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According to reports, manager Jerry Manuel and GM Omar Minaya will not be returning to those roles next season. Jon Heyman of SI.com released the news.

This should not be a surprise of anyone around baseball as the two men have been under fire last past two seasons. With yesterday’s loss to the Milwaukee Brewers, the Mets are assured a second straight losing season.

An official announcement by the Mets is expected to come before the Major League Baseball playoffs begin on Wednesday. The 2010 regular season ends Sunday.

The organization holds an option on Manuel’s contract and will not be picked up.

Minaya appears to have options. While he will not return as General Manager, Minaya is expected to be given an opportunity to take on a different role within the organization. Would anyone be surprised if that roles is something like Latin American Scout, or a general Scout?

Read full article at Double G Sports.

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The New York Mets have good news and bad news right now. As the season is winding down, they are finally at the .500 mark and for those keeping track at home, 13 games out of the division. That’s not the news I refer to.

They have multiple injuries on their roster (see Jason Bay, Jenrry Mejia, Johan Santana, and several others) and even in the farm system (Reese Havens) too. That’s not the news either. They have had more drama this season (see the veteran’s hospital incident and K-Rod) than a daytime soap opera. That’s not even the news I am speaking of at this current time.

I am an optimistic person at heart, despite recent articles, so I will start with the bad and work my way to the good. The bad news is that the Mets are a desperate team. They are desperate for a few reasons. One, they are desperate for new leadership and direction from that leadership. The current regime has not been the answer.

Earlier this season, ownership gave GM Omar Minaya a pat on the back and said his job is safe. Now there are so many stories floating around about a new general manager taking over, so that once rock-steady secure position has been shaken to its core. It may be a foregone conclusion that the once securely employed Omar Minaya will be gone at the end of the season.

If the rumors and the speculation are all true, then Jerry Manuel’s job will not be safe. In fact, he will be the first on the chopping block, I’m sure. Why would a new GM keep the old manager? He wouldn’t, not in this case anyway. Those rare exceptions are reserved for winning managers.

These players need a rude awakening. They need motivation. If they see the organization is serious about performance on the field, they may play harder and perform better. Who knows?

The next thing they are desperate for is to relieve themselves of the burden and weight of so many massively large contracts they bear. They have realized this. They have tried this past July to shop Luis Castillo and Oliver Perez.

They only managed to trade off Jeff Francoeur in August and Rod Barajas prior to that, but neither one had a large contract. They were inviting to other teams since they came cheap.

No team the Mets shopped Ollie and Luis to were desperate enough. It seems the Mets are stuck with those contracts. That’s the bad news. Now that this is out of the way, allow me to present the good news.

The Mets are NOT the only desperate team in the league. They may be next to broke or financially strapped next season, but that does not mean they can’t make moves, if they are wise.

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Ever since I started following baseball and pretty much all four major sports, my favorite team has been the New York Mets. Why? I have no idea. But I have never been more disappointed with the Mets than the 2010 season. They have had so many bad memories and so few good ones.

The Mets have to make changes in the offseason and it starts off when Jeff Wilpon fires both Omar Minaya and Jerry Manuel. These two alone have been absolutely awful for the franchise. Here is a list of the good players Minaya has gotten:

Johan Santana

Carlos Beltran and Delgado

Paul Lo Duca

Billy Wagner

That’s it. Now let’s look at the bad:

Luis Castillo

Oliver Perez

John Maine

JJ Putz

K-Rod (could go either way)

Kazuo Matsui

And there are plenty more. Omar has been brutal to the Mets over the past six seasons with having only one good season in 2006.

Now you can’t really blame Jerry for everything he has done. These are the players he has to work with. But you can blame him for a lot of things, whether it’s pulling Johan Santana out too early or bringing in the wrong guy from the bullpen. They have to make a managerial change whether it’s Joe Torre, Bobby V, or Wally Backman…Jerry has to go.

