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Bobby Valentine said on a conference call 
today that he considers himself a Mets fan, and he is disappointed in their 2009 season, which he described as a ‘tragedy.’
According to Valentine, there is an out-clause in his contract that will allow him to take a job managing in MLB.
Valentine would not say if he is or isn’t interested in managing the Mets again.
Original Post, 10:16 am:
Bobby Valentine announced his return to the ESPN broadcast team this morning on ESPN Radio’s Mike and Mike in the Morning.
“I’m excited about returning to ESPN,” Valentine said, in this report for ESPN.com. “I’ve been following Major League Baseball closely from afar, and look forward to delving back into those conversations across the company’s multimedia platforms.”
Meanwhile, yesterday, Jerry Manuel told reporters he is confident he will be Mets manager next season – however, he realizes he will need to get off to a good start.
“I know how this particular situation works,” Manuel said Monday, as quoted by the Star-Ledger. “It’ll be important for us to hit the ground running playing good baseball and giving a feeling that there is a chance of a championship. That has to be established early. I understand that. I’ll be fighting that battle, but at the same time I know I have to have a team in position to get off and play well.”
Maybe they’ll put him in the booth with Steve Phillips.
Talk over old times.
Bobby would certainly keep Steve honest whenever he went on one of his anti-Mets rants.
If Jerry gets off to a good start in half empty Citi Field what good will it do. I will not spend a dime on this team with this manager, staff and GM all back in 2010. No way.
Good for you Real. Neither will I.
“I’ll be fighting that battle, but at the same time I know I have to have a team in position to get off and play well.”
Already blaming Omar. I love it. Next season is going to be another circus. Without changing the team, bringing in winners, this team will go nowhere, and all season will be about firing Manual, then Omar.
If the Wilpons don’t open the purse strings, doesn’t matter who the GM is.
Jerry’s biggest flaw is that he is too concerned with what he doesn’t have rather than what he does have. That’s something you don’t see in a great manager like Tony LaRussa.
That’s why they needed to get Bobby V now and just can Manuel and end the circus. The coaches are a joke. Does anybody on this board think that Warthen or Shines s/be back? Even Hojo is a big ?? So if the coaches get canned then why bring back Jerry? It’s not like he’s this great manager. We all know he’s not which is why he should be let go now, but once again our ORG MESSES IT UP. NO SURPRISE HERE CAUSE WE CAN’T GET ANYTHING RIGHT!
Agree the mets need Bobby V. I also think that letting Rick Peterson go was a mistake. The results of the mets pitching staff speaks volumes.
There will still be a circus with Bobby V. Maybe it will be more entertaining, but it will still be a circus.
BRING BACK BOBBY V. !!!!!!! Get a real #2 guy to piyche behind Santana, get a guy at first that can hit a HR and a LF with a little pop in his bat and I will be happy. WIN IN 2010 at all cost.
The best times I had in recent years as a METS fan where 1999 and the grand slam single, 2000 and who let the dogs out and the Mike Piazza HR on 9/21/01 and that late season run we made. Thos three years where AWSOME and I have not enjoyed any three seasons as much as I did those.
Monster is out of the cage!!!
I have to agree, I mean ‘06 was fun, but those years were something special, it could have been because I was 17-19 and was able to enjoy it more and go to more games, but those teams just had a feel to them.
My friend and I were at probably 25-30 games in the 2nd have of ‘99 and it couldnt have been more fun
The teams from 99-01 were fun to watch, but it’s a tough statement to make that they were more enjoyable than watching the 2006 Mets. The ‘06 Mets should have won the World Series. In 2000, against the Yankees, we were the inferior team. When the playoffs started in 2006, we were probably the best team in baseball. Unfortunately, we probably won’t experience an ‘06-like season again for a couple of decades, but it truly was an awesome year. Felt like the team would win every night and we dominated. Yadier Molina and Adam Wainwright still haunt my dreams.
I will agree that the 2006 season was AWSOME, until the end :{ I thought that we would win every game no matter what the score was or how late it was, we where AWSOME, but, we followed that season with two meltdowns and a total flop, plus a Phillies WS title. In 1998 when Piazza jopined the team you could feel something big was on the horizon, the team attitude changed. We had 3 good fun seasons in a row and a WS apperance, that is what is missing from the current team. The winning attitude.
We need to stage a rally and show these owners that we are serious. And not a ridiculous one like the bad Million Manny March which was a joke. It’s nothing against Jerry. Nice guy, but not a great mngr and not the guy we need here. Plain and simple.
Off topic. With six games remaining, the Phils have a 4 game lead on the Braves. It was 8 10 games ago. How much joy would it provide you if somehow the Phils were to blow the division to the Braves and the wild card to the Rockies at the same time?
It would be bittersweet because it would be the Braves.
BBB… Bring Bobby Back.
Valentine is not going to be the Mets manager so typing on Metsblog comments is not going to change that.
If the Mets play well you will pay for tickets and whatever else they offer you, if they don’t you can post about how you won’t on Metsblog. The lack of ticket sales for 2010 will be dictated by the state of the economy, not the passion of a few hundred die hard fans. The team knows the magic recipe for psychos is wins, they don’t care if daffy duck is managing for wins.
