Ethier was acquired from Oakland for Milton Bradley in a trade Ned Coletti made after Depo was canned.
We never adequately replaced him until we got Casey Blake in the middle of 2008. Third was a black hole for us after Beltre for 3-1/2 seasons. Beltre's defense is very underrated, too. A big reason for Gagne's save streak (aside from roids) was the infield of Beltre, Izturis and Alex Cora. Not great hitters except Beltre but as solid a defensive infield as I remember them having.
BS!! Every single Yankee fan I know starts shit with Mets fans. You guys are the cowboys fans of baseball, but the Yankee don't suck.
Any time you can hire a guy who hasn't managed in 11 years and was run out of town by his own players, you have to make that move. Seriously though, random hire...But I'll give him a shot. More important is who he's managing, we need to rebuild this team from the ground up.
I don't think it's as bad as people are making it out to be. He can't possibly be worse than Jerry, the team will hopefully play less sloppy baseball, and he has a good appreciation of the young players in the system and what they can and can't do. I preferred Chip Hale, but at the end of the day, unless the manager is historically bad(Jerry) he doesn't really change the game that much. -X-
Even if that's true, there's a key difference between Alderson and Minaya: Alderson has actually won something in his career.
What is the fascination with Backman? The guy is angry and nuts. So is Collins, only Collins has a major league record, and it's winning, and he has a ton of familiarity with the organizations young players. Backman hasn't managed above A ball since 2002. He's capable of further damaging an organization that's been a public relations nightmare for the last few years, and his managerial philosophy is eerily similar to that of Jerry Manuel, arguably worse. -X-
Valentine wouldn't have worked. Alderson wants to instill his own philosophy and team approach here, as does Valentine. If Alderson and Valentine could have co-existed on this Mets, and the money wasn't an issue, Valentine would be here, but he's not, and we know why.
Haha yeah and throw in he is what 10 games over .500 in over 1000 games? I'm willing to give it a shot but this doesn't sound like it'll work out. And for the record anybody who says a manager doesn't make much difference would we have won the WS in 2006 if Terry Francona, Joe Madden or Charlie Manuel were managing this team? I'd be willing to give my arm we would have. We probably don't have epic collapses in 07 and 08 either.
hedging their bets already, this seems like a big mistake from early indications....this guy is going to blow up at some reporter and have a "Mora moment" by like mid June, if not sooner, can we get a pool going?
Again another really shitty job. I'm sure they could have gotten him if they wanted. I guess they didn't.
Wow, you guys' demise is in full swing now, Moneyball across the board, complete with Depodesta in the fold. The Dodgers tried this shit for two years before pulling the plug and actually spending some money on players to win. Maybe the Wilpons are strapped for cash the way McCourt was when he bought the Dodgers, I hope for your sake it works but I'm not optimistic. Hate to see it, really.