Next, get rid of either Beltran, David Wright, or Jose Reyes. I like all three of them and they try hard…not every night but most nights. Obviously they haven’t done anything together since 2006, and it has messed up the Mets’ chemistry. Of the three, I’d rather see Beltran go because, since his surgery, he has done nothing.

Next, get rid of Perez and Castillo. Probably the two worst moves Omar has ever made was signing these two god-awful players.

They can’t do anything right and none of them has had one good game. The Mets have good young pitching in the minors and Ruben Tejada can fill in the second base slot, even though I would want to see a more experienced player.

Next, keep the young guys up. Tejada, Josh Thole, Ike Davis, and Jon Niese. Give Jenrry Mejia more time in the minors.

And finally, get a new closer. K-Rod is screwed.

Here is a list of free agents I would love to see the Mets go after:

Cliff Lee

Aaron Miles

Carl Crawford

Magglio Ordonez or Jayson Werth

Ted Lilly

Jake Westbrook

Rafael Soriano 

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I usually keep my promises and I think I did a good job on this one but I have finally broken down and decided it was time to make my comments about my beloved New York Mets.

The promise was a simple one I made in Spring Training because of the major conflict I was having about my rooting status for this team. You see, I spent the entire 2009 season bashing the manager of this God forsaken club, Jerry Manuel, because, although he might be a great guy and a wonderful manager to play for, I really believe he may be, along with Art Howe, one of the worst managers not only in Mets history, but in all of baseball.

I spent article after article clearly pointing out his misuse of the pitchers, his inability to make a starting lineup where players would find themselves playing everyday, and most importantly, his in game decisions that have cost the Mets no fewer than 10 games last year, and subsequently, at least that many or more this year.

My promise however has not stopped me from watching every single game they’ve played this year from the first pitch until the last one but also attending road games in San Diego, LA, San Francisco, Phoenix, Colorado, and Philadelphia. I will not let anyone tell me that I don’t know what I’m talking about when it comes to the Mets.

Manuel must share the blame of this team’s failure to be consistent and win on a regular basis. Omar Minaya, hopefully in his last year as the General Manager, has once again shown that he reacts to situations rather than take the initiative and make decisions regarding players prior to the disasters that happen constantly to this team.

I’m not going to rehash what should have been done after the fact because that has already been beaten to death by more qualified writers than myself. I’d like to address what to do from this point of the season with less than 30 games left to play.

Time has run out on both Manuel and Minaya. Why bother to let them finish the season? Do they deserve to? I think not. If John Ricco is or is not the new Mets GM for next year, give him the interim title right now. It’s not that he could do anything in the final 3 weeks of the season anyway, but it would give him a head start on the winter meetings and the hot stove arena which he will be thrust into. If he’s not the man for the job, it’s no big deal as a title means nothing if you’re not able to accomplish anything anyway.

They should say “bye, bye” to Jerry as well. Lets bring Wally Backman or anybody else to be the interim manager. My reasoning for this is that we have brought the main club our top players from AA and AAA for this final run to nowhere, and personally I’d rather have anybody else for their induction into the big leagues than Jerry Manuel.

In addition to those two firings, (finally) I would shut down, Jose Reyes, Carlos Beltran, and Johan Santana immediately. Reyes and Santana are easy ones. They are still hurt to some degree and despite their competitiveness, they are susceptible to re-injury more than any other player on the team. As for Beltran I’m not as concerned for him to re-injure himself, as I am to see what some of the new guys can show during the final weeks of the season. Besides, Beltran must be made accountable for waiting so long to have the surgery on his leg, thus keeping him out for the first half of the season. He is a lame duck center fielder for the Mets next year unless he decides he will need to play his ass off in his final contract year. Having the next three weeks off should give him something to think about for the winter.

Maybe somebody should make the decision on Bobby Parnell one way or the other. He’s either your full time closer or he’s not. Make up your mind already. For me, if I have a guy who hits triple figures on the radar gun, I want him as my closer. That why Bard will be the closer in Boston next year and Papelbon will be pitching somewhere else.

