Well it seems that the Mets free fall into obscurity has commenced, taking with it all signs of life and passion that were once attached to this ball club a scant few months ago.
I had a conversation via twitter yesterday with Craig Calcatera, the ” Blogger in Chief” at Hardball talk at NBC Sports.com for his opinions in regards to the inevitable front office and managerial changes that are to come after this season mercifully comes to a end in October.
When I asked him if he thought that Texas Rangers G.M, Jon Daniels might be a candidate he responded
” I think he likes his gig in Texas. He has a way better ownership situation there.”
When I asked him if he thought if he thought that the Mets might try to go outside of the organization to pursue a Kevin Towers or a J.P Riccardi, Craig replied
” I’m pretty sure most established GMs would shy away from the job. The Wilpon meddling has become fairly apparent.” And when I pressed him about the Peter Gammons prediction from Tuesday’s Benigno & Roberts WFAN show, where stated that he thought Bobby Valentine would be the next manager of the Mets, Craig ventured his own opinion.
” As much as it pains me to agree with Jon Heyman, I think he’s right that Bob Melvin is the Mets first choice to take over.”
First off Craig never claimed any of this as being fact. He is stating his own opinions, but Craig is well respected in the baseball blogosphere. But if what he is saying is true then all I have to say is OUCH ! These are not the answers I was hoping for , and I hope that Craig is wrong. But it does raise more questions than answers.
Will possible GM candidates avoid the Mets like the plague?
Are the Mets looking for a manager that they wont have to pay a lot for instead of a manager with a good track record that might be more expensive?
Will Omar be back ?
Will It be John Ricco or Wayne Krivsky ?
Will there be a increase or a decrease in the Mets payroll?
All I know is that there is a perception of this team has reverted back to the ’02- ’04 era before Omar Minaya took charge of the team with his “total autonomy” He has made some great moves – such as the Santana trade. But he has made his share of bad ones too – re-signing Luis Castillo and Oliver Perez to albatrosses of contracts that render them untradeable.
I hope that Fred and Jeff Wilpon are monitoring the situation closely because if the once again miscalculate the landscape, I believe that this team will backslide to the late ’70′s teams , which were exercises in futility !
And with that said… HERE COMES THE INFAMY !!!
” The fate of the Mets rest in their hands – so why do I not feel so confident?”
Today would have been the 77th birthday to Mets legend , “Marvelous” Marv Throneberry (1933) . Marv was a poor defender with a decent bat, but his on field antics were legendary.
New York Mets signed free agent back up shortstop,Tito Navarro on September 2, 1987.
And as a FYI for all of the people out there that think that the Mets still have a chance to get into the postseason. Rusty Staub has agreed to do a duet Mo Vaughn – singing ” THE END ” by The Doors !!
10 comments
kingman 26
9/2/2010-7:17am at 7:17 am (UTC -4)
I cannot even believe I am saying this, and I probably could not follow through, but if they hire Krivsky and/or Melvin, it seriously might be boycott time.
This team has the life of a soggy tissue which has just been run over by a semi.
Krivsky or Melvin?
Folks, enjoy the weekend, and I hope Johan and Mejia throw back to back no-hitters.
I, for one, cannot take this utterly lifeless, uncaring group of slugs anymore right now.
kingman 26
9/2/2010-7:18am at 7:18 am (UTC -4)
Well, not back to back as the Dickster goes tomorrow, but you get the idea….
rustyjr
9/2/2010-8:09am at 8:09 am (UTC -4)
I think & hope that we will win the games that Johan & dickey pitch – I hope mejia dominates but I don’t want to set myself up for dissapointment
metsfan4decades
9/2/2010-7:43am at 7:43 am (UTC -4)
This weekend provides one of the few reasons to tune into the Met games: Mejia and Dickey. I’m curious to see how Mejia handles ML pitching this second time around and Dickey is one of the few bright spots in this season.
