25
2010
Sounds Like Heads are Gonna Roll
An article by 
In a post to his blog on ESPN New York, Adam Rubin wrote that even though Omar Minaya declared manager Jerry Manuel’s job safe at the start of the Dodger series, he would offer no such assurances for hitting coach Howard Johnson and the rest of Manuel’s staff on Sunday.
Asked specifically if the entire staff would be in their current roles when the Mets return to action Tuesday at Citi Field against the St. Louis Cardinals, Minaya offered no guarantee.
“I don’t want to talk about that,” Minaya said. “I feel everybody here is trying hard. I could tell you the staff is trying hard. If you ask me [about] the overall performance that has happened, of course I’m not happy. Nobody is happy.
Invited again to fully quash speculation regarding the coaching staff’s future, Minaya said: “That’s all I’m going to say.”
With the Mets finally completing what could only be described as a disastrous 2-9 road trip, and the prospects for a rebound and run for the division looking bleak, somebody has to pay the price.
The Mets have struggled tremendously at the plate and Rubin points out the current 16-inning scoreless drought, which comes after 24 and 17 inning scoreless ruts just on this West Coast road trip. They were shut out four times!
The Mets have averaged 2.1 runs per game on this trip and batted .196, and an even worse .103 average with runners in scoring position.
“We’re going to get back on the plane, me and Jerry, and talk some,” Minaya said. “Everything is fair when you have a trip like this. You have to sit down and assess how you’re going to get it right and what needs to be done to get it right. We’re just not going to sit back. All of us are going to work hard, and we are working hard to find a way how to get it straight.”
Obviously, Howard Johnson would be the primary target, but he may not be the only one. Manuel and Dan Warthen appear to be the only ones who are safe.
One thing to keep an eye on if HoJo does get fired, is how this will effect David Wright who is extremely close to him/
About the Author: Joe DeCaro
Went to my first Mets game, a Mayors Trophy game at Shea, in '73. We beat the Yankees 8-4 and I was hooked. I marched in two Banner Day parades, and before the Grand Slam single, there was the "Hendu Can Do" grand slam - I was there. I've collected Mets memorabilia all my life and started Mets Merized Online to feed my addiction.
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who cares about howars johnson!!!!!!
he should’ve been fired after the 2008 season, he sucks, as a player and as a coach, why not from the get go let randolph or manuel pick their own coaches???? usually is a disaster waiting to happen, in 2007 & 2008 was the same crap, the same funks offwnsively it became a trend, our lineup shouls be good enough to put up 6 runs per game, onstead we let no names shut us down more than often!!!!!
Oh boy,
The most depressing part of this post is the part about Jerry and Warthen being safe, especially Jerry. Sighs.
I can’t take Jerry’s in-game managing anymore. His sacrifice bunting with top of the order early in games, his non-use of the hit and run and squeeze plays, his whole conservative approach to offense, his ego-stroking instead of doing what’s best to win games. I would like a manager who’s not afraid to let our starters go longer since there’s only about 10 weeks left in the regular season. If a guy can finish his own game then give it a shot.
if we don’t play past the next 10 weeks they have 5 months to rest ( You hear that K-Rod!! NO WINTER BALL this time).
Jerry Manuel is safe? Talk about taking the wind out of your sails, ugh.
What about Omar’s job security??? HE SHOULD BE GONE!!!! Not the coaches! At the beginning of July, they were singing Manual’s praises; now they want him gone!! Make up your mind fans!! He should have been gone regardless of how they played a month ago! Bring in Wally or Bobby V & let them right the ship!! it’s not Hojo’s fault that Bay, Beltran, Francour & Reyes can’t hit right now. Blame the jerk who traded for Bay & Francour & signed Beltran & Perez. They’re discussing trading one lump of crap for another with KC. Get rid of Perez, but forget about Meche. His entire ML career had been on the operating table and the DL!!!
” it’s not Hojo’s fault that Bay, Beltran, Francour & Reyes can’t hit right now”
don’t forget david wright… who has seen his precious ba avg drop 18 points this road trip!!!!!
I was watching the Dodger feed yesterday, and Vin Scully said that Ike Davis has such a severe hitch in his swing that he will never be a good hitter.
Pops
I, too, had the Dodgers feed on. Parenthetically, isn’t Vince Scully a knowledgeable guy? Talks a lot, but he’s just a delight.
Regarding Ike, the hitch Scully spoke of a few times was very noticeable. Vince noted that Ike did catch up with a 90mph fastball earlier, but the question Scully posed was about how Ike would handle a 95mph pitch. We’ll see.
None of the Mets handled the Dodgers new reliever at all. This is a guy who couldn’t hit a lick so they converted him to be a pitcher. He did show a slider, but it was heat, and more heat. He made the conversion only a year ago. He had lots of poise.
What Scully emphasized was that Ike drops his hands. I never heard him say he’ll never be a good hitter; maybe I just missed that remark. Scully isn’t usually given to such categorical pronouncements.
