since the early years of McEwing. The hard-nosed, scrappy guy that always seems to get it done.
I agree that Jerry should at least be given a year or two to see what he can do. Considering his best options late in the season were to pinch hit Marlon and Easley, and play Martinez at second, and keep going back to Sho and Heilman.
I said last year and I’ll say it again, that the weak starting staff that can only go 5-6 innings (or, ahem, 2 innings, Ollie) starts to wear on the bullpen early in the season. Feliciano and Sho and Smith were all up there in innings for the league. We can’t expect a complete game every time, but when you have to go to the well that early every time, it is bound to catch up with you. Not to make excuses for them, but it doesn’t help.
I would like to see one more big bat in there. Will be interesting to see what they do with Delgado, since he certainly had an incredible second half and basically carried the club back into first place last month. Notice how when he stopped hitting dingers, the offense went away. Church has to shoulder a huge part of the blame for these last few games. He contributed nothing and yet was in the lineup every day.
More important than anything, we need to get away from the 40+ year old players who we all know cannot be counted on for a full season. This team was built with Pedro and Duque in the rotation and neither of them made it. Pelfrey made a huge leap forward and Maine can hopefully get healthy and continue next year. Perez has hopefully pitched his last game as a Met.
It is a disappointing, but as I’ve said to all my friends who have tried to console me, they just didn’t deserve it and they didn’t want it bad enough. Regardless, we all had something to cheer about late in the season, it was exciting, and I will be back next year.
I agree with your post. Just one edit:
“We haven’t seen it since the early years of McEwing. The hard-nosed, scrappy guy that NEVER seems to get it done.”
Did you watch McEwwwwing play?
Love to see Jerry back. He was amazing in our turnaround.
I know how tough a day like yesterday was for alot of us…but we were fortunate to be in that position. We owe alot of our 2nd half success to Jerry.
Honestly, as much as I love Hojo…I dont think hes suited for the hitting coach position. I think maybe 3rd or 1st base coach might be more appropriate. Id like to see MIKE PIAZZA back as a hitting coach. I think hes said hed like to come back as a coach. Hes one of the best hitters in Mets history, he knows so much…I want him back.
I think making Ken O our bench coach would be better as well. Sandy. I dont know if Sandy should go, or move to a base again
just because he was a great hitter doesn’t guarantee he can coach hitting. just like why most great players are crap managers, they don’t understand how to deal with less talented players.
I think his approach was one of the best.
I just think with the talent we have in that lineup, the inconsistancy we saw each day was not acceptable.
We didn’t seem to have a game plan, or adjust our gameplan, if there was one. They could score 10 runs in a game, and get 3 hit…the very next day. Inconsistancy is what killed us.
Yesterdays game, as an example. I feel like our hitters came in with the mentality of “we knocked this guy around all season long.” Instead of looking at what hes doing to get outs, and how he might be different. I feel like we just waited, sayin g…the hits will come.
i dont dislike hojo, nor do i want to see him gone. Just…relocated. I wanna see what Mike P can bring to the table, in stead of saying…”well, he might not be a good coach”
ya know?
Of all the changes they made mid-season, I thought making Oberkfel the bench coach was the smartest one. Then they undid it the same day. He could be a hitting coach as well, something that gets him in the dugout and there for Manual’s reference. That would keep Sandy as the bench coach.
Aguayo should go back to telling minor leaguers which field to go to, and leave coaching third to a professional.
Warthen could stay, or be demoted back to AAA. I’m cmfortable with either.
I wouldnt want to mess with Teuffel’s development as a manager, so let him move up the chain as a manager, imo.
I really like Warthem, but agree with Oberkfel. He is a great mind and could really benefit Manuel on the bench. He is obviously our manager in waiting, and proved that year after year in AAA. Get rid of Aguyla, and potentially Hojo (hurt me to say that).
Sometimes I wonder if people watching the game are actually watching the game.
I can’t find anywhere any praise for Manuel bringing in Chavez as a defensive replacement an inning early, knowing Olsen was being pinch hit for, instead of waiting for the pinch hitting opportunity with Evans leading off in the 7th. That was excellent foresight that most managers – Willie included – are completely incapable of.
