NEXT UP....THE MANAGER ~ JERRY MANUEL
He did express interest in managing while Willie Randolph was still serving in that capacity. Jerry Manuel has been accused of throwing Willie Randolph under the bus, or, being subversive towards the same end; Willie's job.
Jerry Manuel went down yapping some negative Ghandi'isms in Chicago all the way to the bus station when Kenny Williams released him of his duties there. Jerry Manuel did win a Manager of the Year though. Jerry Manuel was also a coach on the 1997 World Series Champion Florida Marlins. He's been around the block and his resume is somewhat on the credible side.
There are worse managers and there are certainly better managers. But way more than most likely, Jerry will not be asked back as manager for the 2011 season. At this very moment, Jerry is still managing and trying to win now as if a playoff spot was still attainable. But he's smart and realizes we wants to salvage some respectability for himself and this team.
There's a saying ~ when you can't dazzle people with brilliance, baffle them with bull$#!t. If that doesn't work, make jokes! Somehow Jerry Manuel has kept the more blood thirsty media satiated with humor and jocularity. Jerry has played it masterfully to his credit. He figured out never leave them angry, always leave the media laughing. Brilliant! Brilliant because look at any other manager or head coach in whatever sport in this town, and the relationship between the media and him is pacifying at best. Jerry has many of them eating out of his hand pecking at his next joke. That is perhaps the single most biggest reason why the calls to have his head chopped off haven't come sooner or more vehemently.
However, for right now, for September's sake, Jeff Wilpon must immediately tell Omar Minaya and more specifically Jerry Manuel, "It's over Johnny"! Jeff Wilpon must hand down the directive now, - Jerry, stop trying to win and get back in the race. The focus is now on the youngsters being farmed up to the big club. Jerry Manuel is presently engaged in self preservation. That is on conflict with the newly initiated rebuilding process. It's incumbent upon Jeff Wilpon to get his General Manager and his manager on the same page of music he is on for the remainder of this month. The money for salaries is already spent. The money is committed and will be doled out regardless whether the higher priced players on this team play or not. Sit these players and play any and all prospects we call up. Not intentionally because that's not where the front office's mind set should be, but just possibly a good benching of the old establishment on this roster may find them time for self-reflection and lend an opportunity to find inner gumption to play this game in a different state of mind other than melancholy.
But Jeff needs to hand down that dictate to Jerry and do it now. There is no plausible reason in Flushing why any, if not all the prospects are not playing on a given night. What needs to happen on the part of Jeff Wilpon for this dictate to be followed, is....Commitment. In the absence of a Team President to navigate this for him, Jeff must be committed to a process with strong conviction and a determination to stay the course. For too long this has been a reactive administration and the time for a proactive mentality is now. In the absence of a Team President Jeff Wilpon must act with conviction on the plan and COMMIT.
Jeff Wilpon must commit wholly, not just in parts, not in spurts of whimsy, not in time of reactive damage control; NO ~ Commit to the complete rebuilding of this team and make it the Mets' business to correct, in every business sense of the word; CORRECT the expensive and insipid players signed to negative yielding contracts. You know who you are! But first what must happen post haste is Jeff informing Jerry Manuel that Dean Wormer has dropped the big one. It's over.
We all share an understanding Jerry Manuel will not be manager next year. His contract will expire and it's unlikely the Mets will ask him to return. He will most likely be dismissed with an inordinate amount of the blame for the Mets' woes this season. A manager can only put the best players he has in the best possible positions to succeed. The General manger is responsible for procuring those players. At some point the players need to be held with ultimate responsibility. But you can't fire a whole roster and you can't fire the Owner or his Son. The Mets have been-there-done-that with firing coaches, using them as sacrificial lambs. So the only logically certain deletion from the Mets Media Guide will be Jerry Manuel's. He done some "not so smart" things. What manager hasn't? But when a role player has to ask why pitch to Jeter with Mariano Rivera on deck during an Inter-League Subway Series Game?..C'mon.
One barb is enough. I don't choose to kick him while he's on the way down. But I do want a new manager next season. I'd like to say I never ever said, Fire Jerry Manuel. But today it is very safe to say I don't want him back. I'll say this about him; he's gutsy, strong minded, he was never hesitant to shake things up and if you got beyond the jokes, he wasn't afraid to say what he felt and it was usually said with tact.... Although there was that one time when.....
I have some possible candidates for the Mets to choose from. I will get to all my possible solutions I have in mind for the team's manager, GM and a Team President shortly.
Mike.BTB
A/O September 13, 2010
Possible Managerial Candidates for the Mets:
Tim Teufel is the one most familiar with the prospects the Mets are farming-up. He had many of them in Coney Island and more recently in Binghampton. He just may be the best choice (like Davey Johnson's graduation to the big club with many he managed below). There are certain Baseball people who speak very highly of Tim. Me personally, I don't share that opinion, but I'd be willing to be dead wrong about him.
Another possibility I was thinking about was John Stearns. He most recently managed in Harrisburg for the Nats system for a couple of years. I believe he's scouting for the Mariners right now. He played and coached here before. He's right up the Wilpon's alley and they don't call him the DUDE for nothing. He won't tolerate many shenanigans from the peanut gallery.
I think Larry Bowa and Tony Pena are definite options as well. I've thought about Mazzilli, and heard him mentioned around. Mazz got screwed in Baltimore as we know. Like Teufel, I'm not warm to the idea.
But if I were wagering, and if the Mets wind up keeping this all in house (Again) Teufel may be their man. Internally and organizationally it makes the most sense; Not to me, but maybe to the Wilpons. If I'm ranking preferences...I'm going with Pena one and Stearns two.
Mike
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