Jauss Named Bench Coach

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Wally Backman dissed... again!

(SC 103)

[metirish]

No threat to Manuel, he'll be happy.

[ashie62]

A shitwad hiring

What is this Fascination with Jerry Manuel? Jackass should have been let go at the end of 2008...

[Guest Edgy DC]

Dodged that Eric Wedge bullet, that's for sure. But the true lady in waiting in waiting in Connecticut.

1) Was an advance scout for Boston, so he knows the Yanks back and forth, and will be able to give invaluable advice in interleague matchups against the Bombers, such as "Don't drop pops with two outs in the ninth and the winning run on base."

2) Managed in the Montreal farm system, hired by then-Montreal field coordinator Jerry Manuel.

3) BA from Amherst, MS from UMass.

4) College baseball teammate at Amherst with Dan Duquette.

5) Wears a 2004 Red Sox ring. Got to be the King of Rings.

6) Coaching in LA, could be counted as one of the Boston West contingent, following Grady Little.

7) Father Bill Jauss a beloved sports writer in Chicago.

8) Most recent job with Baltimore, so expect his scouting reports whenever Mets look at Oriole personnel, which history says happens frequently, I think.

9) At the time of the interview with the Mets, he was managing Los Tigres del Licey, who have won 20 Domican championships. Holla Famer Tommy Lasorda roade them home to a championship in 1973 before managing the Dodgers.

10) Only member of staff on crappy Oriole team not invited back for next year. Curious? I am.

Anyhow, if you are a Mets completionist, here's a Dave Jauss card for you: http://cgi.ebay.com/1991-W.P.-Beach-Expos-DAVE-JAUSS-West-Palm-beach-FL_W0QQitemZ370290321052QQcmdZViewItemQQimsxZ20091114?IMSfp=TL091114188008r39287

[Guest Edgy DC]

A shitwad hiring What is this Fascination with Jerry Manuel? Jackass should have been let go at the end of 2008...

Please explain why this is a shitwad hiring and what this has to do with a "Fascination with Jerry Manuel."

The tone around here is getting nuttier with every report.

Report: Jeff Wilpon wakes up in the morning.

Response: Asshole.

Report: Jerry Manuel crosses street.

Response: Typical douchebag move.

Report: David Howard to rake leaves.

Response: Stupid shitwad Mets.

[bmfc1]

I don't want to speak for anyone, but I'm guessing that this is viewed as a "shitwad hiring" as the Mets have brought in an old colleague of Jerry and Omar, and someone who is not a former ML manager so he's not viewed as an obvious threat to take Jerry's job, instead of someone like Wedge or Melvin who has managerial experience and can provide a new perspective.

[metirish]

Sandy Alomar Jr. gone to Cleveland as first base coach and Chip Hale expected to be announced as Mets third base coach .

[Benjamin Grimm]

Who is or isn't the bench coach won't have an impact on whether or not Jerry gets fired during the 2010 season.

If the team isn't doing well, the Mets won't say, "Well, we have to keep Jerry because we don't think his bench coach is ready to step in." There are any number of people who are readily available and can do the interim thing.

[Guest Edgy DC]

I think that makes a lot of sense.

[Frayed Knot]

Father Bill Jauss a beloved sports writer in Chicago.

Back before putting two or more sports writers together to discuss sports-related topics became a staple of TV and, for the most part, then degraded into a forced antagonistic insult-fest like some bad imitation of SNL's 'Point-Counterpoint', Bill Jauss was a regular on the syndicated and Chicago-based 'The Sportswriters' (I think that was the name) which was not only a fresher idea during the time it ran but was a funny, informative, non-forced chat between a bunch of crusty-old writers smoking cigars as they discussed issues of the week.




Not that any of that has anything to do with whether this guy will be a good bench coach, but it was my first thought when I heard the name.

[bmfc1]

Benjamin Grimm wrote: Who is or isn't the bench coach won't have an impact on whether or not Jerry gets fired during the 2010 season. If the team isn't doing well, the Mets won't say, "Well, we have to keep Jerry because we don't think his bench coach is ready to step in." There are any number of people who are readily available and can do the interim thing.

True. This only removes the threat from a guy sitting next to him. If it makes Jerry more comfortable, there's nothing wrong with that. Maybe he'll be able to loosen up and laugh once in awhile.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

bmfc1 wrote: I don't want to speak for anyone, but I'm guessing that this is viewed as a "shitwad hiring" as the Mets have brought in an old colleague of Jerry and Omar, and someone who is not a former ML manager so he's not viewed as an obvious threat to take Jerry's job, instead of someone like Wedge or Melvin who has managerial experience and can provide a new perspective.

