Jon Heyman of SI.com reports that the Mets will be bringing Jerry Manuel back next season and will meet with the Mets soon to discuss his contract.

Omar Minaya told Mike Francesa on his WFAN radio show recently that he will not base his decision to renew Jerry Manuel’s contract as manager of the Mets on if the Mets make the playoffs or not.

As was reported earlier this week, the Mets are close to giving Omar Minaya a four-year extension.

I’m not opposed to bringing Minaya and Manuel back, but the timing of these announcements are bad. The pressure should be put on Minaya and Manuel to get the Mets into the playoffs, regardless of the Mets intentions.

Naturally it is easy to sit at home and criticize a manager’s moves after the fact.  While I am clearly doing that now in this post - for the record I said all of these things at the time before I saw the outcome. 

My first issue with Jerry Manuel’s managing this afteroon was the decision he made regarding intentional walks in the 8th inning.  First, with a man on third, Manuel called for the intentional walk to Greg Norton.  While Norton has blasted the Mets already this season, he is Greg Norton - a .265 hitter with a little pop but nothing too daunting.

Then, there were men on 1st and 3rd with two outs, the Mets down 5-4.  Chipper Jones had been out with an injured shoulder and hadn’t played since being pulled because of the injury on Friday.  So with the pitchers slot coming up, Bobby Cox pinch-hit Jones and essentially knew exactly what Manuel’s reaction would be - a second straight intentional walk.  Cox had no intention of having Jones swing the bat, and Jones was probably barely capable of doing so - but Cox knew that Manuel would walk Jones to load the bases. 

In short, the Mets moved from a situation with a guy on 3rd and two outs and a .265 hitter at the plate (Norton), to a situation with the bases loaded and two outs with a .323 hitter at the plate (Martin Prado).   

The intentional walk to Jones brought up Martin Prado, to the dish.  Because the bases were loaded, a single by Prado now would score two runs and a double definitely scores two and potentially scores three.  In addition to that, a walk or hit-by-pitch both score a run.  The pitcher, Aaron Heilman, has been prone to walks and hit by pitches the entire season so the second IBB there only puts the Mets in more danger.  Ultimately, Heilman allowed a double to Prado yielding two runs.  Even if Greg Norton managed to hit a home run - that would still only be two runs.  The two intentional walks called for by Manuel were very poorly thought out and they put the Mets in a better position to lose the game. 

The final decision I have to question was in the 9th inning.  After a Carlos Delgado bomb that brought the Mets within one run, Manuel decided to pinch hit for Ryan Church with Damion Easley.  Although Church has been slumping and it would be a lefty on lefty match up, I disagree with move.  Church has more pop, and is only slightly worse vs. lefties.  Also - Easley is dealing with a quadriceps injury and clearly isn’t ready to play yet.  As the announcers said during the broadcast, Easley said he feels good enough to run at fifty percent in a straight line - a situation clearly not fit to play professional baseball. 

So, even if you think batting for Church there is the right decision, choosing Easley to do so clearly isn’t.  Why not use Ramon Castro, who probably has more raw power than either of them?  Why not pick Nick Evans who is batting .338 vs. lefties and would also be able to go in the field to replace Church?  With many potential scenarios on hand, Manuel chose the worst possible one once again.  Easley struck out. 

Manuel had a few choices in how to manage the game today, and he failed to use logic or reason to guide any of them.  Hopefully he can learn from his mistakes, because if he makes such poor decisions day after day then the Mets might not be playing postseason baseball.         

Blogs like Metstradamus and Mets Merized Online linked to a report from the New York Daily News‘ Adam Rubin that is absolutely hilarious. When asked about Triple-A slugger Valentino Pascucci, Rubin said Mets manager Jerry Manuel has no idea who he is.

Pascucci is batting .293 with 16 homers and 42 RBI in 62 games with the Triple-A New Orleans Zephyrs this season. He’s hitting .373 against lefties and .263 against righties. He hit .284 with 34 HR and 98 RBI in 132 games in the Pacific Coast League last season. Statistically, the man can mash.