Davis has to learn to stop chasing fast balls that are shoulder high unless he enjoys mimicking Kingman; I guarantee he won’t catch up to those, even if they’re hurled at 85!
this site is full of guys who can’t think back farther than 3 weeks.
that’s why people don’t want to trade niese for haren or greinke, or ike for adrian gonzalez. they think niese is going to be cy young in a year or two. they’re also the same people who said pelfrey was going to be cy young this year.
wow, THE CORE SALUTES YOU!!!!!!!!! francis
YOU HAVE SPOKEN FACTS AS TRUE AS THEY CAN BE.PEOPLE VIEW 3 WEEKS AS AN ETERNITY ON THIS SITE…THE AGAIN THIS TEAM CAN AND HAS GONE FROM THE WHITE HOUSE TO THE OUT HOUSE IN 3 WEEKS.
Man, that’s not a good sign.
13 I must once again pound into people this one true fact IF FREDDYE WILPON PAYS YA HE PLAYS YA.Omar has several years left on his contract repeat after me IF HE PAYS YA HE PLAYS YA.
Maybe Jerry needs a new bench coach. I don’t know if the current own, who is he? Oh, Jauss, is he agreeing with Jerry and his moves, is he dissenting and telling him that Pedro can’t get righties out even if he wants to believe that.
Maybe HoJo and Jauss cause someone needs to be bringing in some different perspectives concerning in game managing especially with handling the BP.
Change just for change is stupid but maybe they can find Rick Downs somewhere cause he was doing a good job until mgmt wanted an 86er on team to comfort David? Just kidding, I have not seen any improvement with any hitters and if David is his prize student then why can’t he see that he is tooooo far from the plate just opening himself up for sliders and off speed away. Watch the tape HoJo plus the project that was Francouer, he will go the next team he plays for doing the same thing, swinging at the first and next and next and….pitch.
There is a lack of discipline, if you are not scoring then maybe the fact that you don’t work the count or take walks might help.
Mets I heard are 14, ahead of Pirates and Astros in OBP.
Hey, as much as I hate to say it, the Yanks work the count, that is how they beat up on the weak staff in the league, not the Mets we just treat every rookie like he is Cy Young.
Change is needed to help get out of this batting funk.
The pitching, other than over use and not assigned spots in BP has been great lately.
Oh, Carlos looks lost at the plate, just saying.
Jerry is responsible for the in game decisions he makes, not Jauss. once a buffoon, always a buffoon. There is no known cure for buffoonery.
J. Niese is developing ahead of schedule and his performance this year is every bit as good as Haren’s. Niese projects to be a solid #4 or inconsistent #3 starting pitcher. Why would you trade a lefty young starting pitcher? Haren for Niese? Of course Arizona would make that trade! Haren is eligible for arbitration soon and Arizona can’t even stomach paying him his under valued 11 million a year salary now. Arizona would have absolutely LOVED to swap a 11 million a year salary with Niese’s 600,000 a year salary. Not to mention that Niese isn’t eligible for arbitration for what? 5 years? Hmm…. pay Haren 11 million for the next 2 years or pay Niese 600,000. Why do you think Arizona took 2 marginal pitchers and one promising prospect for Haren?
Now to adress your ohter point which is you claim the Met fans would not support an Ike Davis for Adrian Gonzalez trade? Hmm.. I am assuming that you have included other Met prospects in the deal that you are not listing? Fernando Martinex? Henry M.? Josh Thole? Wilmer Flores? FOr argument sake lets say San DIego is asking for all three.. Adrian Gonzalez for Ike Davis, Henry. M and Josh Thole. Thats too much. Again of course San Diego would take that trade! Ike Davis is going to be at the very least a consistent 20+ 90+ guy for the next 10-15 years. Josh Thole is the nest Jason Kendal. Not Johnny Bench or even Carlton Fisk for sure but a avg defensive and solid .280-.300 avg #2 in the order. Henry M. Shrugs… bests the hell out of me. But people who do this for a living say his arm is simply un-tradeable. Just too much potential to give up right now. SO lets say the Mets say no and San Diego counters with “ok, give us Fernando Martinez, Ike Davis and Josh Thole for Gonzalez then. Again the Mets answer, “No thanks Keep Gonzalez.” Now if the Mets offer Carlos Beltran, Jeff Francour and Bobby Parnell for Gonzalez that I would do.
Beltran is going to have a huge year next year we all know this, his last year of his contract. After all isn’t that why he had his elective surgery in January 2010? Francour can play Rf for San Diego for the next 5 years hit .260 12-15 home runs 65-80 rbi’s and have a miserable on base percentage while playing a great rf. ANd Bobby Parnell can develop into a hard throwing mediocre good but very inconsistent wild in the strike zone middle reliever.
