After meeting with New York Mets players and coaches on Monday afternoon at Citi Field, New York Mets general manager gave manager Mickey Callaway a public vote of confidence, assuring the Mets’ media corps that Callaway’s job is safe.
“I, the front office, and the entire ownership group [support Mickey Callaway] as our manager,” Van Wagenen said at his press conference (video via Mets social media). “Mickey’s our manager now. Mickey’s our manager going forward.”
Despite sitting five games under .500 and just having been swept by the lowly Miami Marlins — in yawn-inducing fashion, no less — Van Wagenen exuded nothing but confidence in his manager, his roster, and the Mets’ ability to turn things around.
“I think Mickey has the respect of the players. One of the things we evaluated over the course of Spring Training and already through this season is ‘do the players feel united, do the players feel connected to the coaching staff, and are they all working in the same direction?'”
“We believe that is the case and we believe Mickey has a pulse of the clubhouse, and we believe the support he has around him will be keys to his success.”
Van Wagenen apparently met with team personnel shortly before meeting with the press on Monday, attempting to keep all parties in the proverbial loop as the media hype surrounding his upcoming press conference was beginning to peak.
“I wanted to make sure players and coaches understood why the support from [the front office and ownership] was there. We wanted to communicate it without any ambiguity that this coaching staff has the support of us and we want the players to recognize the accountability that exists on all parties.”
“They know they haven’t performed to their abilities […] But we’re not looking to blame a manager and we’re not looking to blame any adversity through injuries or anything else for that matter […] I wanted them to understand that from top to bottom.”
When asked if Mickey Callaway’s job was safe through the end of the season, Van Wagenen continued to show support but didn’t exactly confirm his second-year skipper would ultimately keep his job come October.
“[Callaway’s] been given every assurance that [he’s] my manager, he’s this organization’s manager and that he is the players’ manager. So he has our full support to lead this team for the foreseeable future.”
When asked to clarify what he meant by “foreseeable future”, Van Wagenen didn’t give a very clear answer, adding that “we intend to win games and I think that Mickey’s going to be a part of that future”.
“There is support from every part of this organization [that believes] Mickey Callaway is going to be our manager as we go forward and that expectation wouldn’t change […]”
We’ll keep you updated as more information becomes available.
