I have a sneaky suspicion that someone from the front office, maybe even Omar Minaya, took Jerry Manuel on the side and told him how it was regarding prospects Jenrry Mejia and Ike Davis.

Yesterday, in the lesser of the two big miscommunication snafus, the other being Reyes, Minaya made a statement contradicting what Manuel had said two hours earlier regarding Mejia’s chances of starting the season in the Mets bullpen. It ain’t happening is what Minaya said.

Today, Jerry Manuel is singing a different tune and sounded more like… well like a real major league manager instead of a 13-year old fan who just got his favorite players autograph.

When asked about Ike Davis after the young first baseman hit a mammoth 410 foot homerun in yesterday’s game, Manuel had this to say about the kid’s chances of making the team.

“Some unforeseen things would have to happen in my opinion for that to happen . It’s a little bit more difficult to make that decision based on a position player unless everybody just has to be 100% in agreement that that’s the right way to go. I would say more young pitchers have made the jump than more young, unproven position players. I could be wrong, but I would think.”

You see… the previous version of Jerry Manuel would have probably already proclaimed Ike Davis the opening day first baseman, insisted on adding an Ike Davis Bobblehead Day to the promo schedule, and dug out his vintage “I Like Ike” button from his attic and sported it wherever an SNY camera could be found.

Here’s the thing though…

Why do Omar and Manuel feel as if they have to commit to anything at this point? There is still plenty of spring training to be played and they come off like idiots to me when they speak in absolutes regarding who will make the team and who wont.

What if Ike Davis ends the spring with six homers, a .435 batting average, and leads the team in RBI’s and slugging?

On the flip side, what if Jenrry Mejia gets torched in his next two appearances and ends the spring with an ERA north of 5.00?

It’s one thing when us bloggers suggest things like who should make the team and who shouldn’t based on such a small sample size, but to hear our leaders speak like that whenever they have a microphone shoved in their face is ridiculous to me.

The Mets don’t just have a communication gap, they just can’t communicate period. It’s gotten so bad, and so nauseating and so conflicting that I wish someone would just issue a gag order on both of them. Can anyone remember the last time either of them said anything substantive?

Thanks to Adam Rubin for providing the quote.