Negotiations With Manuel

[Farmer Ted]

Bobby V. Inventor of the wrap sandwich.

[seawolf17]

Are you guys talking about Bobby Valentine? I know Bobby Valentine!

[HahnSolo]

="seawolf17"]Sign him to a ten-year contract and name a rotunda after him.

Well, he was a Dodger.

[Guest Iubitul]

I would bring Bobby back in a NY minute.

that being said, I doubt it will happen. They are playing hardball with Manuel's salary because of what they are paying Willie not to manage. What makes us think they would be willing to pay Bobby what it takes to bring him back?

[Guest themetfairy]

Iubitul wrote: I would bring Bobby back in a NY minute. that being said, I doubt it will happen. They are playing hardball with Manuel's salary because of what they are paying Willie not to manage. What makes us think they would be willing to pay Bobby what it takes to bring him back?

Only being half facetious here - because Bobby would put butts in the seats (not a problem next year, but if The Powers That Be have any sense they'll see that it could be an issue down the line) and bring all sorts of media attention, etc. Or, cynically, because Bobby could help them to sell the "brand."

[metirish]

If I'm negotiating with Manuel and I read what Valentine said then I would be foolish not to call the man.

I puked my guts out in the bathroom at Bobby's old restaurant , had a hard nights drinking on a Saturday , went to his place on the Sunday , had some wings and got sick.

Were the bathrooms in the restaurant , I seem to remember going into the motel to get sick.

[Guest themetfairy]

I seem to remember the bathrooms being in the hotel as opposed to being in the restaurant.

[Guest metsguyinmichigan]

="HahnSolo"] ="seawolf17"]Sign him to a ten-year contract and name a rotunda after him. Well, he was a Dodger.

Bad ass!

[Guest OlerudOwned]

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3624489

That's that.

[Guest themetfairy]

[Guest Iubitul]

Only the Mets could do this.

Two days ago, I would have been happy with them bringing back Jerry. Now Bobby V. gets dangled in front of me like a carrot, and I'm disappointed...

[stevejrogers]

themetfairy wrote: I seem to remember the bathrooms being in the hotel as opposed to being in the restaurant.

I can verify that from being in that hotel over the summer.

[Guest Kong76]

Iub: Only the Mets could do this <<<

Only ESPN could do this. Or The Post. Or Newsday. Mets didn't do anything.

[seawolf17]

(sigh)

[Benjamin Grimm]

I don't think Bobby was ever going to happen.

If Jerry's back for two years, I'm happy.

[Guest Iubitul]

="KC"]Iub: Only the Mets could do this <<< Only ESPN could do this. Or The Post. Or Newsday. Mets didn't do anything.

'tis true.

[Guest Rockin' Doc]

Benjamin Grimm wrote: I don't think Bobby was ever going to happen. If Jerry's back for two years, I'm happy.

I feel the same way. Manuel did a good job during his time with the Mets. It would be nice to see what he could do with a team with a decent bullpen to call on.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Benjamin Grimm wrote: I don't think Bobby was ever going to happen. If Jerry's back for two years, I'm happy.

Same here. I guess we shouldn't underestimate the motivation the specter gave to Jerry however.

[Guest metsguyinmichigan]

I like Manuel.

As for the Valentine discussion in the papers, always take into account that the beat writers must file something on slow days.

[metirish]

I'm glad Jerry is back , never really expected much form the Bobby V talk.

Some things from Manuel today.