I still do not get the impression this group is uncaring, as you describe it. In the past couple of weeks I’ve seen open displays of frustration from some of the unlikeliest Mets such as Beltran, Wright and Niese. Dugout shots during the game showed each of these players slamming their gloves and/or bats down several times, beating up the bench in there.
This malaise, this frustration IMO, is a reflection on the FO. The growing ‘circus’ atmosphere that now surrounds this team going back to the Willie firing has gotten worse. There have been some thinly veiled comments from Wright concerning the construction of this team as well.
As Rusty described it above, the Mets have lost a lot of credibility over the past couple of years – and that’s across the board. That accountability goes back to the Wilpons. If they don’t get that – finally – and there isn’t a sweeping change from the GM on down come this off season, then I’m very much afraid we’ll be looking at a 2011 season not that much different than this 2010 season.
njstuckintx
9/2/2010-9:02am at 9:02 am (UTC -4)
And when I pressed him about the Peter Gammons prediction from Tuesday’s Benigno & Roberts WFAN show, where stated that he thought Bobby Valentine would be the next manager of the Mets, Craig ventured his own opinion.
” As much as it pains me to agree with Jon Heyman, I think he’s right that Bob Melvin is the Mets first choice to take over.”
Am I not comprehending this correctly? I thought it was S. Phillips who said something about Bobby V. Did Gammons say something about Bob Melvin? Not being nitpicky, just confused.
rustyjr
9/2/2010-9:09am at 9:09 am (UTC -4)
No it was Gammons – I remember ilyge conversation quite clear
njstuckintx
9/2/2010-9:12am at 9:12 am (UTC -4)
no worries. i’m still getting my coffee set. I trust the Oh-rahnge one.
stickguy
9/2/2010-10:00am at 10:00 am (UTC -4)
I may have to go into a media boycott on th emets, until they actually do something. As much as I love “hot stove” discussions and dreaming up grand plans, the tone and attitude of much of the fan base and media is already giving me a migraine.
dream up the worst possible scenerio, and then complain anyway. obviously this is the darkest of dark ages for Met baseball, they will never win again, etc. Must be true, you can read it all over the internet!
as to the points raised here, none of these guys actually know anything. their guess is no better than any of ours at this point.
And I 1/2 agree with Knog. If they come to the conclusion that Melvin is the way to go (IOW, steady as she goes!), that will be a huge mistake. More of the same will be perceived (if not actually true) based on history and reputation. It also, to me, signals status que for the FO, etc.
But, if they move Omar to an international scouting/development gig (IOW< relo to the DR), I am as fine with Krivnsky as just about any other likely choice.
daniels would eb great, but I assume he stays in Texas. J.P.? almost as scary as Omar! Towers might cost money, but is he any better than Wayne K.?
Most important, to me, is that they recognize and make some serious structural changes, which include more power/authority to the new GM to clean up the messes, and a smaller roll for Jeffy.
GravediggerHebner
9/2/2010-10:56am at 10:56 am (UTC -4)
While I agree with what Stick says above about “none of these guys know anything their guess is as good as ours” to a point I don’t completely agree.
Calcaterra and others in similar positions are far more connected to the inner workings of the sport and those who follow it closely for a living than I am that’s for sure.
Specifically regarding him a bonus point I give him is that he’s a lawyer so I feel confident he won’t make any bogus claim that can be proven false. Will he parse words to obscure the truth to his advantage? Sure, but I don’t think he’ll just be totally full of it.
As to what Stick says above about “more power/authority to the new GM…and a smaller role for Jeffy” well the problem inherent in that is that Jeffy is the boss/owner. Counting on him to have an epiphany that results in his reducing his own role is tenuous at best.
Mr North Jersey
9/2/2010-11:07am at 11:07 am (UTC -4)
” As much as it pains me to agree with Jon Heyman, I think he’s right that Bob Melvin is the Mets first choice to take over.”
This has been the rumor for some time now so it shouldn’t surprise most that Melvin continues to be a possibility.
The key part of that quote is that he thinks not knows and that Melvin is but a choice.
The truth is that no one has a clue as of yet what the Mets are planning to do.