As long as they've decided to let Jerry have another go (or actually, keep up their end of the contract bargain) I don't see it as doing him any good to hire a staff of pretenders to his throne particularly when hacks like John Harper get the back page of today's Snooze to suggest Jerry now has a successor in waiting ... in Brooklyn.

I am as disappointed as anyone in the job Manuel did last year, especially since I really liked him at first. But if they are to whack him this season they will have no trouble at all finding someone to replace him and even if it's the bench coach, I'm sure his Met career will be a short one because if it comes to that, no way they won't make an extra extra (extra) fresh start in 2011.

[metirish]

John Cougar Lunchbucket As long as they've decided to let Jerry have another go (or actually, keep up their end of the contract bargain) I don't see it as doing him any good to hire a staff of pretenders to his throne particularly when hacks like John Harper get the back page of today's Snooze to suggest Jerry now has a successor in waiting ... in Brooklyn. .

Harper's column was utter crap even for him....on the one hand he paints it like Wally is there waiting to take over next July but then says Wally probably needs a few season in the minors to reestablish himself.....and in the Rubin article I thought the quotes form Dave Howard were a little much.....talking about an "significant clause" in the contract regarding zero tolerance ....that's fine but why go public with it?

[bmfc1]

Wouldn't that same clause be in every personnel contract?

[Benjamin Grimm]

Not all contracts have "zero tolerance." Some have "one tolerance" and some have "two tolerance." Some even go as high as "seven tolerance."

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Rubin's article seems to suggest Wally's on Double-Secret Probabtion, but of course, they're not concerned at all.

Reminds me of when Jeff Wilpon said that Carlos Delgado's protests were not a concern by remarking "He won't do that here."

[Benjamin Grimm]

By the way, how do you pronounce "Jauss"?

In my head, I'm hearing it rhyme with "mouse" and with a traditional J sound at the beginning. But it could, I suppose, start with a Y sound if the name has kept a traditional European pronunciation.

[metirish]

"Part of the discussion was, �Hey, Wally, we're giving you a shot, but you have to understand that if there's any hiccup along the way, we would have the right to terminate the relationship,'" Howard said. "He understood that. He was more than happy with that because he's confident there are not going to be any issues."

Howard sounding like Omar....

[Guest Edgy DC]

I bet he was confident there would be no issues when he managed the South Georgia Peanuts.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Am I understanding that hiring a third base coach and a bench coach puts Razor on first base?

Anyhow...

Ten Chip Hale Facts

1. Born December 2, 1964, as protestors had taken over administration buildings in nearby University of California, Berkeley. Police took the campus back with no reported disturbances to young Chip.
   
   
   
2. Won an NCAA championship with the 1986 Arizona Wildcats.
   
   
   
3. Already holds a place in Mets history, hitting the fly ball on May 27, 1991 that Rodney McCray pursued by running through the outfield wall.
   
   
   
4. Supposedly owns a championship ring as a member of the 1991 Twinkies, though he didn't appear for the big club that year.
   
   
   
5. Hit his first career homer in New York off of the Yankees' Scott Kamieniecki.
   
   
   
6. Won the Pacific Coast League's Manager of the Year for leading the Tucson Sidewinders to a franchies best 91-53 record in 2006.
   
   
   
7. Holds a .562 winning percentage in six seasons as a minor league manager in the D-backs organization.
   
   
   
8. The Diamondbacks also got bit hard by the injury bug this year, and Chip has quotes on record suggesting that he's loathe to use injuries as an a excuse: �Every team in this league has had situations where either their rehab guys helped them win or they've had to deal with some bad outings or bad at-bats. That's just the way it goes. That's just another excuse. For me, the only excuse why we (were not) winning was because we weren't playing well.�
   
   
   
9. Likes (http://www.facebook.com/people/Chip-Hale/525281972#/group.php?gid=107918182857&ref=search&sid=1049234819.389281461..1)
   
   • New York
     
   • Jeff Francoeur's arm
     
   • Visiting Arlington National Cemetary

[*]Four members at his Facebook fan page: http://www.facebook.com/people/Chip-Hale/525281972#/group.php?gid=107918182857&ref=search&sid=1049234819.389281461..1

[Frayed Knot]

Benjamin Grimm wrote: By the way, how do you pronounce "Jauss"? In my head, I'm hearing it rhyme with "mouse" and with a traditional J sound at the beginning. But it could, I suppose, start with a Y sound if the name has kept a traditional European pronunciation.

