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Jerry Manuel talked with WFAN’s Mike Francesa today, which you can listen to here.
During the interview, Manuel said Johan Santana is healthy, and just finished throwing a strong bullpen session.
Manuel said he is still concerned about his team’s offense.
He acknowledged that Fernando Martinez and Daniel Murphy are not providing the level of production, i.e., power, the team needs right now.
He added, if the team is not winning games, and Martinez and Murphy do not show improvement, the Mets will need to reconsider their involvement – however, if the team is winning, he has no problem sticking with them.
Manuel said, at this point, Jose Reyes still has a week or so of rest ahead of him, before he even begins a rehab program.
…here is an exchange between manuel and francesa, which ended the interview, that i found noteworthy…
Mike Francesa: So, this team’s resilience has kept you from getting frustrated with this group?
Jerry Manuel: No question.
Mike Francesa: So, as long as you stay around where you are now in the standings you can hold off doing anything major? Is that where you think this organization is right now?
Jerry Manuel: Yeah, that’s the way I feel… It’s not so much as the standings as it is being above .500…
Mike Francesa: This is a strange year, isn’t it? For you and your team, this has become a very strange year.
Jerry Manuel: Oh yeah, this is something else here.
Mike Francesa: But, you and the team seem to be holding up pretty well. I gotta tell you, I’m mildly surprised and mildly impressed. The team has hung in their very well.
Jerry Manuel: Yeah, well, I think we have some people that understand and have been through some things here, and are still here, that understand what it takes to compete here. They really understand how important winning is to New York, and I think that’s what is carrying this team.
Mike Francesa: You like this team?
Jerry Manuel: I love the team.
Mike Francesa: Well, that says it. Do you have a good feeling about how this is going to work out?
Jerry Manuel: You know what, I feel good. I’d feel real good if those other two guys could show up, I’d really feel good (laughing).
Mike Francesa: You mean your shortstop and your first baseman?
Jerry Manuel: Yeah, I feel like, man, we’d really have something going here then.
Mike Francesa: I think the way it sounded is the way it is. The Mets are basically playing this season day to day. If they go in to a deep hole they’d be forced to do something. Each day they click a day off the schedule and get closer to re-enforcements, be it Maine, Perez, Reyes and eventually Delgado, they can wait and not hold up… They do not consider the Phillies to be the number. They number the consider is hailing distance of five over .500. The feeling is, if they can stay within a game or two or five over .500, that they can launch a Wild Card bid from there… So, as long as they don’t lose touch with that, they’ll sit tight as long as they’re close to that number, and they are. And, ironically, just three games behind the Phillies.
How can anyone expect Murphy (who is a rookie after all) to “provide the level of production” the team needs if Jerry, as the manager, is not playing him consistently? The kid goes into a slump and instead of being able to work out of it, Jerry benches him. God forbid the kid goes 3-for-5 tonight with 5 RBI’s or he’ll have to get benched to cool off. If anyone wants to get better at something, they need to practice at it. Somehow that logic doesn’t apply to Murphy according to Jerry’s decisions. Newsflash Jerry: Your veteran Tatis is having a hard time being consistent as well. Why is he playing more than Murphy however?
I’m confused.
So if the team is winning and in contention, keep two completely unproductive players in the lineup rather than letting them work things out in AAA?
But if the team starts losing, falls out of the race and can afford to let players develop at the major league level, we’ll send them down?
The team is winning in spite of Martinez/Murphy, not because of them. So why not let them work on things/develop without the pressure of being in big leagues?
Martinez is unproductive because he is still not ready for The Show. While one can also make an argument that Murphy is not ready as well, he has shown more than Martinez has. Murphy came onto the scene last year and did really well, worked hard this year and did really well out of the gate. He fell into a slump and automatically he gets reassigned to bench duty. I dislike Manuel’s handling of him, especially after stating he was our starter in ST. Manuel should let Murphy play everyday for a month, and if the kid cannot get his act together then he should be sent down to work on his stuff. Martinez on the other hand, needs a lot of work and I don’t see much value in keeping him once interleague games are over.
Think about it- a player can learn far more in the majors than the minors. If F-Mart and Murph can get consistent playing time, with the team winning, then it’s the ideal situation. Obviously if they appear to be overmatched and don’t show signs of adjustment/improvement, then it’s a different story. I don’t think the time has come for them to go down just yet. Another thing to consider- who else in the Met system can you reasonably expect to produce? Personally I’ve got nothng aside from Wily Mo Peña, and that is a bit of a stretch.
Whoa!
Leave that logic at home!
It doesn’t matter how right you are… as long as this team stays above .500, we’ll close our eyes and pretend nothing is wrong.
You’re right, this team is winning in spite of significantly below average production from Murphy and Martinez, in two positions that generally provide lots of offense. The winning isn’t likely to last if that doesn’t change.
Both of those guys have been bounced in at out of that lineup so much there heads have got to be spinning! Let them get consistent several games in a row at bats and then see where they are offensively.They can’t possibly get into a rythum and get their timing if they only play every three days. Neither F-mart or Murphy are hurting the team defensively, especially Murphy. As long as the team is keeping pace there is no reason not to let them play, not to mention as stated above that there is no one else in the minors that is even close to where F-mart and Murphy are. If there was someone who was better in the minors they would be playing with the big club. With that said as long as the team is holding their own there is no sense in getting a rental player that will cost scores of prospects only to be lost to free agency.