I heard Peter Gammons mention on Mike and Mike that the Mets had nobody to replace him with. I find this hard to believe. Unfortunatley the best guy for the job left and is now in Washington. When not if Willie is fired who will they bring in to replace him? Could they bring back Bobby V? I also heard Gammons talking about Jerry Manuel which I would not be in favor of. So the big question is who is going to replace Willie? This team has clearly quit on him and it goes back to June of last year.
I would be shocked if it isn't Jerry Manuel as interim manager. Bringing in Valentine in the middle of the year when he hasn't managed in MLB for more than 5 years would be absurd. There's no reason to commit to anyone long-term right now. Let Manuel show that he can get more out of this team. If he can't, then you're really no worse off.
Bobby V won't leave Japan midseason. He's too loyal to the Japanese leagues to bail on a team like that.
Everything I've seen indicates that Bobby V doesn't want to come back at all. I agree that it's going to be Manuel as the interim manager.
I agree Manuel will be the interim guy, but I did see an interview with Bobby V last week, or the week before where he said he wouldn't be opposed to head back to the States if the right offer came around. Maybe that was just wishful listening on my part... But his wife still lives in the states..
Bobby Valentine is the best baseball mind NOT managing in the majors. He has proven that he can turn some of the shittiest players ever into contenders. Moises Alou is better now than Rickey Henderson was then. Carlos Beltran is better than Brian McRae ever was. Ryan Church is better than Roger Cedano ever hoped to be. And that's just for starters. Benny Agbayani, Darryl Hamilton and Shawon Dunston? Terrible, terrible and more terrible. No one on the current Mets roster is less talented than all six of the above mentioned. Combined But most of them are playing to the least of their abilities. Bobby V had real shitbags playing to their absolute best of their small abilities, especially when it mattered (most of the time). Willie has a lot more talent offensively than Bobby V ever had. Ventura, Olerud, Ordonez and Alfonso played flawless defense. Got key hits a lot of the time. Our infield plays lazy to the point of possible mental retardation. Can't hit whenever they really need to. Bobby V had Rick Reed pitching with more consistency than any single one of our starters. Lastly, Omar is a much better GM than Steve Phillips. The talent given to him was always Valentine's biggest handicap. It was a joke that he was fired when he was fired and Phillips wasn't. Valentine has an entire life still here in the states. Businesses, family. And the Japanese would understand. Their best players leaves ASAP. Why wouldn't a manager?
Let's not put Bobby V up for sainthood just yet. He did a good job here but I think you're overstating some of your points. You really think the Mets lineup this year is more talented then the 99 team? Sure, they had Rey Ordonez and Brian McRae who were among the worst in the league at their position but the rest of the lineup was great. You had a 303/361/575 line from the catchers spot and a 304/385/502 from second base. Ventura, Olerud and Henderson were all great. Hell even Cedeno had a .400 OBP. Agbayani and Daryl Hamilton weren't on the team to start the year but both came in and put up great numbers as well. If they had a league average SS they probably have the best offense in the league, even playing their home games at Shea.
Manuel's probably the guy but I really think it should be Ken Oberkfell from AAA, Manuel's really just not a good manager. I do love Bobby V though and hope after the season we can look in that direction.
Ken Rosenthal said the mets could look to hire White Sox bench coach Joey Cora, or dig into our past with Bobby V or Davey Johnson....
Willie, will be fired by July 4th. Manuel will get the job. If they do not make the playoffs Valentine will be back next year
