Tag: Jerry Manuel

Mets 6 – Yankees 2 June 13, 2009

I think the biggest surprise for everyone in this game is that Fernando Nieve was outstanding in his first start as a Met. He hasn’t started a game in the majors since 2006. He really shut down the Yankees with a good mid-90’s fastball and a solid slider. Nieve went 6.2 innings giving up 2 runs to a really good Yankees lineup. He’ll certainly rival Tim Redding for his spot in the rotation when John Maine comes back from the disabled list if he can keep this up.

The Mets pounded the Yankees pitchers for 17 hits, 12 off Andy Pettite who only went 5 innings. Omir Santos and Gary Sheffield hit homers and Fernando Martinez went 3 for 4. David Wright was also 2 for 5 raising his average to and eye-popping .365.

It was a nice game for the Mets but the biggest factor is that they didn’t show any hangover from last night’s brutal loss. I think part of their ability to recover is due to Jerry Manuel’s openness about these things. He doesn’t sugarcoat tough losses or shut down to the media like Willie Randolph did. I’m sure he’s the same way with the players too.

6.13.09

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Rosenthal: Mets Manuel Communication Problems

Jerry_ManuelThis is something that we’ve been talking about since spring training as Mets fans. Jerry Manuel seems to be a different person than he was last seasonwhen he took over for Willie Randolph in June. Now I can see why the Mets only gave Manuel a 2-year contract instead of the three years that he wanted. And I can see how Manuel lost the locker room in Chicago in 2003.

Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports writes a pretty lengthy piece about how Manuel has thrown his players under the bus. He does fail to mention how Manuel threw third base coach Razor Shines under the bus this week for failing to point out the bad call at home plate that involved Fernando Tatis being called out when the replay showed he was safe.

From Fox Sports:

Manuel, in baseball parlance, “throws guys under the bus.” His candor appeals to fans who are tired of hearing excuses for overpaid, underperforming players. But such an approach rarely works long-term.

I haven’t been a major detractor of Manuel. I thought that he did a great job last season working without a bullpen. But he does seem to be different this year. It’s almost like he makes everything about himself.

His dealings with the players have become odd this season as well. He fell in love with Daniel Murphy way too quickly. And that hasn’t worked out at all. Manuel clearly dislikes Ryan Church and Ramon Castro. But I don’t think that he’s the only one in the Mets organization that feels that way about both players. So Manuel may not be as out of line on those players as he appears to be to us fans.

It’ll be very telling to see if the Mets allow Manuel to go into next season as a lame duck manager of this team. I doubt that will happen. If the Mets make the playoffs, I think they’ll give Manuel a one or two year extension. If they don’t make the playoffs this season, we’ll be talking about the new Mets manager in November.

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Mets Trade Castro To White Sox

ramon-castroThe Mets have been rumored to be trying to trade catcher Ramon Castro since the off-season. Clearly, he’s not one of Jerry Manuel’s guys. There’s no doubt about that. For all of the denying that Manuel has done about not having a dog house, Castro sure appeared to be in it.

The Mets finally were able to unload Castro with Brian Schneider coming off the disabled list today, and Omir Santos hitting in the clutch like Johnny Bench.

The Mets acquire relief pitcher Lance Broadway (0-1 5.06) from the White Sox and assigned him to Triple-A Buffalo where to plan to use him as a starter. In a move that appears to degrade the value of both players in the trade, the Mets are also paying $1.4 million of the $1.75 million that’s owed to Castro this season, the last of his contract.

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Audio: Mets Post Game May 18, 2009

wfan1I had to post some of the post game audio clips from last night’s hideous loss in Los Angeles. I would add more but I’m still speechless nine hours after the game ended in defeat.

Jerry Manuel audio

Ryan Church audio

Jeremy Reed audio

Carlos Beltran audio

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Mets 8 – Giants 6 May 15, 2009

Livan Hernandez stunk tonight giving up 5 runs in the first two innings. He did settle down to get through 5 innings giving up 8 hits. The way he was pitching the game looked like it might be over early for the Mets. But the Mets came back again and are showing some real signs of being a difficult team to hold down.

Both Jerry Manuel and Giants manager Bruce Bochy were thrown out of the game by home plate umpire Doug Eddings. He was having a bad game behind the plate tonight and both managers let him know about it.

Tonight was another monster game for David Wright. He was 3 for 5 with 4 RBI’s including a huge bases loaded double that cleared the bases. He’s been red-hot and clutch raising his average to .341. He also added another stolen base tonight, his fifth in the two games against the Giants.

The Mets scored 7 runs from the sixth inning on to mount another come back victory. This team is hot going into two national TV games this weekend and with Johan Santana on the mound tomorrow.

51509

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Audio: Mets Maine, Manuel, Beltran, Delgado May 14, 2009

giants-logoThe Mets players and manager talk about their big 7-4 win over the San Francisco Giants. Carlos Delgado talks about the hip injury that’s keeping him from playing. For those of you that couldn’t stay awake until 1:30 am to watch the game. Here’s the audio player reaction.

Carlos Delgado audio

Jerry Manuel audio

John Maine audio

Carlos Beltran audio

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Ravich: Mets Manuel On Hot Seat

New York Mets coach Jerry Manuel before a Mets...
Image via Wikipedia

Karl Ravich of ESPN has an opinion piece up on the ESPN Baseball Tonight Clubhouse page about managers on the hot seat. He writes about Bob Melvin of the D-Backs being the first manager fired this season but Jerry Manuel and Joe Girardi being on the hot seat.

His reasoning for Manuel is that the team is now playing in Citi Field with high expectations. He also lists Omar Minaya’s comments about a lack of leadership on the team as a reason for Manuel to be concerned. Of course, the Mets problems late in games is an issue.

Personally, I don’t think that there’s a snowball’s chance in hell of Manuel being fired this season barring something shocking happening. The reason is purely financial. The Mets are still paying Willie Randolph this season. If they fired Manuel and hired someone else, they’d have three managers on the payroll. Nobody does that.

If the Mets don’t make the playoffs this season, I could see Manuel getting fired after the season. As a matter of fact, you can take that to the bank. Manuel signed a 2-year deal this off season. He wanted three years but they wouldn’t give it to him. That’s a strong sign that this is Manuel’s year to show that he can get the Mets to the playoffs.

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