Posts tagged JerryManuel at FanHouse

Carlos Delgado opened the year slow, but in case you haven't noticed, he's been raking the ball lately. Before the All-Star break, Delgado hit just .248 with a .748 OPS. Ever since then, he's been hitting .286 with a .972 OPS. Does his revival have something to do with Jerry Manuel replacing Willie Randolph? John Harper of the New York Daily News and Mets assistant GM Tony Bernazard seem to think so:

No player seemingly has benefited more from change than Delgado. His return to form as a feared slugger, after looking ready for retirement early in the season, already had been so remarkable you couldn't help but wonder if he was somehow lacking motivation under Randolph.

[...] "Delgado is such a student of the game," said Bernazard. "If you're running a good game, he knows. When you're running a bad game, he knows."

It's an interesting theory, I suppose, and hey, everybody is entitled to an opinion. But is Delgado's resurgence even that surprising? Part of the reason his early struggles were magnified was because of his strong finish last year. When you look at the numbers, Delgado has consistently improved his OPS after the All-Star break each of the last five years. With few exceptions, it's a trend that's existed his entire career.

To ignore that trend and instead attribute Delgado's current success to Randolph's absence is both mean-spirited and ignorant. If the two developments are at all related, it's the opposite that's true: Randolph is no longer around because Delgado wasn't hitting.

Billy Wagner, who was eligible to come off the disabled list on Monday, has been told by his doctor that he's still three weeks away from returning to action. Needless to say, that's not what the Mets wanted to hear, prompting the team to sign yet another reliever. After adding the extremely indisposible Luis Ayala earlier this week, the Mets signed Tampa Bay cast-off Al Reyes to a minor league deal.

Reyes, who saved 26 games last year before being replaced as Tampa Bay's closer by Troy Percival over the winter, posted a 4.37 ERA in 22 2/3 innings before being released 10 days ago. He'll report to Double-A Birmingham, but he's expected to return to the big leagues soon. From the New York Daily News:

"As I've said, we're looking at guys who are not having the best years," GM Omar Minaya said, referring to the lack of closers to have made it through waivers. "There was a major league offer, but he's chosen to go with us.

"How he would be used (if brought up) would be up to (manager) Jerry (Manuel)."

And what does Manuel think of him?

"I wouldn't know him if he walked into the room," Manuel said.

That's not exactly a ringing endorsement. For Reyes' sake, here's to hoping Manuel sticks to Baseball-Reference and not Google to learn more -- I'm sure Manuel stumbling across an article talking about how Reyes was taken down with a taser after starting a bar fight (and spitting blood on patrons) this past April isn't the first impression he's hoping for.

The Mets were hoping to get injured closer Billy Wagner back this week. Unfortunately, he reported stiffness and pain in his elbow after throwing off the mound in Pittsburgh this weekend, pushing his return back to ... well, no one knows. All anyone knows for sure is that he's not coming off the DL today.

But relax, Mets fans! To bolster the bullpen, the front office picked up Luis Ayala from Nationals! Jerry Manuel sounds pleased. From Anthony Rieber of Newsday:

"The two innings the other day that we faced him, he threw strikes, attacked the hitters," manager Jerry Manuel said. "I kind of expect the same thing."

Umm ... Jerry? Are you really happy to pick up the Nationals' scraps? Can two good innings last week outweigh the 1-8 record and 5.77 ERA (6.97 since the All-Star break) he's posted over 57 innings the entire season?

When told of Ayala's record and ERA, Manuel said: "Oh, man."

That's right, folks The power of sample size strikes again. Sarcasm aside, no one expects Ayala to be a savior -- all he cost the Mets was the infamous Player to Be Named, whom Reiber outs as the extremely expendable Anderson Hernandez, who's currently hitting .203 for Triple-A New Orleans. If Ayala can simply eat a handful of innings and absorb his nightly beating without giving up the lead, the trade will be worth it.

Our MLB editor provides weekly dispatches from major league games in Notes From the Clubhouse.

After blowing another lead in the ninth inning against the Pirates Monday, the Mets appeared to be at their breaking point when they arrived in Washington for a three-game series with the Nationals. Things were so bad manager Jerry Manuel talked about using starting pitchers Mike Pelfrey, Oliver Perez and John Maine in the ninth during his pre-game meeting with reporters.

Fast forward nine innings and reliever Pedro Feliciano, the savior of the moment after a pitching a perfect ninth to nail down a 4-3 win, was joking with reporters about how "scary" the save situation was for him.

Such is life in a desperate pennant race in the middle of August with three teams battling for just one spot in the postseason. "Sometimes you're flush and sometimes you're bust," as Ray Liotta's character from the movie Blow would say.

Chances are the New York media will paint this win as a watershed moment for the Mets, a moment spurred by the motivational tactics of Manuel and a closed-door bullpen meeting led by veterans Scott Schoeneweis and Duaner Sanchez.

With the trade deadline right around the corner, our MLB editor brings you the top five rumors every day until July 31.

- The Mets have no idea what to expect from Ryan Church the rest of the way and the Fernando Tatis-Endy Chavez combination in left field probably isn't going to cut, so everyone, including manager Jerry Manuel, is expecting the team to add an outfielder before the trade deadline. Just don't expect that outfielder to be of the Adam Dunn or Matt Holliday variety -- they just don't have the chips. New York has one of the shallowest farm systems in baseball as a consequence of the Johan Santana trade, particularly in the coveted major-league ready category.

That leaves the Mets looking at players like Xavier Nady, Raul Ibanez and Casey Blake, which really is fine. They need an upgrade on what they currently have in left field and some insurance for their injured right fielder to win the NL East, not a star player.