Yeah that.

[seawolf17]

Benjamin Grimm wrote: Some even go as high as "seven tolerance."

See "Howe, Steve," and "Martin, Billy."

[seawolf17]

Benjamin Grimm wrote: By the way, how do you pronounce "Jauss"?

Over/under on the first "JAUSS-HOLE" headline from the Post: May 1.

[Benjamin Grimm]

Now it's official: Jauss and Hale have been announced as 2010 coaches. (Jauss on the bench and Hale at third base.)

[Gwreck]

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: As long as they've decided to let Jerry have another go (or actually, keep up their end of the contract bargain)

The Mets "end" of the "contract bargain" is $$$. Nothing more, nothing less.

In fact, that's almost SOP for the Mets. Seems to me the Mets have been paying people in 2005, 2006, 2008 and 2009 to not manage the team -- in addition to the people they *were* paying to manage the team.

[metirish]

Jauss was with Manuel in Montreal.

[metirish]

Also

Terry Collins, the former Astros and Angels manager, has joined the Mets as their minor-league field coordinator.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Buffalo News bb writer is thrilled at the Mets moves:

Good call by Mets to retain Herd staff Maybe you're surprised that I'm OK with today's announcement by the Mets that manager Ken Oberkfell and pitching coach Ricky Bones will be back to try it again with the Bisons in 2010 after directing that 56-87 trainwreck last summer. But I said in September that they should be given another chance and I'm glad the Mets agreed with that call. There was no question about Bones. He did a terrific job as the team ERA was under 4.00 for most of the season, a remarkable figure given the team's record. Jonathon Niese and Nelson Figueroa had great Triple-A seasons and were solid options for the big-league rotation and the Herd staff's ERA was just 2.86 in July. What about Oberkfell? There were times during the team's 2-17 start when I wondered if he was about to be sacrificed in a quick-fix by the Mets. Instead, overmatched hitting coach Luis Natera got a much-deserved whacking. I want to see how Oberkfell does with a real team, not the sadsack bunch thrust in his face by deposed and despised minor-league poobah Tony Bernazard. The players respected him and he definitely did better in the second half with a more veteran team. Here's hoping the Mets move faster on the minor-league free agent front than they did last winter. Barring injuries (no sure bet in this organization I realize), Oberkfell should have Fernando Martinez and Nick Evans for full seasons. And other hot prospects like C Josh Thole and 1B Ike Davis should be impact players here as well. One memo to the Mets: See about trying hitting coach Jack Voigt at third base. There were nights when Oberkfell was a disaster there.

And especially on Collins, whom this guy sees as the guy with the knife bfmc wanted so badly.

Good call II by Mets on Collins I'm going to give the Mets props twice in the same day? I must be going soft -- or the Metsies, for once, are using their heads. Bringing ex-Bisons manager Terry Collins on board as field coordinator, a move announced Tuesday night, is a terrific choice on several fronts. Collins has field coordinator/farm director experience with the Dodgers. He knows talent. He's organized. He's passionate. And he's an outside voice who can come in and give the Mets a new view in the wake of the Tony Bernazard fiasco. Two more angles you shouldn't discount: ---Jerry Manuel's replacement: What if the Mets start poorly next year? There really are no choices on the current staff to replace Manuel. For all the talk about beloved '86 Met Wally Backman, he was just hired to manage the Class A Brooklyn team in the New York-Penn League. Foolish to think the Mets would shoot him to the big leagues. But Collins is now in house with six years under his belt with Houston and Anaheim and two more in Japan. Hmmmm. ---The Buffalo factor: Collins, of course, is revered in Buffalo. Especially by ownership and the front office. I've talked to him a few times in the years since he left and he talks about his time here wistfully. It's widely known he was going to be Bob Rich's choice as manager if the Herd had gotten a 1993 NL expansion team. You would think he would make sure the Bisons are taken care of the right way (Memo to the Mets: A full roster is a requirement every night in Triple-A). Now that J.P. Ricciardi is gone in Toronto, an affiliation with the Blue Jays in 2011 is certainly plausible if the Mets flame out here next year. Collins can help bridge the gap between the folks at Citi Field and the folks at Coca-Cola Field. Somehow, I doubt he'd sit by idly if the Triple-A team in his system was 2-17.

[Frayed Knot]

metirish wrote: Also Terry Collins, the former Astros and Angels manager, has joined the Mets as their minor-league field coordinator.

Don't want to let those fields become uncoordinated.

[bmfc1]

Bob Melvin didn't get the bench coach job but he was named Director of Major League Scouting.