Tony B At It Again, Cora Frustrated, Ollie’s Follies

An article by Joe D    4 Comments

It looks like Mets assistant GM, Tony Bernazard is back to his back-stabbing ways, and this time it is Jerry Manuel who is lining up to be his next victim. Bill Madden of the Daily News writes,

Nevertheless, there’s still no getting around the fact the Mets are presently a depleted mess, plagued not only by this unfathomable rash of injuries to their most important players, but by the same inner turmoil that eventually led to Willie Randolph’s demise. I’m told that assistant GM Tony Bernazard, whom Randolph found to be an intrusive  influence in the clubhouse, especially with the Latin players, has been no less undermining with Jerry Manuel. For whatever reason, Bernazard seems to have the Wilpons’ ears, even more so than Minaya, and in organization meetings he’s never reticent to suggest areas where the manager might be doing a better job. I’m also told the Met high command ordered Manuel to tone down the not-so-subtle pleas for help in his pre and postgame mediafests and his periodic candor about his team’s deficiencies.

The Mets organization has to be one of the most dysfunctional in the league. The miscommunication and misrepresentations, the mixed messages, a new park with little to no Mets identity, the mishandled injuries, etc. Also, I knew it was only a matter of time before the Wilpon’s would put a gag order on Manuel crying to anyone who will hear that he needs another bat.

Alex Cora has had enough of the lack of fundamentals on the Mets, especially when it comes to bad fielding, running, .

“It’s kind of comical… Every time you put on ESPN, they’re making fun of us. Instead of being in the Top 10 plays, we’re on the worst 10 plays. It gets to the point where you get tired of it.”

 You’ve got to play good defense. Look at the teams leading the divisions — they catch the ball. Right now, I feel we’re the worst defensive team in the league. It doesn’t matter who you don’t have. You can’t go into slumps with defense. You’ve got to catch the ball. You can’t give a big-league team more than 27 outs, and we’ve been doing a pretty consistent job of that the last few weeks. They make you pay, man.”

Fernando Tatis sounded a little frustrated himself,

“One day I’m in left, the next day I’m in right, the next day I’m somewhere else, so it’s difficult. You have to really concentrate, especially when men are in scoring position. You have to anticipate the play.”

I’m glad Alex Cora spoke up after the game. Someone needed to say something about the incredible lack of fundamentals from everyone; veterans and rookies alike.

Are you ready for some more Ollie Follies? One day after Perez was charged with three runs on five hits while striking out four and walking four in a AAA start, the erratic lefthander says he’s feeling strong and he’s ready to go.

“The most important thing is I’m feeling real good and I’m not thinking about my knee. I was feeling really strong. I think I’m ready. I was a little wild, but more important, I feel strong… The key was not thinking about the knee, but thinking about a real game. I tried to feel the pressure and make it feel like a big-league game. I feel really good. I showed emotion because I don’t like to lose.”

The Mets have had little to show for the three-year, $36 million deal they gave Perez in the off season. He has a 9.97 ERA, and he hasn’t pitched for the Mets since getting knocked out in the third inning against the Phillies on May 2nd. Perez will get the start on Wednesday against the first place Dodgers who just got Manny Ramirez back. This oughta be fun.

The Mets will try to salvage the final game of the Phillies series this afternoon. Lets Go Mets!