In a report for SI.com, Jon Heyman says, if the Nationals fire Manny Acta, Bobby Valentine may be among the possible replacements, according to a National League source.
Valentine is currently in his seventh season as manager of the Chiba Lotte Mariners in Japan, but is not expected to be hired back.
…this would break the hearts of lots of Mets fans, who, like me, would love to see him return to the Mets some day…
Heyman also reports on the trade market, the Indians plans, the market for starting pitcher, and other topics from around the league.
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frankly i don’t see why bobby v would ever take the horrible nats job. the second he is unemployed he is the top candidate for every open position in baseball.
the wilpons would be foolish not to seriously consider him for what i can’t imagine won’t be the mets managerial vacancy after this season.
wasn’t there a reason bobby v isn’t the mets manager anymore, isn’t it time to leave the past in the past
This comes from someone name 2009_believe. your should live more in the past- 2007 sucked, 2008 sucked, 2009 is shaping up to suck and the last few day of 2006 sucked if you ask me.
Bobby really got the hook because the Mets started signing high-priced bums who could not take his style. He works better with hard-working young players with no 100 million dollar egos
and the hard working young kids that Valentine had on his teams that actually won were named? Piazza, Olerud, Ventura, Zeile, Leiter, Reed, Hampton….
Can we just be honest for a second without creating fantasy.
I would think Bobby V would sit back and wait for a good job instead of jumping at the Nats opportunity.
Obviously I don’t want Jerry to get fired cause if he does it probably means the Mets don’t make the playoffs….but if they do end their season in September again I would hope the Bobby V is at the top of their list. I just think his very different approach would be good after years of Willie/Jerry which clearly haven’t worked since 2006.
Well, at least this year we know for sure they wil lbe playing in October!
Obviously I don’t want Jerry to get fired cause if he does it probably means the Mets don’t make the playoffs..
LOL… With or without Jerry this team will not make it to the playoffs.
If we could change the culture of this team (get rid of delgado, castillo etc) and bring in Bobby V it would be great but it will never happen. We have inept owners and championship teams are built from the top down.
Delgado will be gone next season anyway. And it wasn’t as if Omar didn’t try to trade Castillo during the offseason. If Castillo continues to perform decently, there may be a chance he can offload him (plus cash) this offseason as he will only have 2 years left on his contract at that point.
They only part of the culture you are missing with Delgado is the one that can actually hit a homerun.
I mean honestly, are you blind or did you drop cable this year?
No Im not bling but apparently you are very simple minded. Delgado hit HRs for us in 2006 and 2008, howd that work out? Oh right. As I was saying the culture of the team needs to change I dont recall saying get rid of castillo and delgado and dont try to replace them. Changing the culture means replacing the bad with good, get it? Like getting a guy like matt holliday to be your cleanup hitter or going after aubrey huff or nick johnson to play 1st or FINALLY getting orlando hudson….is that clear enough for you? now that I had to actually spell it out for you since you obviously have the mind of an infant.
No you spelled it out just fine, between the lines, culture guy.
I wouldn’t mind seeing Bobby V back…..but I know this sounds crazy, but I want to see Wally Backman get a shot.
I think he has the mindset the Mets need, and he may be able to inject some of that 86 take no prisoners attitude.
I’ll sign up for Backman too.
In a heartbeat. He’s crazy enough to wake this bunch from their months-long torpor. And he comes with an outsider perspective, as opposde to Jerry who was just more of the same.
Bobby V probably won’t go to coach the Nats. It’s not like he’s leaving nothing in Japan. His fans love him. They’re gathering up a petition of 100,000 signatures to try to get him to stay. If anyone thinks he’d go coach a team that’s pacing for the Mets 1962 loss record, they’d be insane. He might give it some thought when they get better in 2-3 years from now, but Acta probably won’t last that long. I know Bobby V might consider the Yankees if Girardi gets fired – which can happen, if they don’t make the postseason.
I’d love for Bobby V to come back to coach the Mets though. I don’t think it’d happen during the middle of a season though. If it’s going to happen, it’ll be going into next season. I don’t want Wally Backman, because he doesn’t have enough coaching experience and he’d just be another target for what’s wrong with the Mets? Wasn’t it like not paying his taxes or something?
If Luis Castillo can stay healthy and bat .280 through the end of the year, he should generate enough trade value for the Mets to trade without eating more than like 2 million at most. Get him out of here. Sign Orlando Hudson. Use the money we’d be saving on Billy Wagner, Carlos Delgado and J.J. Putz either on one of the Holliday’s – Roy or Matt.
If I were Bobby V I’d stay away a bit longer…since as time goes by Mets fans inexplicably glorify his tenure more and more every year. A few more years in Japan and there will be campaigns to name parts of CitiField after him!