A number of things are for certain. Attendance is way down and you can’t blame that only on the economy. We could have had Halladay and we chose the wrong guy. Enough money could have kept us Billy Wagner who would have been our 8th inning answer and the replacement when Francisco went bazonkers on his girlfriend’s father. Castillo should have been released and Jenrry Mejia should have spent the entire year learning how to start in AAA, but I promised not to dwell on the past.

Do I feel 2011 could be a turning point year? Well maybe a little. I see 2012 being the year we will actually be back in the hunt. Next year our new manager and GM will have to be on the same page, and the ownership who has spent money foolishly needs to lock up their key players, and show confidence in their personnel and try to sell the team so we can stop hearing about the money Madoff cost them. How about Mark Cuban? Now he would be a breath of fresh air and we would have a championship flag flying above Citi Field.

Vegas Rich is officially back!

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All I hear is people bashing Omar Minaya for signing Oliver Perez and Luis Castillo to contracts they probably didn’t deserve. But where is all the praise for the positive additions that he has made happen?

I bring this up because yesterday Philip Humber of the Kansas City Royals won his first MLB game.

Humber, Carlos Gomez, Kevin Mulvey, and Deolis Guerra were the four minor league prospects that were traded to the Twins for Mets ace Johan Santana. Looking back at this trade three years later, it’s obvious that Minaya committed an act of highway robbery.

Out of the four players Carlos Gomez has had the most MLB playing time. He is a pretty solid fielder and has a lot of speed, but he can’t hit a lick. He has never had an OBP over .300, lacks any power, and has a career .242 BA in almost 1,300 ABs.

Philip Humber, on the other hand, hasn’t had an extended chance at the Major League level to prove himself. Maybe that is because he has a 4.48 career ERA in the minors. At 27, this former third overall pick has little chance of amounting to anything at the Major League level.

Like Humber, Kevin Mulvey hasn’t got much of a chance at the Major League level. In 27+ innings pitched, he has recorded a 7.90 ERA with the Twins and Diamondbacks. He was the weakest of the four players of the trade, and at 25 his future isn’t promising.

Deolis Guerra is the only player involved in the trade that is still with the Twins organization. At 21 years old he still has plenty of upside, just like when the Mets traded him three years ago. He has struggled at the higher minor league levels, posting a roughly 6.00 ERA in AA and AAA combined.

Looking at where these players are now, the Twins actually have nothing to show for one of the best pitchers in baseball.

They would have been better off letting him go in free agency and receiving the two compensatory picks, since he would have been a Class A free agent. That is the thing, when you trade a proven player like Santana for prospects—you never know what you are getting in return. It ends up being a total crap shoot.

In the end, Minaya was able to obtain a top 10 pitcher in baseball for what looks to be a bunch of minor league talent.

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A new question arises in New York. “How hot is the seat, Mr. Manuel?”

The season is starting to take a turn and head toward that final stretch, but some teams are already out of contention and could be looking into the future of their ball club.

The Mets could be one of these teams as things looked bright a bit early in the Summer, but have since taken a turn for the worse. The pitching has become weak and the bats are frozen. Players like Johan Santana and Carlos Beltran do not have the same look of dominance every time that they take the field.

When the blame game begins, the finger can be pointed at Jerry Manuel. Manuel has been given a bad reception at Citi Field several times lately. His head is definitely on the chopping block if the Mets fail to do anything in September.

Omar Minaya should not be too confident as he could be on his way out of town too. But before he goes, he might be hired to make an important move concerning Jerry Manuel. 

The hiring of Joe Torre for the New York Mets could be the swan song for Omar Minaya.

Jayson Stark of ESPN has been tracking the possible future destinations for Joe Torre and a friend believes he will either retire or stay in California. But a few Major League Baseball executives have been led to believe that the current Dodgers skipper might make a return to Flushing, New York.

Joe Torre was a lot younger when he was last in a Mets uniform. He was the skipper for five years and was never able to compile a winning season. Things were definitely a lot better in the Bronx for him.