While Omar Minaya is really in charge of these things, it’s still funny that fans could know more about a minor league player than Manuel. This is, no doubt, bad news for SNY’s Ted Berg, who has expressed his adoration for Pascucci nearly per column in his “Flushing Fussing” feature on SNY.tv. He wrote a very interesting, in-depth piece on him back on June 1. I’m sure Manuel’s comments will come up in a later article.

I’ll begin this with a disclaimer. I understand how annoying those Monday morning QB-types are who constantly second-guess moves made by the manager. I understand that Duaner Sanchez was not to be used last night, and manager Jerry Manuel had already spent Joe Smith, Aaron Heilman, and Pedro Feliciano in his bullpen. He didn’t have much left to use.

However, Manuel had two better options to use rather than Carlos Muniz in the 9th. Scott Schoeneweis didn’t pitch on Tuesday, so he was fresh. Billy Wagner pitched on Tuesday but didn’t on Monday, so he was also fresh.

Manuel seems to have chosen Muniz because he’s a righty, and the 9th had two right-handed batters (Albert Pujols and Troy Glaus) sandwiched between a left-handed batter (Rick Ankiel). Ryan Ludwick, another right-handed batter, would come up if any of them got on. One cannot fault Manuel for playing the matchups, as many managers do. But in this case, when it’s the heart of the Cardinals order against the last man in your bullpen, Muniz, who had struggled a bit since his recent call-up, I wouldn’t make that move.

The entire Cardinals lineup is predominantly right-handed, and the Mets have a bullpen with three lefties. Sometimes you just have to ignore match-ups. After all, it was the left-handed Chris Duncan that homered off Feliciano in the 8th.

Perhaps the most frustrating thing about the move is it’s really a move for the 12th when the Mets fictitiously have a lead and Wagner can close the road game. Using Wagner in the 9th to keep the game at a tie is a move to keep the Mets in the ballgame, period. Hold off on Muniz until its the 12th inning, and the game is still at a deadlock. Schoeneweis and Wagner have already been spent, and Muniz, a reliever capable of going a bit long, is the last line of defense before having to use a starter. Don’t use him in the 9th against the heart of the Cardinals’ order.

In his latest column for ESPN.com, Jayson Stark takes a look at the Mets managerial position and that the latest name on the rumor mill regarding a potential vacancy for the team is Yankees first base coach Tony Pena. Stark adds that Jerry Manuel still has the inside track to get the job full-time in 2009 if he is capable of turning it around. He also notes that Omar Minaya is completly safe for the foreseeable future as well as that the Mets are not planning to make any significant personnel changes until they give Manuel a few weeks.

Pena was 198-285 in 483 games with the Kansas City Royals as a manager between 2002 and 2005. He was named American League manager of the year in 2003 after he led the Royals to an 83 win season after losing 67 in the previous season. He resigned as manager in 2005, 33 games after starting the season 8-25.

Finally, Stark states that an official with one team has spoke with the Mets regarding starting pitcher Oliver Perez and that the Mets are frustrated with his inconsistency on the mound since coming to the Mets in mid-2006. The Mets are about ready to listen to offers for him and intend to replace him in the rotation with Tony Armas Jr. if they can find a taker.

I don’t mind Manuel so far as manager and I think he has done a good job with the cards that have been handed to him. There is not much you can do when you have to resort to guys like Fernando Tatis, Trot Nixon and Damion Easley in your every day lineup every other day due to injuries to the veteran starters. How do you fix that? Get rid of the guy that assembled this team.

Despite being just 4.5 games out of first place in the division, I still believe that the Mets should be sellers at the deadline, not buyers. This team simply just doesn’t have the look of a winning team. You can go on and say that once you make the playoffs, anything can happen, but with what little the Mets have available to trade if they become buyers, it would make no sense for the future. This team is as old and brittle as they come. The best thing to do is sell what you can, bring back anything in return, and wait out the enormous contracts to these overpriced, slacking veterans on this team.

New York Post sports columnist Kevin Kernan talks about the Mets and the Yankees on ESPN.