Valentine did a nice job here, no doubt. He’s a great strategist and certainly has has success. I also recall how virtually every player not on the Mets 25-man roster recoiled in horror at the idea of playing for him, and how many of those in theat chorus were her former players.
With the Mets system still pretty much bereft of top-tier prospects, recruiting free-agents and trading for impending ones is going to continue to be a vital strategy for roster building. So exactly how is such a polarizing figure such a good bet? Can we afford a manager who half of MLB will have no desire to play for?
i don’t really see why i should care if players recoil in horror about playing for a manager. they are paid generously to come to work and do their jobs.
You should care if they opt to go elsewhere because of it. Generally a manager guys are looking forward to playing for is a positive when it comes to recruiting.
Interesting point Dave, but in reality, haven’t the Mets had to pay to get just about anyone to play for them?
The money will always talk (aside from specific situations, like Varitek in Boston) and if Bobby V has the team consistently winning, that will ease any other concerns.
I hope . . .
We’ve seen this team come out and play like a AAA squad but we’ve also seen them come out like barn busters and play lights out….when they’re motivated. And that, my friends, is the key….motivation. Castillo dropping the ball, Church missing the bag all mental errors that the Mets got lambasted for in the media, so they came out the next day motivated and ripped their opponents. Heck, they even played well when Omar questioned their heart and desire.
And, that seems to be the consistent thing (or lack thereof)…heart and desire. I believe it falls on both the players and manager. Something needs to change. I think Jerry needs to go. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow but this off season; they need a manager with fire. Not a crazy manager like Ozzie Guillen but a manager that is going to get under them and keep them in check, a manager that is going to motivate them on a daily basis and not coddle them like Jerry does. As was brought up in an above post, Wally Backman would be a decent choice.
I am also in favor of breaking up the core, if need be but, if, and only if, we get top talent in return. And I would be in favor of only trading Reyes. Beltran and Wright have shown ability to hit and hit well. We just need that over the top player to couple with Wright and Beltran. Reyes is good, I will not deny that, but he’s got speed and that’s about it. His defense isn’t Gold Glove. So we’d be losing what, a guy that can get on base and run…big deal. Look at Nyer Morgan, he’s fast as heck, I’d take a guy like that leading off. Reyes is a dime a dozen in my book.
It’s very interesting how some people wait until a 3rd collapse to make major changes on a flawed team. I always thought 2 collapses were too many.
Fool me once, shame on me. Fool me twice…shame on me?!!
No, I agree. I was trying to give the team the benefit of the doubt. But, after two different managers the team still under performs. At that point you not only have to look at managment but the players as well.
I really do believe that, if anyone goes, it’s Reyes. His name was the only name you heard flying around when we traded for Santana. If any of the “core” is expendible, it’s Reyes…in my opinion.
I think the only two untouchable mets are Santana and K-Rod.
I don’t know Santana has looked pretty touchable lately lol.
Im kidding of course I wouldn’t trade either of those guys as well, but I don’t think I’d trade Wright either
I would be open to trading Reyes and Martines in the right deal
……and he right deal may not be until the end of the year…..or never.
Would need like an ace and A+ prospect back or something along those lines
Agreed JR about Reyes. I would trade him for Halladay. (you know that will never happen) but we can dream… lol
That is your trade proposal? Really? Trading Reyes whom you pin as part of the problem for the best pitcher in the game? Even though you know it will never happen too?
Surely you can see why it is beyond silly to even suggest trading Reyes?
Yes, because the offense is SO DYNAMIC with Carlos Beltran and David Wright singling the other teams to death.
Are your eyes even open?
All the “core-fanatics” you are getting your look at a cored Mets team right now, and I would argue with the two players most fans wanted to extract.
Save for Delgado if the Mets let him go they would have had the cash to try to replace his production, if the team trades Jose Reyes they will get nothing in return, because what GM is going to look Omar Minaya in the eye and say, I am totaly grateful that you are going to trade me a shortstop in his prime who you have signed cheaply. Let me give you an elite player for this guy you are trying to bag.
No no not bagging….packaging. And you can’t tell me if you traded Reyes you couldn’t get significant return for him.
And I said the right deal….I’m not giving away Reyes for a lefty specialist.
And if this is Reyes in his prime….you have to think about dealing him
JR none of my responses were in your direction. Nevertheless if I am another GM and the Mets are looking to do addition by subtraction and are willing to move Jose Reyes at age 26 I am going to have a great deal of hesitation.
Anyhow, you would need an absolute perfect scenario to develop in which a team with two front line starters and a solid 3 thru 5 was in need of shortstop and leadoff hitter. A scenario in which hurting their pitching would be about a significant offensive upgrade.