Joe Torre has been welcomed warmly the last few times he was in New York against the Mets. That could also just be a ton of Yankee fans going to the game to see their former skipper make a special appearance in the Big Apple.

Torre will announce his plans for next year after the season ends for the Dodgers. If it ends with a World Series win, he could choose to ride off into the sunset a winner one last time. The other option is pull a Phil Jackson and try and win another one.

He would inherit a team that could use a few young faces. They have Ike Davis, a legitimate contender for the Rookie of the Year Award. In the starting rotation stands a man that the Yankees let get away for Torre in Johan Santana. People like David Wright and Jose Reyes are all too familiar due to the many Subway Series that Torre was a part of.

A New York Mets hiring of Joe Torre would definitely not be the worst thing that could possibly happen to the team. The worst could actually be giving the power over in an Isiah Thomas manner where Omar Minaya would be manager and a big shot in the front office. They should try and avoid that disaster.

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I don’t want to defend Omar Minaya. I don’t want to defend anything about the Mets front office. I think they are all terrible, and the Mets won’t win anything until the entire organization is overthrown, which starts with the Wilpons selling the team.

However, I am going to make one daring statement: Is it possible that Omar Minaya has actually been doing a good job this season?

The 2010 Mets have been consistently inconsistent. Odds are they will finish somewhere right around 81-81.

During the last offseason, fans cried for the Mets to either trade for or sign a premier starting pitcher. Everyone who follows the Mets knew that pitching was going to be the Mets’ biggest weakness in 2010. What did Omar Minaya do? He decided not to acquire a pitcher and instead spent his money on OF Jason Bay.

Fast-forward to this season; the Mets are playing very well at home and awful on the road. As the trade deadline approaches, both Roy Oswalt and Cliff Lee are available. Mets fans are begging the Mets to spend the money and acquire one of the two.

After all, both Mike Pelfrey and Johan Santana are pitching like aces, and R.A. Dickey is proving to be a very pleasant surprise. Everyone believed the Mets were just one starter away from being a legitimate playoff contender.

The trade deadline came and went, and the Mets remained quiet, not making any moves.

When the Mets did nothing at the trade deadline, many fans had had it with management. Many fans were calling for Omar Minaya’s head, claiming both he and manager Jerry Manuel needed to be fired.

Many began to think that Minaya was only employed because he was keeping his mouth shut on the amount of cash the Wilpons were allowing him to work with, a number that many people believe is much smaller then the Wilpons are letting on. But perhaps Omar knew exactly what he was doing.

While the fans have believed all season long that pitching is the Mets’ problem, the truth is that hasn’t been the case at all. While the Mets did start the season with both John Maine and Oliver Perez in the rotation, now they are both gone and have been replaced by a very good R.A. Dickey and occasionally the solid Japanese rookie Hisanori Takahashi.

Mets pitching has the seventh-best ERA in baseball at 3.72. Furthermore, the Mets also have thrown a league-high 18 shutouts this season. The problem the Mets face is their manager gets matchup-happy and often goes to the bullpen too soon, causing relief pitchers to become overworked; therefore they are unable to hold on to leads.

The biggest problem the Mets face right now is with their bats, a problem that Omar tried to address during the offseason by signing Bay. Mets pitching has been unbelievable this season; the hitters, however, seem unable to get a hit even if the other team was only playing with six guys.

During the offseason Minaya tried to address this by signing Jason Bay, who just hasn’t been hitting. While third baseman David Wright is seventh in the league with 77 RBI, his 126 strikeouts are not only staggeringly high, but often cost him RBI, which cost the Mets runs.

The Mets simply are not getting offense from any part of their lineup. While they have pitched 18 shutouts, the Mets have also been shut out too many times for a fan’s liking, as well as losing several games by a 2-1 score. Mets pitchers are putting the team in a position to win; it’s the hitters who have been unable to come through for this team.

While I do think that Omar Minaya has made several mistakes during his tenure as Mets GM, his move of not panicking at the deadline and giving up prospects for unneeded starting pitching should be met with cheers, rather then the boos that it has been getting.