Kernan covers Jose Reyes‘ ‘tantrum’ and compares him to Paul O’Neill. He also talks about Jerrry Manuel’s recent quotes about the fans and about the Mets being number two in NY. Kernan thinks Johan Santana is frustrated about the Mets porous defense and compares it to the solid defense Santana had in Minnesota. Overall Kernan says the Mets feel good about themselves and that they feel like ‘they’re about ready to make a move’.

According Matt Cerrone at Mets Blog, OF Carlos Beltran and Mets manager Jerry Manuel were fined for their fight with umpire Brian Runge during Tuesday night’s game.  Runge was suspended for his actions, likely because he escalated the fight and initiated some of the conflict. 

The fines and suspension stems from an incident from the Mets 11-0 loss to the Mariners on Tuesday.  Beltran was upset with a few called strikes, and Runge seemed to initiate the conflict by approaching Beltran.  Manuel intervened, where Runge continued to escalate things by yelling at Manuel and bumping him.  Manuel was tossed, and then Beltran continued the argument and was also kicked out of the game.   

Ok, it’s fine that Beltran and Manuel were fined, but the real victory here was that Runge was suspended.  He was clearly just looking for some action and to pick a fight.  He found the opportunity and for no apparent reason he escalated a conflict, which is the complete opposite of his duty as an umpire.  It’s nice to see MLB recognize the need for discipline there.   

(AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)

Jerry Manual spoke with Chris Russo today on WFAN and will now be in Willie’s weekly spot.

Asked about the difference between himself and Willie Randolph when arguing with umpires:

“There are managers that do things differently. I can’t fault Willie for handling things different. That just happens to be the way I do things. There is no right and wrong.”

Asked about the whether the clubhouse is loose:

“Well, for me it’s all about relationships and it was a difficult thing with the cloud that was hanging over the club. It had nothing to do with how the clubhouse was being run. For me its about relationships more than rules. Rules without relationships leads to rebellion. I try to liberate them a little bit, there will be a time were things will have to get tightened up because there also needs to be a certain discipline amongst a group of men…but at this time, I just felt, let me free it up and let me see what type of player you can be and then at any given time I’ll be able to tighten that up…Yes, the clubhouse was tight. Not because of anything Willie was doing but because of his status. A lot of attention was payed to that and I would say it was difficult for some of the young players to handle.”

Asked about giving David Wright the day off:

“Well, I thought the night before he really showed signs of fatigue offensively and defensively so, I figured I’d better get it out of the way. I do not like giving players days off at home, especially everyday players but I felt it was necessary.”

Asked about the team’s bad play after playing well in Colorado:

“It was a surprise. I think what we were able to identify is that when you don’t hit as a team, you give everybody a chance to beat you regardless what record you have, you become even with them. Everyone can look good when you’re not hitting and yesterday, obviously, Perez wasn’t any good as well.”

Asked if Howard Johnson is responsible for the team not hitting:

“I think its a group effort. HoJo and myself. We have to try to find maybe a better plan how we can win games with the offensive machinery we do have. That part has been somewhat challenging for us to understand what type of team we are versus what type of team we were. We’ve lost, and everyone has lost players don’t get me wrong but without Church, Alou that’s a lot of offense that we are missing. Plus, Delgado has been somewhat of an enigma, he’s been sporadic here and there. So, when you have that combination and when you replace offensive players with strictly defensive players you have to create a different way of scoring runs and winning ball games.”

Asked if Arthur Rhodes dominance over Delgado was Rhodes or Delgado:

“That’s a very good question. I would have to tip my hat to Rhodes because that same night Delgado took another lefty and hit a line drive to left field. So, I thought we were in a good situation with Rhodes in the game because historically teams have been able score on him late in ball games.”

Asked again about the bad play versus Seattle:

“We have played very, very poorly and it’s surprising and we have to find a way to play consistent baseball. We have not played the type of baseball I want especially in front of the passionate fans we have. People are waiting and anticipating and hoping for something good and we haven’t given it to them and its very disappointing.”

