Jerry Manuel has been bewitched. Or he's just dumb. Or both.

[batmagadanleadoff]

Jeff Francoeur last night said he met with manager Jerry Manuel and has been told he will get the bulk of the playing time in rightfield the rest of the season. Francoeur went 0-for-3 with two sacrifice flies in the Mets' 6-5 win over the Marlins. He is batting .227 with 11 home runs and 51 RBIs. "We've got to find a way to get Frenchy going," Manuel said before the game. "He's an important...

To read the rest, get a subscription to Newsday. Or wait for the rest of the press to catch up

[Valadius]

Or a robot, like I've said for months.

[G-Fafif]

Jerry plays whoever he meets with. Every story is "[Player] had a meeting with Jerry expressing his concerns over playing time, so Jerry put him in tonight's lineup." Jerry takes "Meet the Mets" very literally.

As Lloyd Bentsen said of Bill Clinton, "He's the meetingest fellow I know."

[metirish]

This was mentioned at the start of the game last night, I thought it was just an odd thing to say. Neither Francoeur or Carter are the answer there for the future and Carter seems more suited to coming from the bench, or maybe that's becasue he rarely starts and that's why I think that. Anyway I won't get all worked up over it...fuck em all.

[Ceetar]

metirish wrote: This was mentioned at the start of the game last night, I thought it was just an odd thing to say. Neither Francoeur or Carter are the answer there for the future and Carter seems more suited to coming from the bench, or maybe that's becasue he rarely starts and that's why I think that. Anyway I won't get all worked up over it...fuck em all.

Jesus seems a decent bat on ball contact type hitter that might be more helpful than Jeff. Or we could bring up someone else..theoretically that's a possibility. Fernando _actually_ injured or just a day to day thing?

[seawolf17]

The only reason I could see this is if Francoeur were signed for next year and the Mets were trying to get him to turn it around, either for trade purposes or to see if he'll be part of the picture. But I don't think either of those are the case, unless he's signed to some double-secret extension they haven't told us about yet. (Which is entirely possible.)

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

it's just so hard to reconcile with the Castillo/Tejada thing, which is the exact opposite. Does anyone get it?

[smg58]

Meanwhile, Lucas Duda has 40 extra base hits in 234 AB's for Buffalo.

[metirish]

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: it's just so hard to reconcile with the Castillo/Tejada thing, which is the exact opposite. Does anyone get it?

When you think about it like this it makes it all the more confusing, the only reason I can come up with is that Francoeur is a great guy and Castillo is a surly prick.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

it's just so hard to reconcile with the Castillo/Tejada thing, which is the exact opposite. Does anyone get it? When you think about it like this it makes it all the more confusing, the only reason I can come up with is that Francoeur is a great guy and Castillo is a surly prick.

I'll go with a variation on that: I'd bet it's that Francoeur's an extrovert (and appears to be that way regardless of surroundings) and Castillo's not. It's tougher for a manager to say "no" repeatedly to a pissed-off extrovert, both in esse and for the sake of clubhouse harmony (especially if the guy's well-liked).

[MFS62]

Speaking of variations, an appropriate title of this thread to describe Jerry might be the title of the old song "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered".

Later

[batmagadanleadoff]

He's a manipulative **********, Frenchy is.

[Guest Edgy DC]

We've heard.

metirish wrote: This was mentioned at the start of the game last night, I thought it was just an odd thing to say. Neither Francoeur or Carter are the answer there for the future and Carter seems more suited to coming from the bench, or maybe that's becasue he rarely starts and that's why I think that. Anyway I won't get all worked up over it...fuck em all.

I'm not sure what you mean by future, but by my reckoning, Carter is both the better choice for the future and the better choice for the present with this team. It seems obvious. And if Carter is better sutied to comign off the bench, then Francoeur is better suited to coming off the bench less frequently.

[batmagadanleadoff]

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/26/sports/baseball/26citifield.html

�I�ve realized I do need to change my approach at the plate a little bit,� [Francoeur] said. �I�m not necessarily saying I�m going to take a pitch, but I want to work the count. Make guys work. I had some great at-bats off Josh Johnson. Made him work. When you do that, you can make it tough on a guy like that.�

�We believe that he�s due,� Manuel said.

Minaya, who acquired Francoeur on July 10, 2009, in a trade for Ryan Church, at first said �wow� when asked to assess Francoeur and his attempt to change his approach at the plate. �Jeff is a young man that could still get better in a lot of areas,� Minaya said. �He�s got some big hits for us. He can hopefully continue to contribute.�

Jeff Francoeur's post all-star game numbers: .230/.286/.366.



Is Jeff Francoeur auditioning for a spot on the 2011 team?

A late rush into contention for the playoffs may quiet the speculation that Minaya, Manuel and Francoeur are in jeopardy. A surge by Francoeur may help all three of them.

[G-Fafif]

One of Richard Nixon's failed nominees to the Supreme Court, G. Harrold Carswell, was judged by most observers to be a pretty mediocre choice. Sen. Roman Hruska attempted to turn that into a positive: "There are a lot of mediocre judges and people and lawyers," said the Nebraska Republican. "They are entitled to a little representation, aren't they?"

And that's the best explanation I can divine for the enduring managing career of Jerry Manuel.

[metirish]

Edgy DC wrote: We've heard. metirish wrote: This was mentioned at the start of the game last night, I thought it was just an odd thing to say. Neither Francoeur or Carter are the answer there for the future and Carter seems more suited to coming from the bench, or maybe that's becasue he rarely starts and that's why I think that. Anyway I won't get all worked up over it...fuck em all. I'm not sure what you mean by future, but by my reckoning, Carter is both the better choice for the future and the better choice for the present with this team. It seems obvious. And if Carter is better sutied to comign off the bench, then Francoeur is better suited to coming off the bench less frequently.

Well ,what I mean is I don't think Carter is going to be a full time outfielder for the Mets.

[Ceetar]

metirish wrote: We've heard. metirish wrote: This was mentioned at the start of the game last night, I thought it was just an odd thing to say. Neither Francoeur or Carter are the answer there for the future and Carter seems more suited to coming from the bench, or maybe that's becasue he rarely starts and that's why I think that. Anyway I won't get all worked up over it...fuck em all. I'm not sure what you mean by future, but by my reckoning, Carter is both the better choice for the future and the better choice for the present with this team. It seems obvious. And if Carter is better sutied to comign off the bench, then Francoeur is better suited to coming off the bench less frequently. Well ,what I mean is I don't think Carter is going to be a full time outfielder for the Mets.

Bay, Beltran, Pagan.

You can make a point about Beltran breaking down, etc, trying to move him, etc etc. But the Mets cannot trade Beltran if they're not going to get a better outfielder to replace him than Francoeur or Carter (or Jesus Feliciano or an unproven rookie) So there isn't even a spot on the field. The bench? Jeffrey doesn't want that. I'm not sure Carter's the best answer but at least playing him maybe he does become an option for it.