That inning Chavez ended up making the great catch that kept the game tied at 2. Most managers would still have had Evans out there, who never makes that play.
Manuel has bullpen issues with him warming everyone up to account for every possible situation, but he brings added value, and can help a team win games, unlike our last manager.
It was an interesting move considering that Evans would be the better hitter and the game was still tied.
It worked out excellently in regards to that catch, but taking Evans out of the game may have cost them a chance to score later. If the Marlins had brought in a righty to face Evans then he could have countered with Murphy, much like the Marlins did with Wes Helms for Jacobs.
Jerry had his faults. While the pen let him down, the constant pitching changes didn’t help in the short-term or the long-run. That said, he was willing to try to new faces (Parnell, Rincon), and willing to change things up.
Overall, I thought Manuel did an excellent job. In fact, while I’m a bit young to analyze Davie Johnson that well, I can’t remember a Mets manager that I thought did a better job overall. Bobby V was a better game manager, but he rubbed a lot of players the wrong way (including guys on opposing teams who came to hate the Mets). I don’t know one player who dislikes Manuel.
Piazza wouldnt be a good hitting coach.
Id like to see Rudy Jaramillo brought in for hitting – Hojo – while a nice guy – doesnt seem to add anything.
Brinng in Wally Backman as infield/1st base coach in place of Oberkfell.
Also bring back Buiddy Harrelson as third base coach in place fo the Omar cronie.
How about Leo Mazzone for pitching coach? he’s doing ESPN games now.
I’d love to see Jerry back as well, but I don’t know. I feel like with him here it just continues the idea of the status quo – we’d need to land a big fish, and to be completely honest, I’m not sold on Buck Showalter because I don’t think this team would respond to him. Also, you can forget about Wally Backman. All he needs to do is beat up his wife again in NYC and he’ll be shown the door.
As far as personnel comes, there needs to be a complete overhaul of the bullpen and rotation. Francisco Rodriguez has already been dismissed considering he’d be in the range of $50 million and they’re already on the hook for $10 million next year for Wagner. Heilman, Sanchez, Feliciano, Schoeneweis, gone, gone, gone, gone. I don’t know who the hell is out there to get, but something needs to be done. I heard a rumor about Huston Street because they think they can get him on the cheap since he’s injury prone, but yeah, he’s always hurt.
With that said, I think it’s time to leave Niese in the rotation. Get his feet wet in spring training and give him a starting role – we’re going to need him when Ollie bolts and Pedro “retires.” We need to find a dependable guy like a Kyle Lohse type not named Kyle Lohse as well.
You guys probably know more about this than me, but from a financial standpoint, do they have an insurance policy on Wagner? I mean, if he is on the DL all (or most) of next season, does his salary come out of the payroll or from the insurance, kind of like disability insurance? If so, doesn’t that free up the $10M to spend on someone else?
There were posts on this issue some time ago. Insurance won’t cover a dime of next year’s salary for Wagner. Apparently it was a pre-existing condition – a point that makes Omar’s giving him four years at that amount even more questionable.
Lohse is about to sign an extension with the Cardinals. That will be announced today at 4:30.
Sign that Gangsta.
Not that Manuel did a bad job, but this team needs a complete overhaul.. HAVE to get rid of anything possible to do with the mulitple collapses!! He was here for both of them! Crazy to bring jerry back!!
Forget the overhaul, we need another NYC team. The Yanks and Mets are not getting it done. I think I speak for a lot of fans when I say we need a winner in this town.
I heart Jerry Manuel….BUT AARON HEILMAN GETS NO RETURN TO NY METS..then Jerry can’t ever take heat for letting him pitch so much as one out…my fave mets may have let me down on swinging the bat in key situations…but without the BLOWN LEADS, and RIDICULOUS AMOUNTS OF RUNS given up by Aaron Heilman…we still win it.
You can make that statement about any player on the team, considering they once again lost by one game. Like Matt said, I immediately think back to Wednesday’s game…Runner on 3rd, no outs, tie game…..