Asked about Carlos Beltran and overall team aggressiveness on the bases:

“We are addressing that as we speak because we are not the type of team that can wait. With the group we have on the field on a daily basis we can ill afford not to take advantage of critical base running and base stealing.”

Asked about surprises so far:

“The media has been a surprise…with the questions about the strategy, I always thought there would be a question about a reaction here and there. Its surprising that there are strategic questions being asked…I appreciate it but it was surprising, in the other cities it was more about what was controversial, even though that is a part of it here as well but I seem to get more questions about strategy and that is good for me. I like that.”

Asked about the controversies regarding Willie Randolph and Tony Bernazard:

‘It bothered me because I didn’t think it was fair. I felt I was a tremendous subordinate for Willie and a support for whatever he needed to do. Do I have a lot of different ideas? Of course I do. Now, when news broke that Jerry is the guy quite naturally you begin to in your own way think of things and those are things that have always been with me that I’ve always discussed with Willie right here in his office. So, as soon as that came out Willie asked me and I said hey no one, no one has spoken to me or talked to me about whether I would do this or x,y and z.”

Hat tip to Hot Foot reader RS Janis Jr. for the video.

There was some fight in the Mets last night but not the kind that shows on the scoreboard. It was the kind of feistiness Mets fans had been yearning for from Willie Randolph but instead it came from the new man at the helm Jerry Manuel. Some will say all the bluster and no runs means absolutely nothing but I disagree. Pulling some emotion out of tranquil players like Carlos Beltran might light a fire that this team so desperately needs.

It may be wishful thinking but reality is tough to deal with right now so let me wish. I enjoyed seeing Beltran show that type of emotion and I like the reason he did it. Beltran explained:

“I just told him what I felt about that pitch and he came out to challenge me,” Beltran said. “But what he (umpire Brian Runge) did to Jerry was what got me ejected. I told him I thought that was weak. It’s the first time I’ve been so angry in my career. If I get punished for my actions so should he.”"That’s a weak move that he did. And being able to bump the (manager) to throw him out of the game? That’s brutal. That’s brutal.”

Manuel was tossed because he wanted to stand up for his player:

“I thought Runge was kind of baiting Carlos when he took his face mask off and began dusting off home plate as he was talking to him,” Manuel said. “Carlos is a quiet guy. I felt (Runge) did step into me. I know I didn’t step into him. “I think what instigated Carlos to continue was I think he saw the contact and I don’t think he appreciated that,” Manuel said of Tuesday night’s incident. “That’s what he said to the umpire after I left. He expressed that wasn’t a good thing to be doing and didn’t seem proper.”

Even Jose Reyes liked what he saw out of Beltran and his new manager:

“We fight for each other,” Jose Reyes said.

So, I am choosing to take something positive out last night. There are plenty of opinions flying around about the Mets and I hear and I read a lot about intangibles, chemistry, that sort of thing. Things that are hard to measure. So, lets hope that last night was one of those ‘things’, a spark or a sign that this team, like Reyes said will ‘fight for each other’, maybe that fight started last night. I sure hope so because only being happy that the rest of the NL east lost last night isn’t cutting it.

Hat tip to the Daily News for the quotes and AOL for the video.

Today the NY Post misrepresented Jerry Manual’s ‘fertilizer’ comment and it’s great to see them taken to task by Hot Foot’s own Anthony De Rosa, Mets Blog’s reader’s and now on national cable TV by Countdown’s Keith Olbermann.

Billy Wagner spoke yesterday from Anaheim to Michael Kay of ESPN Radio in his weekly spot.

What is your reaction to Willie losing his job?

“I hated seeing it happen because I can’t help feeling that I was responsible, not doing my job as consistently as I could of done. It just stinks that your manager is critiqued on how his players are playing, when guys are going through a tough time and stuff and the manager is kind of look down on and when we are doing well he looks like a genius. I know it’s part of the game but you hate when that happens.”

Is it Willie’s fault that the team is a .500 team right now?

“Well, I don’t think so. If I get three more saves and were above .500. I can’t really put anything on Willie I think he’s done some of his best coaching when we’ve struggled. He’s put guys in situations and we just haven’t performed. I really feel bad that it came down to him.”