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PHILADELPHIA—After what the Mets did in their finale against the Braves, you’d think everyone was getting axed.

Instead, Mets owner Fred Wilpon came out yesterday and declared GM Omar Minaya’s job safe for next season and beyond.

It’s really a head-scratcher. Why announce this after the team suffered what basically was a knockout punch from their worst rival?

It’s just the way the Mets operate these days. They never go the extra mile to bring players in, and they never let go of someone after a crisis.

So now, knowing who’ll be running the team for the foreseeable future, the Mets limp into another house of horrors, Philadelphia. They’ll begin a three-game weekend series tonight, attempting to at least play spoiler if nothing else.

After all, with the Mets now eight games back in the NL East, all they can do is try to put a crimp in the Phillies’ chances.

There are many players trying to rebound from poor efforts. The whole Mets team is, but so is tonight’s starting pitcher, Jon Niese.

In his last start against the Diamondbacks, with the Mets needing to win the series at home, Niese blew up after a solid start.

He hadn’t allowed a hit through the first 3.1 innings, but then allowed the first of two three-run home runs to Adam LaRoche. He lasted only 4.1 innings, allowing seven runs (six earned) on seven hits.

Niese hadn’t allowed more than three earned runs in a game since June 22 against the Tigers, but that was a game in which he got thrown off by a prolonged rain delay. So he actually hadn’t given up more than three earned runs because of his own doing since May 11 against the Nationals.

That’s how good Niese has been in his rookie season. Niese pitched a heck of a game in Philadelphia on April 30. It was a win that extended a Mets win streak to eight games. He’ll have to be just as good to get the Mets off on the right foot tonight.

Pitching for the Phillies will be Joe Blanton. He has had a terrible season, pitching to an ERA close to six. He has been extremely inconsistent while giving up 130 hits in 106 innings.

In his last start against the Nationals, he got roughed up for four runs and nine hits in six innings.

This series may be the Mets’ last important one of the season. If they were to lose two of three, or even get swept, they would be too far behind this late in the season to keep playoff hopes alive.

The good thing is, they’ll miss out on newly acquired Roy Oswalt in this series. The bad thing is, they’ll have to face both Cole Hamels and Roy Halladay after tonight.

It’s a shame that this series doesn’t mean a little more to the Mets in August (like the Yankees-Red Sox series) but at least they can play spoiler. Or, they can shock everyone and make a huge statement.

Jon Niese vs. Philadelphia (April 30)

Win, 7 IP, 1 ER, 4 H, 1 BB, 7 SO

Joe Blanton vs. New York (May 26)

Loss, 5.1 IP, 5 ER, 6 H, 4 BB, 2 SO

2010 season series (New York vs. Philadelphia)

April 30: New York 9, Philadelphia 1
May 1: Philadelphia 10, New York 0
May 2: Philadelphia 11, New York 5

May 25: New York 8, Philadelphia 0
May 26: New York 5, Philadelphia 0
May 27: New York 3, Philadelphia 0

Mets lead series 4-2

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Will David Ortiz earn a stay in Boston? Will the New York Yankees have enough to hang on to the American League East? Can Ted Lilly save the Dodgers’ fanbase from the McCourt divorce?

The 2010 trade deadline came and went Saturday afternoon with a flurry of both major and minor activity. Now, for players, general managers, owners and coaches alike, the proof is in the pudding.

The decisions made over the past few weeks, and the performances delivered over the next few months, will decide the fate of many a baseball personality.

Whether it’s a contract extension, a pink slip, a postseason berth, or a playoff collapse, much is at stake.

Rosters largely set, teams are now hunkering down for the stretch run. Here are the top 10 big leaguers on the brink as their teams scramble toward October.

Begin Slideshow

Everything is silent on the New York Mets’ front right now—a calm if you will.

This time next week, however, will not be so quiet. The fans, writers, and media are all waiting with bated breath in anticipation of the direction this team will decide to go in.