] Jerry Manuel was in a joking mood. "I was trying to get 15 years on my deal," the New York Mets manager said Saturday. "They cut it down." Manuel's "interim" tag was removed Friday night when the Mets gave him a two-year contract that guarantees him more than $2 million and includes a club option for 2011. Now he must figure out why the team collapsed in each of the last two Septembers and find a solution that gets New York back in the postseason. "We have to grow from every time that we get as close as we get and don't make it, and we have to review and kind of marinate on why we don't make it," Manuel said during a conference call. "My job is to make sure that each guy is clear with his responsibilities for not being there, for us not making it," he said. "I have to look at myself first, and we have to kind of look at the team and see where we failed, why we failed and talk about it as a group and grow from it." On his first full day as the Mets' long-term manager, Manuel forcefully attacked the SABR-type mathematical analysis some have fixated on in recent years. "You get so many statistical people together, they put so many stats on paper, and they say, well, if you do this and you score this many runs, you do that many times, you'll be in the playoffs," he said. "That's not really how it works, and that's what we have to get away from. And that's going to have to be a different mind-set of the team in going forward. We must win and we must know how to win rather than win because we have statistical people. We have to win because we have baseball players that know and can understand the game." Manuel took over when Willie Randolph was fired on June 17 with New York at 34-35 then. He loosened Randolph's stricter clubhouse atmosphere, and the Mets rebounded to take a 3 1/2-game NL East lead in September. But they lost 10 of their final 17 games and were eliminated from postseason contention on the final day of the season for the second straight year. In 2007, the Mets wasted a seven-game division lead with 17 to play. For Manuel, the key is teaching his players to execute in the key situations. "We have to put a value on say, moving a runner over. We have to put a value on getting a bases on balls. We have to put a value on infield back, (getting a) ground ball that's sufficient to score a run," he said. "Those types of things have to be accented in order for us, in my opinion, to kind of get to the next level." The AL Manager of the Year in 2000 with the Chicago White Sox, Manuel inherited a core group anchored offensively by David Wright, Jose Reyes and Carlos Delgado, and a starting rotation headed by Johan Santana. While the big offensive trio had respectable statistics or better, they didn't stop the September slide. Manuel said spring training will be a time of teaching, for him to give "clarity" to players on his methods. Execution in the clutch is his emphasis, and the Mets likely will bring in new offensive players, likely in the corner outfield spots. "You don't see a lot of guys that have statistical numbers play well in these championship series," Manuel said. "What you see is usually the little second baseman or somebody like that carries off the MVP trophy that nobody expected him to do. That's because he's comfortable in playing that form of baseball, so therefore when the stage comes, it's not a struggle for him." The other key is to address the flammable bullpen, which flopped when Billy Wagner missed the final two months of the season due to an elbow injury that will sideline the closer for most if not all of 2009. Mets relievers were 2-for-6 on save chances in the final 17 games, combining for a 6.23 ERA and a .335 opponents' batting average. "I couldn't tell you how much is salvageable and how much is not. I do know that I've been without a couple pair of shoes," Manuel said. "Our job is to get people back in their roles that we think that we signed them up for, and then evaluate from that point of view. But to put them in roles that they're not accustomed to is sometimes an unfair evaluation."

[stevejrogers]

metsguyinmichigan wrote: I like Manuel. As for the Valentine discussion in the papers, always take into account that the beat writers must file something on slow days.

Yes, and sadly morons who don't follow the news carefully enough get sucked into believing that there is a kernel of truth behind every story out there.

A co-worker of mine, who isn't a baseball fan but loves to bust chops, who read it on ESPN.com asked me if I was excited about Bobby V coming back, to which I had to explain that it was just Bobby shamelessly putting his name out there. He STILL thought there was some "fire" to the "smoke."

[Benjamin Grimm]

Has there been any word on the coaching staff?

I'm guessing there will be at least a few changes.

I'm most curious about whether Dan Warthen and Howard Johnson will return. Oberkfell too, I guess.

[Guest AG/DC]

I love Guy Conti like my white Daddy, but two stretch runs in a row where his bullpen simply hasn't shown up for him, under two different pitching coaches --- eventually that's got to lead to a knock on his door, no?

[metirish]

I read the other day that Conti is a certain goner once the Mets cut ties with Pedro.

I guess one question is how much say Manuel has in the coaches that stay or don't stay.


Clint Hurdle just fired three of his coaching staff , Bob Apodaca survived as did the first base coach.

] "It was a painful day for me, but obviously not as painful as it was for them," Hurdle told The Denver Post today. "I did this because I thought it would make us better next season. It's tough because you have to separate personal relationships."

[soupcan]

Benjamin Grimm wrote: I'm most curious about whether Dan Warthen and Howard Johnson will return. Oberkfell too, I guess.

Don't remember where I heard it, but I did hear that both HoJo and Warthen will be back.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

I hope they let Jerry name his own staff.

You could in fact craft one entirely of Jerry's ex-teammates who were also ex- or future Mets:

75/76 Tigers:
Tom Veryzer
Mickey Lolich
Ed Glynn
Phil Mankowski
Dave Roberts

80/81 Expos:
Ellis Valentine
Bill Almon
Gary Carter
Willie Montanez
Mike Phillips
Jeff Reardon
John Milner

82 Padres:
Garry Templeton
Mario Ramirez

Fun Fact: Manuel and Tony Bernazard were teammates on the 1980 Expos. Not to mention Terry Francona and Ken Macha and future Mets AAA manager John Tamargo.

[Farmer Ted]

If Guy Conti leaves, I leave.

Well, maybe not. I'd at least be a little bummed.

[Guest AG/DC]

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: 80/81 Expos: Ellis Valentine Bill Almon Gary Carter Willie Montanez Mike Phillips Jeff Reardon John Milner

This would be the best coaching staff ever. A recovering cokehead, a former number-one overall draft choice-turned-futility infielder, a comical ego, a jumbo hot dog with mustard, a midnight massacre survivor, a former All Star struggling with depression, and a dead guy.

[HahnSolo]

A dead Milner would have been a better lefty option off the bench than Marlon Anderson.