Bob Melvin is sure sounding like a guy who will be gainfully employed as Mets manager :
Bob Melvin, in his own understated way, wants to open the door to the Mets’ clubhouse and give players a swift kick in the pants.
“It’s not a talent problem,” Melvin said yesterday after his second interview with Mets officials for the team’s managerial opening. “It’s the mindset. Get back to the confident mindset this team needs to win and compete in that division.”
“I don’t look at it as a rebuilding process,” he said. “I look at it as we have the pieces with this club to compete, I don’t think there is any doubt about that. Certainly with the payroll this team has, it gives you the resources to compete every year. It’s just getting everybody going in the right direction and getting everybody healthy.”
I have to agree 100% with Melvin on this. I thought Jerry Manuel’ biggest downfall was his lack of leadership and his inability to motivate his players. I’m not talking Knute Rockne “RAH-RAH-RAH WIN ONE FOR THE GIPPER” motivation but the ability to put the right people in the right situation to have them succeed. The Mets were always a three game losing streak from turning tail and retreating, and that’s on the manger. You never got the impression there was any sense of urgency with Manuel, who loved to say “there’s a lot of baseball left” when the team was floundering. “There’s a lot of baseball left”, is baseball speak for “I’ve got no clue on how to right this team” and that’s the mindset that Sandy Alderson was brought in to change.
Getting everybody going in the right direction and getting everybody healthy.” The two words that stand out to me in that quote are direction and healthy. The biggest problem the last front office regime had was a lack of organizational direction. Omar talked “pitching, defense and athleticism” but never went out and traded, signed or drafted with that mindset. There was no organizational structure in the minor league system and First Year Entry Draft would have been better served by using copies of Baseball America to draft players, but that way of doing business is over.
I feel there is a large segment of Mets fans that would bitch and moan even if John McGraw, Branch Rickey and Ed Barrow were all reincarnated and brought into the Mets organization. You want to get me excited over a manager? Then name Christina Hendricks the Mets field boss (WHOA!!!!!!!! Is it hot in here or is it Christina???????????)
The foundation of the Mets organization has a huge crack in it and the basement has very bad water damage until the farm system and mindset of how the Mets do business gets fixed and back on solid ground, it doesn’t matter who sits in the manager’s office. If it sounds like I’m drinking the Sandy Alderson Kool –Aid, you’re damn right I am, the man has a proven track record of building a strong foundation he’s Tom Silva and Norm Abram all in one package. So Mets fans give the man a little room to operate and if Wally Backman is not named manager then buy this DVD and get over it.
BE CAREFUL D-WRIGHT OR YOU’LL SLEEP WITH THE FISH
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With a win under their belt in thrilling fashion no less, the talk this morning is not about Big Pelf’ outstanding performance pounding the strike zone down low like a blacksmith, but about a former Met who is still on the Skill Set dole as a roving instructor, SNY commentator and the now the spokesman for management John Franco.
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Those statements that Franco made on Sirius/XM MLB Home Plate channel with Jeff Joyce and Kevin Kennedy was part Franco’ observation and mostly it was John doing his duty for the Skill Sets. The only thing missing was at the end of the interview hearing Jeffey Skill Set saying “I’m Jeff Wilpon and I approve this messageâ€
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See Jeffey wants no part of taking on his team, instead of himself waiting for the team to come home and going into the clubhouse and letting them know that he does not hold Omar Minaya, Jerry Manuel or any of the front office people responsible for this slide and is putting the bulls eye right on the players back. And I (I hope you all are sitting down) applaud him for that. I just wish he would have the balls to do it himself and not send Clemenza Franco to do his dirty work. Franco in fact went out of his way to praise Jerry Manuel and his coaches for giving the players the proper instruction during spring training and working extremely hard in the ‘fundies†and making it out that it’s the players who are at fault. It’s about time that the players got a good swift kick in the ass. The message from management is loud and clear to the team “Don’t worry about what management is doing, just shut the fuck up and playâ€
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Nothing that Franco said was out of line in fact in fact isn’t in a convenient  winky-dink that as Franco was telling Joyce and Kennedy that he feels the Mets play more like individuals than as a team and that some players are more “me†than “we†guys that J-Man had all his ladies take the bus† Franco called out the team as looking at padding their stats than worrying about moving runners over and stealing a base when it’s to the teams advantage and not the individuals gain, and how many times have we wanted D-Wright to take the reins of the clubhouse ?
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I know this for a fact Franco will have no problem walking into that clubhouse when the team arrives back in Queens on Tuesday. Ask any Met who played with Franco and they will tell you he was the most feared guy in that clubhouse, and I guarantee that if D-Wright wants a sit down with Franco, Johnny will be more than happy to accommodate him. Â
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What this message does as well is let the players, media and fans know that Jerry Manuel and Omar Minaya are not getting fired today, tomorrow or next year but if I were a Mets player I’d be careful buying green bananas.