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Yesterday, Jerry Manuel was in Manhattan visiting the Holy Apostles Soup Kitchen, where he delivered food from City Harvest.
Manuel told reporters it is time to start giving more responsibility to Jose Reyes, to help bring him along as a team leader, according to an on-site report for SNY.
Manuel said he would like to see Reyes direct the infield more, calling defensive plays and positioning his teammates, all responsibilities he believes the young shortstop can handle.
“You can be 50 years old and have no responsibility so you never mature,” Manuel said. “But if you have some responsibilities, then the maturation process takes over.”
To read more quotes from Manuel, check out the New York Times, where Ben Shpigel recaps the entire conversation.
By the way, according to Shpigel, Manuel said he does not intend to name a team captain, though he did specifically mention Carlos Delgado, Johan Santana, David Wright and Carlos Beltran as team leaders.
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poll shoulda had a “none of the above” option. the mets HAVE NO CAPTAIN (leader)
nostra im really getting sick and tired of ur stupid comments man…if you want manny thats one thing but dont come on here day after day saying the mets are a 3rd place team without him, enoughs enough…if u like manny so much, find a big card board cut out of him and five minutes alone, and your problem should be taken care of, maybe even put a mets cap on him
i speak the truth. you cant handle the truth?
Truth implies facts and verificability.
You speak (rant) purely speculative opinion.
i could if actually were true
“he made a great 3-2 pitch that struck me out”
YOUR NEW YORK METS CAPITAN
Symptom of “Empty Barrel Syndrome:”
Confuses “speaking my mind” for “telling the truth.”
Something tells me Nost wouldn’t need anything close to five whole minutes…..
HAHAHA !!!
LOL — I don’t think he’d take his hands off his keyboard for five minutes for fear of not being the first responder to a new post.
is that even a question? d wright all day!
I don’t believe that a team needs a “captain.” Sometimes the “captain” is a core of veterans. The biggest mistake is to anoint someone “captain,” the way the Mets did with Franco. It has to be an organic practice.
I think it’s Santana. I still think Wright is too young for such a role – I’d rather take the pressure off him and just let him play. Santana is more of a veteran and thrives more under the pressure.
unfortunately i dont think we have one. i think D. Wright has the make-up to eventually be one of our leaders. but right now i think were a little short in the leadership department.
Unfortunately our established veteran players (Delgado, Beltran) don’t really have the personality to be that out spoken visible leader (Keith). It’s just not the way they work. I’m sure there is a lot that goes on behind the scenes with those two, but it’s not visible to the fan base. While I think D Wright is trying to work himself into that role, I’m not sure that he was quite broken through that ceiling yet. Nevertheless, both he and Reyes must work verey hard at becoming the “leaders”. They aren’t wide eyed rookies anymore and they need to realize this. As they go, so goes the orginization.
I agree. David Wright is a very respected member of the clubhouse but I don’t think Beltran or Delgado would call him captain while they’re still in their prime.
I don’t necessarily think any team needs an ‘official’ captain. That being said, I think DWright is trying to be the voice of the team, probably b/c he thinks that’s what’s expected.
Beltran is too quiet.
Heard Jerry say Delgado is leader in the clubhouse but I doubt we’ll see him giving quotes to the media daily.
Johan might be a little more vocal going into his second year hear.
And Jose – much as I love him, I just can’t see him being the ‘captain’…..
*here.
yup…. right now Jerry Manuel’s our only Captain……lol
Re-vote. I added a No Captain option. Good call.
thanks matt
wright is the team cheerleader, not the captain. big difference.
in the actual clubhouse, my guess is that it’s a combination of the carloses.
David Wright is the team cheerleader, spokesperson, and i do believe the captain who has no problem calling a team meeting and keeping the team united. Being that it is a Latino majority clubhouse, communication may be an issue. Delgado and Beltran are only in it for the paychecks, little else.
Well you’re wrong about Delgado and Beltran.
But I believe David is more of a captain then we think. ‘uncle cliff’ above says their is a difference between cheerleader and captain, but i disagree.
I like this post, if it’s true.
My biggest issue with Manuel is that I felt/feel his promotion inhibited the growth of Wright/others as leaders.
Wright’s a leader in that he’ll complement guys on good plays and performance, and he’ll be there to suggest other approaches too. Example: mid ‘07 he got picked off first stupidly, and Willie Randolph yelled at him for it, and Wright argued/discussed back, talking about what he saw, and getting input on what he should’ve done differently. That kind of drive to learn and improve is a big part of being a leader.