I understand the sentiment, but looking at CitiField and how it’s probably going to play, I think Reyes may be more valuable to the Mets than to anyone else. Plus, I believe his glove is underappreciated at short.
Yes, he’s frustrating, and all things being equal, he’d be the “core” I’d move, but I think Delgado leaving will have a larger impact on the team next year than we think.
A new 1st base presence coupled with a Bobby V type strategist is what the team needs. A focus on fundementals and teamwork.
The team cannot comeback with the same starting rotation.
I would be more apt to trade Wright rather than Reyes although I would never trade either of them but come on Reyes gets no respect, he has a lot of tools, he plays good defense at a good defensive position, there have been a few plays that I have said to myself – reyes would have made that play – he’s so underrated its crazy. He also leads off, hits, runs, plays defense, what more do you want from him?
As big a Bobby Valentine fan as the next guy but I would like to remind everyone, in his tenure, giving a pass for 1997, fumble collapse at the end of 1998. Fortunate to be playing the mail it in Pirates the final weekend after collapsing in 1999, only to lose to the Braves anyway.
2000 was a nice run but his time was out matched and fundamentally unsound in the world series.
What the Mets need right now is to be healthy more than anything.
What the Mets need right now is to be healthy more than anything.
They were playing sloppy baseball when they were healthy.
I agree Patrick. They also mailed in 3/4 of the 2001 season before waking up about a week before 9/11, and then in 2002 when he had really his first ’star-studded’ roster to work with, they underachieved and fizzled.
I like what he did with those teams in 1999 and 2000 – he never had the most talent in the league…but if people are looking for a guy who would make watching this team less agonizing I’m hard pressed to justify Valentine as that guy…
Star studded???
Seems like someone is blinded by the namkes, not what they did. Vaughn and Alomar fizzled faster here than a match in a hurricane.
Plus, an outfield of Burnitz, Timo Perez and Roger Cedeno doesn’t exactly terrify anyone.
Timo was the best player out there, what does that say?
I say you give Bobby V this park and a core of gap hitters like Wright, Beltran, Church and Reyes and you’ll see some good ball. let’s just not fill in the other spots with players who don’t fit the mold.
Church is not even a hitter let alone a gap hitter.
And there is a lot of recreationist history regarding the players Valentine had on his rosters.
Piazza, Ventura, Alfonzo (pre back problem) John Olerud, he was not exactly under talented, especially in the pitching department.
I would be the 1st to say that I want Jerry Manuel relieved. I would gladly take Bobby V. over him. Because I feel that Jerry is a bad, make that horrible; on-field strategist. However if I had my choice I’d much rather have neither. I remember hating Bobby V’s lineups.
Regardless of what your opinion of the everyday players during Bobby V’s tenure, he would probably do alot better with this teams pitching staff than what he had in the late 90’s. The pitching was good, but they never really had an ace. Mike Hampton had a great year in 2000, but do you put him the ace category?
In 2000, I would have thought of Mike Hampton as an ace. Al Leiter was very good around that time too. The two of them together were productive. The best decision Steve Phillips ever made though was not re-signing Hampton though. Overall, I look back at Bobby V in a good way. While he got controversial with player’s, he had a way of motivating his players.
I’m suprised more people don’t mention the ‘98 ”collapse” when referring to these two seasons, but that wasn’t fun either. Winning one of those 5 last games – a couple which were against the Expos, would have given the Mets a one game playoff with the Cubs. Two would have clinched the Wild Card. In ‘99, the Mets got to that one game wild card with the Reds and were ready. In ‘08, the Mets went into the same series with the same team in the same stadium with the same losing 2 of 3, with stellar Saturday start outing. What’s that say? Jerry isn’t all that different than Willie. In fact, he’s probably worst. At least he didn’t try demeaning his players. At least some people respected Willie. It’s like Jerry’s that stupid or is being paid off in every game. We haven’t been blessed with good managing this decade, but the only one we had was Bobby.
Ryan Church isn’t good enough to be an every day player. He’s too inconsistent. It really doesn’t matter if he’s healthy or not. He was hot to start last year. He was hot to start this year. His cold spells always last longer. His swing looks so lazy. He looks too laid back. The only good thing about having him is he’s one of the few good defenders on this team who happens to have a good arm.
The Mets should commit one of the OF slots to Fernando Martinez next year and try re-signing Sheffield or Tatis as insurance to platoon. Trade Church. Than with the 30 million or so extra this team has to spend after arbitration, try signing Matt Holliday or Jason Bay and Orlando Hudson, if Castillo can be traded. Those two guy’s would be difference makers.
That plan would involve trading Church. Maybe there’s a team like Tampa that’d swap Sonnastine for him (who’s underperforming too).
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