Let’s clear the clubhouse of Minaya hacks first and foremost.
Sadly since he signed a new deal we will have them and probably others as well. Ugh!!
I like Manual, but new GM’s usually bring in new managers, so I want whichever manager the new GM of the Mets wants…
Manuel isn’t the problem and he was a helluvalot better than Willie.
Theat bullpen was the reason they effed up this year, and their final game’s preformance, lack of offense notwithstanding, sealed the deal.
Wait, let me think… The same players who didn’t win anything the last two years, and totally choked up the playoffs want Jerry back?? Guess what… Who cares?? How about a manager that isn’t linked to a total meltdown year after year…
Well he did take us from a pathetic .500 ballclub to 15 games over .500. He might not be perfect, but what manager is even close to that? I’ll take Jerry any day, its not his fault the bullpen is disgraceful and the offense isn’t clutch.
Again…….. It’s not about numbers ability or personality in Jerry’s case…… I think he is a capable manager, just not on this team…. It’s a mental thing at this point, as two chokes in two years, we have to get a new face new voice, new leadership……. It starts with the manager, but also has to include major players!!
A managers job is to get the most out of his players. I think the new coaching staff got the most out of its starting pitchers until Pelfrey hit a wall late.
But the offense and the pen were the same the whole time. Manual did a poor job of getting the most out of them. I’m not sure anyone would have done better with the pen, but the offense sure needed a better influence these last few weeks. No one found a way to relieve the pressure of having to overcome the pen, and they hit like they knew it.
Well then, to be fair, HoJo and Warthen would be the targets of your ire.
I just can’t be that mad at Jerry because the bullpen was so bad. It’s not that they were not properly motivated, it’s simply that they were not good. These guys need a change to scenery at best; to retire at worst. But, they need to be out of here.
What happened this year (again!) was not about the manager. It’s about the woeful bullpen. Although I believe Willie was an awful manager, I don’t believe the Mets missed the playoffs last year because of him. And, I certainly don’t believe the Mets missed the playoffs this year because of Jerry.
It’s on Omar, and since he’s going to be the GM for years to come, all we can do is hope that he figures out a way to make this team better, which he had clearly had trouble doing.
I am torn on this. I like Manuel. I think he did a very good job and got guys like Delgado, Beltran and Reyes to respond but there needs to be a cultural change on this team. A major shakeup whether Delgado, Beltran, Reyes or Wright needs to go and new leaders with character and grit need to be brought in. If this happens, I think we need a new manager.
I would have to say no if we can make moves like getting Teixeira, maybe Pat Burrell etc.. We can not continue getting characterless leaderless laid back players with a laid back manager. We need fire.
We shall see.
I like Jerry, but if there is ever any way to get Bobby V back, a deal needs to be made. I loved the days when he was manager, and I think he knows how to inspire a team.
Welcome to the METSBLOG spin zone.. Where people at sny and metsblog pull the same sh!t that they did with Willie., A majority of the responses in this thread are of people that don’t frequent this site..
If you don’t learn from the past then History will repeat itself.. Last 2 seasons we have fell victim to these mistakes. Next season will be no different unless major changes are made. This is now a mental scare in these players minds. Keeping Manuel will reinforce that what happened AGAIN this season is acceptable.. Its time to take a hard line.
Jerry’s fault or not… he’s been a part of this coaching staff for the past 4 years… all coaches need to be gone b/c there’s needs to be more of a cleansing than just canning Randolp. ThIS IS A JOKE. OMAR IS A JOKE … mets are a laughing stock… new regime! It’s common sense.
Who on this blog cares about the Dodgers?
Someone woke up cranky!! Your mommy better warm up your bottle.
Hey ace, go debate this on your Dodgers blog. No one here much cares about the Dodgers or their problems/perceptions right now. We’ve got enough of our own problems to be debating – lol.
And if you didn’t come here first to dump Dodgers comments on a Mets blog site, you wouldn’t be so insulted.
Haha, exactly. I can’t believe a Dodgers fan came to Metsblog to try and shove this in our faces. I’m just laughing.