I will make this short and sweet. Those who know me personally and my writing, the one thing about both is that it remains consistent. I don’t jump on and off the bandwagon. I critique when things are are going or or bad. I always say the glass is 7/8 full and this is by no means the first or the last time I will rant about Jerry Manuel.
I was all for Jerry’s hiring this year based on his handling of last years overachievers. That’s right they overachieved last year and I felt they didn’t choke. A 9-11 month does not evoke a choke. A 4- 16 mark does.
Let’s get to the point of this. Jerry has been, since day 1, inconsistent of the players, the lineup, his intentions etc etc etc. When Omar set out last winter to fix the bullpen he did it with the mindset that every starter should give a minimum of 6 solid innings. Baseball today is different than it was when I was a kid. It’s different in the last 20 years.
So we go into the season with Green for the 7th, Putz for the 8th and Frankie to close. If any of them would falter, we had Parnell, Feliciano and Stokes to fill in and we looked good on that front.
Even with the injuries to the pitching staff, Feliciano/Green for the 7th , Parnell for the 8th and K-Rod for the 9th is, as they say, “not too shabby” either.
So now the fashionable thing and sexy move all of a sudden is, let’s see how far our starters can go. Let Maine and Pelfrey and Livan pitch into the 8th, throw 120 pitches and continue to blow early leads. Why? Because Nolan Ryan says so? Geez, WTF?
We should have swept the Phillies. The last two nights have been some of the worst managing I have ever seen in all my years of watching this game. It’s nothing short of ” over-managing”. OK, tonight. After 6 innings of a gutsy, brilliant performance by Redding, Jerry decides to send him out in the 7th. He had already given up a second run for the game in the 6th and he was clearly tiring. If he left with the lead then his confidence would have been through the roof coming of two outstanding performances and in a position to get his first win in what? 241 starts?
But NOOOOOOOOOOOO. Jerry sends him out in the 7th, where he could have used Green and Feliciano who owns the Phillies this season. Green’s sinker is on fire now and Pedro has made Met fans forget about last year. Then he could have had the lead, used Parnell in the 8th and K-Rod in the ninth. Don’t give me the excuse K-Rod pitched too much the previous night and had nothing left in the tank.
Please; he’s 27 years old and tough as coarse sand paper. But NOOOOOOOOOOO, Jerry has to bring a guy in who can’t get out left handers. Result! Another game that gets away.
This guy is killing me along with Murph and Church. He tells everyone who will listen that Murph will play one game against the lefty this week. Does he? Nooooooooooooooo. Sheffield is slumping. Does he rest him now and use him as the DH this weekend and give _F-Mart games starts under his belt.
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. Church comes off the DL and looks good and puts a dent into the new apple. Does Jerry play him to keep his confidence going? NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.
The title to this article is absolutely correct. He is managing the New York Mets right out of contention. Your thoughts are welcome.
By the way. Do you think Omar should now finally swallow his pride and call Pedro? Another pet peeve I have been ranting about since Oct 1st.
See Met fans, I get just as frustrated as all of you.
prob be a good time for a couple posts feeling out legitimate trade possibilities. trade deadline fodder is starting to circulate. and we’re getting a sense of who the sellers might be. might be good to do team-by-team (just the 2-3 that fit) Chicago White Sox, have pen arms and bats. Mariners: have BEdard, maybe a useful bat though i’m not sure on that. but bedard would be good. and they owe us for putz being injured goods cleveland: definite bats – derosa, garko, and some relief arms. not sureo n starters though. rockies with atkins and street. nationals still have to deal nick johnson.
Minaya needs to get off his ass and realize he actually has to do something during the season. We can’t have Tim Redding in this rotation all year. That is not going to work. We need a bat. Someone who can hit home runs. Someone who can get a runner in more often than not. We need a couple of arms. We need another lefty to replace Taka, who can’t do anything right. We also need a replacement for Maine, because who knows how long he’s going to be sidelined. This team is in dire need of some change. Minaya has to make something good happen otherwise his job is on the line.
TAN,,,managers arent out there fielding and hitting, so it’s definitely up to the guys to perform. But they do matter as they decide who plays and who doesnt. I don’t buy the pre all-star argument. If Willie Randolph taught us something, it’s that there isnt infinite time to right the ship. If you recall, Willie’s famous line was ‘ it’s still early, there’s plenty of time’ WRONG! Agree on Redding, he did pitch well, but i’m not sold on him yet. Also not sold on Pedro being about money. i’m almost certain insurance kicks in for guys on the DL, aka Oliver Perez. If that’s true the Mets must have saved mad dough. At least talk to the guy, negotiate. It doesnt seem they are even doing that. I dont think anyone knows what his asking price is because there are no discussion, we’re all assuming
I just don’t think baseball managers matter that much. guys gotta do the job. Plus, it’s still pre-All Star break. we have to find out what these guys can do. when else is it gonna happen? Can Redding go 7 against the Phils? now we know, probably not, but if he’s in position you might as well push him and see where he breaks. i mean everyone would take 3 runs over 7 innings from him vs. the phils anyway. and k-rod is a longterm investment property. absolutely no reason to push him at this point. manuel’s more likely to get run out of town if he comes up lame towards end of the season. i do think we should have seen more murphy. and i don’t know why fernando is still here. pedro is still about cost. think that’s always been the issue. we do have a tough series w/ the yanks coming up now. and maine on the dl. we need an arm. via trade. a good one.
rich, what a disaster. losing 2 of 3 when we were in position to sweep. i agree that coaching to lefty-righty’s is over managing in this case. you have to go with your hot hitters no matter if there’s a lefty or righty pitching, heck even leave the hot hitter in if the guy is pitching out his ears. i’m just fumigating right now and need to release. great here come the big bad yanks, ready to pounce on this mess and you know they have extra incentive with the ASS KICKING they just recieved in Boston.