Ike Davis will at very least give 10-15 years of 90+ RBI ??? What are you, his agent. Do you realize that you’ve penciled him in for at least 900 – 1400 career RBI ? Posada has 1002, Jermaine Dye, 1072, Derrek Lee 983, Todd Helton 1218. I’m glad you think Ike Davis will be at least as productive in his career as those guys, but really. The guy’s not even hitting .260
Minaya should’ve been gone ever since he turned the NY Mets into the NY Expos. The guy clearly doesn’t have it, if all he can bring are players that he has scene play in Montreal. Hojo I’m sorry to say this but YOUR FIRED!!!! The guy clearly doesn’t know how to get players to hit on a CONSISTENT basis. I mean you can’t even help a rookie in Davis who will eat up everything you have to say to sit back on breaking pitches. That is all they throw him now and he strikes out way to much. Wright needs to not sit so far off the plate where breaking pitches away make him look like the strike out king from earlier this season. That is just to name a few. Now I’m no hitting instructor but I’ve said for the past 2 years that he needed to go. And Jerry being gangster and all I know he will gladly throw Hojo under the bus to keep his job.
If its about keeping the 86 Mets on the payroll then move Keith to the hitting instructor position. I think he can do an equal if not better job anyway.
New Staff
GM- Me
Manager- Ron Darling
Hitting Coach- Darryl Strawberry
Pitching Coach- Dwight Gooden
If you can find Dwight G again, apparently he’s MIA again, wonder if he’ll even show up on Sunday. Reports are, he’s dodging his child care payments and the ex hasn’t been able to find him.
http://mlb.fanhouse.com/2010/07/24/dwight-gooden-reportedly-deserts-his-family
That’s terrible! What is up with that dude!
You need to keep up. The Post didn’t do any fact-checking, just did a typical Murdoch hatchet job on Doc. He was at Cooperstown on Sunday, signing autographs and looking in good shape. Evidently his ex has been telling false stories about Doc to anyone who’ll listen.
Mea Culpa – I know better then to post anything from that Tabloid.
If it was truly up to us:
GM: Bobby Valentine
Manager: Ryne Sandberg
Bench Coach: Tim Teufel
Hitting Coach: Dave Magadan
Pitching Coach: Dave Righetti
I have no interest in making and current organizational coaches/managers/execs manager of the Mets. I’d rather have someone with no longterm ties to the team like Davey Johnson and Gil Hodges who were the only mangers to win a World Series.
All you Backman lovers do know about his closeness with the Wilpons right? That’s the last thing I want, another Wilpon influenced hire.
Wow, I’m definetly liking Booby V as the GM Joe.
Thanks Joe!
Joe D: Who is “us”?
GM: Bobby Valentine – Veto.
Manager: Ryne Sandberg – Okay… I mean I’m not sure why this would even make sense with the Cubs job open?
Bench Coach: Tim Teufel …. bench coaches are usually supposed to be veteran guys… why would u want a rookie manager with a rookie bench coach?
Hitting Coach: Dave Magadan … okay?
Pitching Coach: Dave Righetti … sure?
Us is nobody, and what we think dont matter of course.
I’d rather Valentine as a GM than a manager. The only person I believe is as good a talent evaluater as Minaya is Valentine who is widely recognized in that capacity. In Japan, managers share many of the same duties as GM’s do in MLB. I’d like to see Valentine’s passion for winning in a front office position.
Ryne Sandberg is one of the hottest managerial prospects in MLB. His style as a player and minor league manager mimics Wally Backman, but without the headaches and baggage. The HOFer is a class act and lives by fundamentals. He would be a great influence on Reyes, Wright, Davis, Havens, F-Mart in the future.
Teufel is more deserving of all the Mets in-house candidates and his role as bench coach is to bring a new perspective to advising a manager. He is a strong advocate of advanced metrics and the new direction of playing winning baseball. We can use those qualities alongside Sandberg to balance the old school and new scool philosophies.
Magadan has been an excellent hitting coach for the Red Sox and is lauded by those in the know.
Righetti is a personal choice. He has gotten his phenoms to be phenominal, something that is easier said than done, and a rarity for past Mets pitching coaches. Cain, Lincecum, Sanchez, Wilson, etc. He has a great resume.
Last season, I remember when ESPN showed Righetti with a mohawk. He bet Wilson who was having some control problems at the time, that he’d shave his head in a mohawk if he pitched a 1-2-3 ninth inning. It worked. BTW I wish Wilson was our closer.
Teufel is deserving of his role as bench coach. He is tough and a good organization man.
Back in he 80′s Strawberry used to taunt Tim Teufel. Tim wasn’t into the bad stuff that went on in the back of the airplane on the long cross country rides. He eventually took care of a problem by charging Strawberry and getting into a fight with him. Though he was much smaller, Tim earned Straw’s respect with his courage and combativeness. After that Straw had to find new targets for his bullying.
Alex E: There is no tool of measurement for me to explain to you how incredibly unrealistic that is.