The passionate fans are the ones who buy the ticket plans, which are the sweetest plum for the Mets as once you buy your plan, they don’t really care if you show up to the game or not. I suspect those sales will be down for 2010, if the conventional wisdom holds and the Mets don’t do anything significant this offseason.
The economy may recover enough to entice corporate buyers to purchase plans, but if the Yankees win the WS while the Mets do nothing, I suspect the bulk of the corporate buyers will purchase from the Bronx.
You completely drove onto a different street. Most of the people screaming from the hill tops about canceling are doing so in the midst of the worst economy anyone has ever seen and it is worse in the New York Metropolitan area than the rest of the united states, worse for individual ticket plan buyers, worse for corporate packages sales too.
People scream and get emotional but tickets still sell. I remember all the threats after the 2007 collapse, and lo and behold the Mets sold more tickets in 2008. The only thing that will remain relevant going into 2010 will be the state of the economy which is likely to be weak, whereas people were locked in early last year, this year they won’t be. And I don’t anticipate some mass revolt. They might sell a few less packages upfront, but if they win, they will sell those seats, if they lose they wont. The math is simple in that department.
Patrick:
I think you are wrong.
Last season, Mets benefited by record setting sales prior to the start of the season. Mets were able to enjoy that due to a still positive out look for the Mets and a new stadium.
In 2010, the Mets are face with the following:
(i) stadium is not new. fans know that seats are over prices. fans know that sighlines are flawed in the stadium. fans know that stadium is filled with amenities that most fans do not care about yet have to pay for because its part of the ticket price. This is a negative.
(ii) Mets stink in 2009. Without wholesale changes over the winter, prospects will be uncertain at best and negative at worst. it does not help that many of the hurt players were unable to come back at the end of the season to prove they will not only be healthy in 2010 but can also perform at expected levels. We are talking about Reyes, Beltran (still not right), Wright (still not right in the head), Delgado (probably was not going to come back anyway), Santana.
If the Mets think that fans will flood the box office like lemmings they are misstaken. Mets need to show fans that they will SPEND THE MONEY or else the fans wont fork it over (and that also means spending it right). Whether Mets are willing to spend what it takes to make this team relevant, whether Omar can pick the right player (assuming Wilpons open the purse strings) and assuming Jerry can manage them (assuming Omar acquires them) … only if all that occurs, then they are in trouble.
Don’t forget a lot of full season ticket holders by prior to opening day, but intend only to hit 20-30 games and that means planning on selling 50-60 games. If the market in 2010 for tickets resembles the last two months in 2009, then season ticket holders will take a blood bath in losses.
I think that more importantly than Bobby V or even a change in manager would be to bring Dave Duncan here, he could probably fix Pelfrey and get something out of Ollie. Heres an excerpt from Ken Davidoff’s article today concerning it
Dave Duncan. I’m skeptical that he’ll leave the Cardinals. St. Louis’ pitching coach and his manager, Tony La Russa, have worked side by side for 27 years. But Duncan did voice his displeasure about the way the Cardinals treated his son, Chris, this past season, and as the linked St. Louis Post-Dispatch story notes, Duncan no longer works in conjunction with the Cardinals’ developmental staff on pitching.
Duncan will be busy for a while yet, what with the Cardinals heading into the playoffs. Yet that shouldn’t stop the Mets from sending messages through discreet intermediaries that they would LOVE to have him on their staff in 2010 and beyond.
And, once the Cardinals finish their postseason, whether in a week or in a month, the Mets should blow away Duncan with an offer befitting his experience and accomplishments; it’s believed that he and Texas’ Mike Maddux make in the $600,000 range, so topping that by even 50 percent would be nothing compared to player investments. And all evidence points to Duncan having a significant impact on the pitching staff that he receives.
If you could somehow get him here that would be amazing. He’s one heck of a pitching coach. Supposedly he doesn’t tinker, he doesn’t change much, he changes mentality. He tells pitchers to believe in themselves and have a game plan, he works with those 2 notions every day what’s the count what’s the hitter thinking.etc etc etc. Make every pitch count. Every pitch has a purpose.
Anywho that would be spectacular if he did come. Also if he did i’d be inclined to sign Joel Pinerio to a contract like what was mentioned on MLBTR 15 mil over 2 years. That’s not a bad salary for what could be the #4 or #5 pitcher then. If Duncan signs i think Joel could keep up his success form this year. Johan, Lackey, Pineiro, Pelf, Perez.
I agree, I think it would really make a difference, i hope the organization is being smart about this, pitching wins games and dan warthen and his staff of the highest walk rate in the ML is not going to win championships, they need a mentality change. I don’t know if he’d come here but I thought that little paragraph from the article was interesting and I would hope the organization can just suck it up and pay him the money which hopefully would entice him away from St. Louise
Louis*
Bobby V. would electrify the fan base and drive the newspapers into a frenzy. Great move from that perspective.
I love the guy but he does wear out his welcome a bit. But he knows how to manage, would take a lot of the media attention off of the players’ shoulders and has won.
I think it’s just what they need. Then hire Duncan and move forward…