Fixing the Mets, Part 1: Fire Jerry Manuel

Baseball is a funny sport, especially in New York. After the 2008 season, in which Jerry Manuel took over for Willie Randolph in June, I wanted to award him the title of National League Manager of the Year. Maybe if the Mets held on to win the NL East, instead of missing the playoffs after losing a September lead for the second consecutive year, he would have won, but he instead was second to Cubs manager Lou Piniella.

The Mets were in desperate need of a change when they made the decision to fire Randolph. In promoting Manuel from bench coach to interim manager, he stepped in and seemed to be an exact opposite of Randolph. His impact was immediate, as he had to deal with star player Jose Reyes after the first play in his first game as manager. Reyes led off the game with a single, but tweaked his hamstring (what else is new?). Manuel decided to play it safe and pull Reyes from the game, and Reyes went into a fit on the field before storming off into the dugout.

Reyes later came back and apologized, and from that point forward, this was a changed team. Whatever it was about Manuel, the players believed in him, and it gave them a spark that pushed them to the top of the division. But in the end, it was the same Mets playing in September as last year, and the same Mets that were not playing in October.

But Jerry had earned the right to be the manager of this team, and signed a two year contract to do so following the season. He gave hope that he could turn the Mets around.

One year later, I want him gone.

I don't think Manuel changed much between seasons. Perhaps it is just that the spark of change after the firing of Randolph brought on success, and success can mask the ineptitudes of a team or manager. Then, when 2009 brought complete failure, it seemed like all of Jerry's ways were wrong.

Maybe that is unfair to Jerry, especially considering how much the losing could be contributed to the insane amount of injuries this team suffered. But I can live with the losing. This team was an embarrassment this year, and it has nothing to do with the 70-92 record it finished with. It seemed as if noone was spared from injury, pitchers and position players, from the stars down to the lesser role players, and those that replaced them. But one constant remained on the 25-man rosters throughout all the DL stints and shuffled lineups: these are professional baseball players.

There was absolutely no excuse for the complete breakdown of fundamentals this season, which never got fixed. From the veteran with three Gold Gloves in his trophy case dropping a routine game-ending pop up, to Angel Pagan seemingly making a costly baserunning mistake at least once a week, to missing third base, to countless other things that I've tried so hard to force out of memory. I don't care how deciminated and demoralized and inexperienced at the Major League level the Mets' lineup became, but the fact remains that they were all professional baseball players, yet they continued to play at a level that even the most understanding of Little League coaches would have been shaking their heads at their 9-12 year old players.

Somebody has to be held responsible. I got tired of listening to Jerry after every game. One day he would say they need to play better, the next day they need to do this better, the next day they can't do this or that, the next he would make a bandhanded comment about his general manager not giving him a roster to deal with all the injuries. I felt so bad for David Wright, who has become the unofficial captain of this team, who took the abuse of playing for this team every day, but still talked to the media after every game, always with a tired, disgusted tone to his voice, but never making any excuses.

I just have no reason believe that anything will be different next year with Manuel still the manager. Omar Minaya will try to bring in some better pieces to give Jerry a better roster, and please God there better be a lot less injuries, but I have absolutely no faith in Jerry Manuel at this point, and I don't want to see him give one more post-game press conference.

Of course, a part of the reason I want him gone is that former manager Bobby Valentine is currently available. After coaching in Japan with great success and popularity, the team decided it could no longer afford his services. Valentine, who led the Mets to the 2000 World Series, is now working for ESPN, with a clause that would let him leave at any time if he is offered a managerial position. But the Mets appear adamant in sticking with Manuel for 2010. There's a good chance the great Bobby V will have already been hired by someone else by then.

So now I am prepared for another disappointing Mets season. And it's not only because Jerry Manuel still has a job. Omar Minaya will get a post of his own soon enough.