As everyone knows by now, this Saturday at 4pm EST the MLB trade deadline ends. According to ESPN’s Buster Olney, the Mets are currently at a “wait and see ” point in the process.

While the Mets wait, the fans see a lot happening. The many pitchers that have been examined over the past month or more in anticipation of the deadline are dwindling down to a few unlikely options.

Let’s take a brief look at them.

First there was Cliff Lee.

The bloggers debated him for weeks and every website seemed to be running Lee stories. He was being considered, then the talks stalled and he went to Texas. Still, I expect that discussion to be revisited in the offseason when he becomes a free agent.

Then there was Dan Haren .

Arizona never officially discussed him with anyone associated with the team, except for a phone call or two of inquiries. But the bloggers discussed him at great length.

He’s gone now too, off to sunny California where he got hurt in his first start with the Angels.

There is also the controversial Carlos Zambrano .

He demanded out of Chicago this time last month. Now just yesterday, he is trying to make amends and stay in the Windy City. Most fans here may be thankful for that, but still another name is off the board.

Jake Peavy had been mentioned, and I wrote an article on him as an option.

He wasn’t interested in staying with the White Sox if they were going to be rebuilding. Since then, he became injured and had to shut down for the season—maybe longer.

Speaking of Chicago, Ted Lilly is still out there, but when last rumored, the Mets weren’t interested because they felt his loss in velocity was a red flag. So he will go somewhere else and help another team succeed most likely.

They also weren’t interested in paying Cleveland too much for Fausto Carmona . He had been doing well on a struggling team and the trade rumor winds swirled early on this, but died down as quickly as they were built up.

Then there’s Roy Oswalt , who, when last rumored, may be landing in Philly without the defending NL champs even giving up Jayson Werth . Wouldn’t that be wonderful as a Mets fan, going into Philly and face Halladay and Oswalt with the offense still intact?

As the potential options of a trade deadline that had fans so hyped over the past few weeks begin to drop like flies, we have to consider another option: Nothing.

Nothing can be an option. In fact, it has been this team’s option for the past few years. Despite hot seats and losing streaks, they remain idle year after year.

I hate to say it, but this year may very well be the same old thing. If that happens this season though, I think the real storm will strike.

It is already brewing off in the distance. The calm before the trade deadline storm is awaiting the right time to unleash its fury upon the Mets .

How will it be perceived? Will that storm be a result of Omar splashing into the trade waters? Will it be a response to more silence?

Either way, it is coming. If the Mets remain silent, the ramifications of that decision may very well cost several coaches their jobs. The only ones then that would be safe will be, of course, the Wilpons , Omar Minaya, and Jerry Manuel.

Perhaps that is the root of the problem though.

The Wilpons refuse to see that Minaya is not the right guy for this team in that position. He would be a wonderful scout or head of scouting, or even an assistant GM. But as the main man with the plan he withers away faster than an ice cream cone in a heat wave.

I will not re-examine this, but suffice it to say he lacks the aggressiveness needed to be in this market.

If the Wilpons keep him, they will most likely let him keep his managerial choice, Jerry Manuel. That sets us up for a repeat of all of this terrible outlook, miscommunication, and indecision for next year too.

That would be most unfortunate. While the insightful and knowledgeable fan base recognizes the real problems, the ones who can fix it, do not. It is like being at a hospital where the doctor wants to put a band aid on an open wound. While the family yells “stitch it up”, the doctor scratches his head and shrugs his shoulders unaware of the massive blood that is being lost during his indecision.

This is the Mets ownership, and the team is bleeding. It needs stitches, not a band aid! Stitch it up!

If ownership doesn’t, the indecision will most certainly be fatal to someone’s tenure and the team’s season. The storm that the indecision creates will most certainly be brutal enough to leave this team crippled and helpless in its wake. It’s coming and very soon.

Until then, enjoy the silence. It won’t last much longer.

If you’d like to read more of my work, please visit www.metsgazette.com, where this was originally posted.

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