Great post Ceetar, I totally agree with what you say about Wright.
And saying the Carloses are only in it for checks is ridiculous. Baseball is their life and has been since they were children. Beltran hustles nonstop in every facet of the game.
Agreed, I think it’s ridiculous to say that they only care abou the money. Both of these guys have more money than they will ever need to spend. Also, I really don’t think that communication is an issue either. I mean, we are talking about baseball here, not the UN. They don’t need to solve world hunger issues, just play as a team on the field. furthermore, that argument about “communication” would hold true for all clubs since there are any number of Latin players in clubhouses across the league.
Delgado is clearly the captain … which may be part of the problem. As the elder statesman and slugger in the clubhouse (and also a fairly smart guy), the players tend to follow his lead, especially the latino players which are a large part of the core of this team.
The thing is, Delgado is such a quiet professional that him being the unwritten captain may be a negative thing. Wright is trying, but he is probably seen by many players as still being “a kid” – just like Reyes.
Delgado is def the captain. He’s not a Strahan type captain, but he is the leader in that he gives his opinion and the other players look up to him.
I was not knocking Beltran or Delgado, i apologize if it came out that way. However i do think they are both past their prime and of course have slowed down as a result. Beltran plays way too deep in center, a lot of balls fell in front of him that should not have, i do think he values the dramatic wall catch over the basics.
Dude are you kidding??? I would say that Beltran is smack dab int he middle of his prime, and he is ridiculous defensively. I love watching him track down balls in the gap.
Can’t share your view on Beltran, although he’s no team captain, he is one of the best if not the best center fielder in baseball now.
Time will tell, i didn’t mean to start an issue off topic, my bad. i’m entitled to my opinion, please don’t call me out like that.
Ok, take it easy. I didn’t mean to call you out, just saying if you want to sriticize beltran for some things fine, but defense really can’t be one of them. I also think that as a whole (not you personally) Met fans don’t appreciate how good this guy really is. Part of that, I think, it how asthetically good he looks playing, and part of it has to do with his unconcious hitting during the playoffs with the Astros some time back. Everyone keeps expecting him to do that instead of just appreciating how good he actually is.
you sure are entitled to your own opinion. And others are entitled to their opinion as well. Don’t take a difference of opinion too personally. One of the best things about this blog is the discussions. So consider it an honor that you said something worth responding to and talking about.
Agreed, we do tend to take our players talents for granted and only find the negative and room for imrovements. Sorry for taking things personally, yes everyone is entitled to their opinion. Just color me anxious for the remainder of preseason activity so we can get this season started .
No worries. I hear ya on getting started. The Jets started my baseball season early for me…again. The sad cycle continues.
I think anyone that watches at least half the Mets games should know that Delgado is by far this teams captain, if there is one. When a pitcher is struggling, what infielder is always the first on the mound to calm him down? Delgado. You never see him get shaken up. Even when he’s in a slump at the plate he doesn’t let that affect how he plays or acts in the field.
It’s nice to want Wright to be our captain but in reality he is not right now. He is still young and probably will grow into an even bigger leadership role in the coming years. But as of right now, I don’t see anyone showing more leadership on this team than Delgado.
yup, yup
Exactly, wishing and reality are different things.
Jerry should have somebody who’s actually above average at their position directing the infield.
Reyes still doesn’t know how to align himself or carry himself on the field. How is he gonna direct the other 4 guys?
Ponderous.
Regarding the captain…
We don’t know what goes on in the clubhouse. Wright might not be The Man in the clubhouse. He has a penchant for humility in public so he might be the same in private.
Be that as it may; the Mets should name him captain the day after Delgado’s contract expires. There’s nothing to substantiate the idea that someone can be “too young” to be a leader. Either they have the quality or they don’t and there’s little doubt that Wright lacks the insatiable desire to win that the Captain needs.
“Either they have the quality or they don’t and there’s little doubt that Wright has the insatiable desire to win that the Captain needs.”
Wright doesn’t have a mental fortitude to be a leader. Maybe in the future.
Always making mistakes in the critical moments like 8 innings in tie games.
He has something of Gary Carter in him.
In the locker room, Carloses are the leader of the team.
making Reyes one of the leaders of the team is a very goood idea. It takes the pressure off DW.
I think he tries too hard.
the idea with reyes is an excellent example of general jerry manuel being the thinking man’s manager compared to willie who had more integrity than thought.