- The Cubs have already added starter Rich Harden and reliever Chad Gaudin, but they're still looking for pitching. A high-ranking team official took in A.J. Burnett's last start for the Blue Jays. A looming DL trip for closer Kerry Wood could change the team's focus, though. Wood's injury is not believed to be serious, but the team's bullpen was heavily taxed over the first half, and now they're down their best arm. Suddenly Damaso Marte, Brian Fuentes and Huston Street have to be looking pretty good to GM Jim Hendry.

Now that the Mets have won six games in a row, people will surely point to the change in leadership at the manager's position as a possible reason. But it's hard to tell whether Jerry Manuel created a looser clubhouse, or whether it was the six game winning streak. Chicken first ... or egg? Billy Wagner believes that Manuel came first. I don't know if that makes Manuel the chicken or the egg, but check out the latest Wagner quote as to why the Mets are a looser outfit:

"I don't want to bash Willie, because I liked him," Billy Wagner said. "But before, it was more of The Yankee Way. It wasn't The Mets Way. There was no facial hair. You could never have music in the clubhouse. You couldn't have kids around. Believe it or not, some of us in here actually like kids."

There you have it. Billy Wagner likes kids, and so do the Mets ... no matter what anyone tells you. And there's apparently nothing written in the way of the Yankees regarding children. Maybe it's because children can't grow super cool mustaches like Jason Giambi can.

It's a tough day to be Jerry Manuel. The Met manager expressed his hope that umpire Brian Runge would escape punishment for bumping him during their argument on Tuesday night. His wish will go unfulfilled, however, as MLB suspended Runge for one game this afternoon.

The news gets worse for Manuel. He and Carlos Beltran were each fined an undisclosed amount for their actions on the field. Unless the fine is a one-way Metrocard for the subway, it's too much. Runge was the only one wrong on Tuesday night and should have been the only one punished. Manuel and Beltran merely reacted to his onslaught by voicing their displeasure. David Pinto of Baseball Musings proposed a five-year ban on postseason work for Runge, I proffered a five-game vacation but anywhere in the middle would be just fine. One game though? There's no way Manuel would have gotten off with a slap on the wrist like that.

I'm really looking forward to the next time a player or manager bumps an umpire. I'm sure they'll get the same one-game suspension that Runge received, with no fine by the way, while the umpire gets fined for standing there and getting mistreated. If that doesn't happen, I hope the MLBPA or managers as a group raise a massive amount of hell over the double standard.

When Jerry Manuel took the lineup card out to home plate before last night's game with the Mariners a familiar face was there to greet him. Brian Runge, the umpire who tossed Manuel and Carlos Beltran from the previous contest, stuck his hand out and Manuel accepted it. Runge also apologized for bumping Manuel during the argument that preceded the ejections.

Manuel said before the game that such an apology would be enough for him to put the incident in the past.

Manuel had said he was "not hoping that (Runge) does get disciplined. I think for me, maybe just a personal apology would be enough for me. I think that would be plenty enough for me. I don't hope to see anyone get suspended and all that kind of stuff."

I don't agree with Manuel. Watch the video again and then ask yourself, if the two sides had acted differently would there be any doubt about a suspension? No way. Manuel would be fined and suspended by Major League Baseball for making contact with an umpire. The same standard should hold to Runge who escalated the situation well beyond a simple argument about balls and strikes.

It's not like there's no precedent. Mike Winters was suspended for the argument that led to Milton Bradley's season-ending injury last year and that was for verbal, not physical, reasons. Winters was relieved of duty for five games, the same seems reasonable for Runge.

One of the main frustrations Met fans had with former manager Willie Randolph was his "lack of fire", certainly during those times where players could have used some protection during arguments with umpires. New manager Jerry Manuel changed that by going out to protect Carlos Beltran after he argued a strike call, after which Runge made it a point to extend the argument by taking his mask off and extending the argument. Manuel went out to protect his star because he felt he was baited. Manuel was then bumped by Runge (yes, the manager was bumped by the umpire) and then was run. That's where the video picks up as Manuel flips a lid at Runge. Moments later Beltran, who had the audacity to call Runge's move "weak", was run as well.

No, you're not supposed to argue balls and strikes. But players do it mildly and are shown a little leeway. Beltran however, was confronted by Runge, and there was no call for Runge bumping the manager. Kudos to Manuel for protecting his player. Unfortunately for the Mets, it didn't work ... they lost 11-0 to the Mariners, who have the worst record in baseball.

It's much too early to make any judgments about Jerry Manuel's tenure as Mets manager but I think it's safe to say this, he's an interesting fella. From his gangsta threats against Jose Reyes to his fertilizer comments, he's proven himself a much less predictable listen than his predecessor. He's not showing any signs of slowing down, either.

While discussing his desire to see more Met runners in motion, Manuel made a strange comment concerning Carlos Beltran. Beltran has an excellent 82% success rate on stolen base attempts but Manuel would like to see it go down.

"I would hope Carlos will run into a couple outs just to get that percentage thing out of his mind. That's going to be addressed because that's an important part in what we're going to do going forward."

Manuel's general point about making things happen on the bases has some merit. Given the way the Mets are hitting these days, taking a few chances could be fruitful. I don't see where Beltran picking his spots judiciously is such a bad thing, though.

Stolen bases are helpful when they come with a minimum of outs given away and Beltran seems to do a good job of knowing when his chances at success are highest. Assuming some batters following Beltran start hitting a little better, it would be a bad move for Beltran to give himself up.

(H/T Baseball Musings)