Tag: Jerry Manuel

Mets 2010 Mini-Camp Starts

Florida - Port St. Lucie - Tradition Field
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A few of the Mets are in Port St. Lucie for a few days before pitchers and catchers have to report. By far, the best coverage that I’ve seen is from Adam Rubin at the Daily News. He’s got this thing covered like a blanket.

It’s good to see that Johan Santana and Oliver Perez are there. The word is that Perez has been working out in Arizona and his knee is in good shape.

You really don’t know what you have at this point but it’s good to see some of the guys there making an effort. And if you read Jerry Manuel’s comments, it’s all about making a fast start to the season. I’m not sure if that’s more about having a good season or saving his job. Either way, I’ll take it.

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Poll Results: Mets 2010 Worst Contract

Oliver Perez 18 votes 58%
Omar Minaya 7 votes 23%
Carlos Beltran 3 votes 10%
Entire Team 1 vote 3%
Jerry Manuel 1 vote 3%
Luis Castillo 1 vote 3%

 

It’s not a huge surprise that Perez ran away with this poll. The faux knee injury last year and his “rehab” stint in the minors was a terrible omen for the rest of his 3-year/$36 million contract.

I have to say that I thought that Castillo would garner more votes. And Beltran is looking like he may be a waste of $18.5 million this year if he doesn’t come back healthy enough to make an impact this year.

You can see the original poll post and let me know in the comments here if you didn’t get a chance to vote. Who do you think is the biggest waste of money for the Mets this year?

NY Times: Mets Should Trade For Halladay And Wells

Vernon Wells

Image by Keith Allison via Flickr

A couple of writers that I’ve never heard of at the NY Times are touting the idea of the Mets trading for Roy Halladay and Vernon Wells. I hope that Elena Gustines and Jay Schreiber are only temporarily filling in for Ben Shipgel on the Bats blog there. We need the voice of reason back.

The writers touch on the idea of multiple needs on the Mets (and forgot to mention the Mets need a first baseman that can hit). They also only touch on the fact that trading for Halladay and Wells adds $36 million to the Mets payroll next year, which is the total amount that the Mets are likely to add based on the salaries that are coming off the books.

Don’t get me wrong. I don’t mind the idea of bringing in Halladay and Wells. The problem that Gustines and Schreiber don’t address is how complicated it’s going to be to reconfigure the roster to address the existing shortcomings at catcher and first base within the $140 million payroll.

Continue reading “NY Times: Mets Should Trade For Halladay And Wells”

Audio: Mets Management On 2010

NEW YORK - JUNE 23: General Manager Omar Mina...

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As part of their press tour today, we got to hear the Mets brass talk about their disappointment in 2009 and commitment to winning for 2010. What else would they say?

You won’t know just how committed they are until free agency starts and they can start spending. That’s when we’ll find out.

Dave Howard, Jeff Wilpon, and Omar Minaya spent quite a bit of time with Mike Francesa on WFAN this afternoon. He did a nice job of hammering them on Daniel Murphy among other things. It’s a two-part audio you can listen to below.

Mets management Part 1

Mets management Part 2

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Mets Fire Coaches, Players Next

NEW YORK - DECEMBER 02: New York Mets chief o...

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The Mets had a press conference today to announce that they’re firing Sandy Alomar Sr. and Luis Alicea. They’re also re-assigning Razor Shines and Sandy Alomar Jr. Apparently, Alomar Sr. has been asked to stay with the Mets in another job.

I always think it’s interesting that the coaching staff is the first to take the fall after a miserable season like the one the Mets just finished. Sure, a 70-92 finish means that changes will be made. Honestly, how much difference does a coach really make at this level? It’s the players that make or break a team.

I don’t have a problem with these changes. Clearly, Shines wasn’t the right man for the third base coach job. He just doesn’t have good judgment there on close plays. But he seems like a well-intentioned guy that could have a positive impact elsewhere.

The real news will come after the World Series when free agency begins and the Mets can make some meaningful player moves.

You can hear the audio clips below from the press conference today.

Jerry Manuel audio

Jeff Wilpon audio

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Mets 2009 Season Disaster Finally Ending

NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 28: Carlos Delgado #21 of...

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

The 2009 version of the New York Mets will finally disappear into oblivion this weekend. And I can’t wait for them to go away. There’s a chance for the team to wind up losing 94 games this season, the most losses since the Art Howe-era 2003 team that finished with 95 losses. In case you’re wondering, you can find a complete list of the Mets season records here. In a dreadful season, it’s worth taking a look at some past horrible seasons.

Sure, the Mets announced that they’re lowering ticket prices for next season. But don’t mistake that move as benevolence on the part of Mets ownership based on the torturous team they subjected us to this season. Reducing tickets prices is actually a calculated move to fill more seats for more games to meet revenue goals. The team likely didn’t meet their revenue goals for Pity (Citi) Field this season. So they used mathematical projections to determine the most likely pricing scheme to deliver their goals based on price/attendance correlation. Thanks Mr. Wilpon.

Continue reading “Mets 2009 Season Disaster Finally Ending”

Mets Get 1969 Celebration Right

Donn Clendenon, Mets hero - video
Image by bobster855 via Flickr

If you missed the pre-game of last night’s Mets-Phillies game, you missed a very well done celebration of the Mets first World Series championship- The Miracle Mets. A couple of things stood out for me about the celebration:

  1. The Mets organization does a great job with these events like they did with the final game at Shea and the 25th anniversary of the ’86 World Series champs
  2. It was fantastic to see Nolan Ryan back in New York with a Mets uniform on; the pitching they had on that team was off the charts

Related to point number 1, how can the Mets get these events right that celebrate their team’s history yet get their new stadium so wrong? It doesn’t make sense to me. Just when I think that the organization is completely out of touch with their fan base, they do something like this so well. I guess there’s still hope for them yet.

I want to add a couple of links on the ’69 celebration:

  • Remembering Shea has some good comments about watching the celebration last night
  • Ken Belson of the NY Times writes about how Mets fans got a brief reprieve last night from a season of injuries, incompetence, and all-around sloppy play when they saw the ’69 team take the field
  • ESPN has a good report including that Jerry Manuel played with Bud Harrelson and Jerry Grote briefly in a Senior League in Florida
  • Keith Olbermann, the Baseball Nerd, writes about his attendance at the event last night
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