How did you find out about it? Did you go to sleep thinking Willie was the manager?

“I didn’t find out until this (yesterday) morning, when I came out of the elevator, the reporters where there and they were like did you hear about Willie? I said no I hadn’t but with all these cameras here its pretty obvious. I’ve never been in that type of situation, with that much media exposure, I was a little shocked at that but I guess you could see it coming. Speculation was out there, the team really didn’t know what was going on.”

Do you think Willie and this team has ever recovered from last year?

“I don’t think the team feels that effect. I don’t think we’ve ever said we blew a seven game lead so we’re not gonna play well. We know we have the talent and we know we are a good baseball team. I think its, we got off to a slow start and when some guys get going then another part of the team goes down. When the starting pitching was struggling the bullpen was strong. When the bullpen was struggling the starting pitching was strong, just things haven’t worked together. I really don’t think it has anything to do with last year or Willie.”

Reports say that guys who got in late had a ho-hum reaction to the news, Was there something about Willie that some on the team didn’t like?

“Not that I know of. When you’re the manager you don’t have to be liked. You just have to be respected. That’s why we play the game, its to be respected. Your manager is not there to hold your hand and make you like him. Willie was a very personable person, he and I, we had our ups and downs but we always got along. I knew where he stood and he knew where I stood. We communicated better and better the longer we were together. The more he got to know me the more he knew what was best for me. He was easy to talk and it was easier to know what he expected from me…He’s the manager, you’re the All-Star, you’re the player, its up to you to play the game. Sometimes you get put in a situation that isn’t favorable or difficult but if you consider yourself one of the best, you have to go out there and get it done.”

“Willie’s got that competitive fire, like old school. He wears his heart on his sleeve. He’s very passionate about his job, about the game. His expectations for his players is high and I think players of this day and age may not have that same passion, like the guys may have had when Willie played…I am old enough to have watched Willie play and you look at the back of his bubble gum card and you know he was a great player. When you talk about that kind of player, guys in our clubhouse are hard nose and they go after it, but it was definitely a different era.”

Do you feel sorry for him today?

“Sorry,..no I don’t feel sorry. I hate that he was put under the microscope because of our teams shortcomings. But the greatest managers ever have been fired and so going through this, the type of person he is, this will only make him a better manager and make him a better person. He’ll look back and see what he could of done better or he’ll just look back and reflect and when he gets his next job there will be things he will improve on.”

What do you think of Jerry Manuel?

“I think when you go from bench coach to manager a lot of things change. As a bench coach your kind of the buffer, the in-between to say everything is alright, keep working hard. Now he’s the head honcho, it’s not about hey it’s ok, its about go get the job done.”

According to a New York Post story on Thursday, friends of Willie Randolph say the former manager thinks Jerry Manuel may have contributed to bringing about his early Tuesday firing.

His friends say Randolph developed these thoughts when he observed Manuel talking to Mets’ assistant GM Tony Bernazard. Manuel denied this was his intent, both in a face-to-face discussion with Randolph afterward and to reporters yesterday afternoon.

Randolph also apparently felt Manuel was going out of his way to distance himself from Randolph in his introductory press conference on Tuesday, suggesting he may have discussed the changes he would make as manager to Bernazard.

It’s always best to take stories with “friends” as sources with a grain of salt, but this type of paranoia is in the vein of the racial remarks Randolph made weeks ago.

Personally, I think Manuel hasn’t been radically different from Randolph thus far. He’s getting too much credit for his use of the DH with David Wright on Tuesday. The Mets will only have the DH a few games this season; he can’t realistically “freshen up” players as much as he acted like he could. Randolph would have used the DH in the same manner Manuel is, especially since he’s done so with the likes of youngsters Wright and Jose Reyes in previous years.

As far as major changes to the lineup in particular, Manuel said he’d like to get people going with the 2-spot in the lineup, but thus far, he hasn’t implemented that plan. That Post article also says Manuel might switch Wright and Carlos Beltran in a few games. But until he does these bigger moves, Manuel is maintaining much of Randolph’s set plans.