Matthew Blaszka
Mets Gazette Correspondent
Jerry Manuel gets criticized for many of the Mets issues on and off the field. Fans get on him for his in-game decisions, which at times is deserved. But what I ask here is that the Mets give Jerry Manuel the opportunity he is owed to manage the team in 2011.
Jerry Manuel took over the Mets back in '08 in the middle of the night. The Mets were floundering at 34-35. From the beginning, Manuel made his presence felt when he pulled Jose Reyes from the (first) game when he came up lame running out a grounder. Reyes argued with Manuel, but Manuel was stern.
Manuel would lead the Mets back into contention, and even to a division lead late in September. We all know the Mets floundered down the stretch to finish 89-73 and out of the playoffs.
But none of it was Manuel's fault.
Much like in 2007, David Wright, Jose Reyes and Carlos Beltran seemed to disappear. Who can forget when the Mets and Cubs squared off in the last week of the season? The Mets had a man on 3rd with no one out in the 9th inning of a tie-game and David Wright proceeded to strike out. The Mets lost the game.
Is it Manuel's fault for Wright not getting in the run?
Hardly.
This would become a recurring theme over the next two years. In 2008, Billy Wagner went down to Tommy John surgery. Without a closer, it's difficult to compete for a playoff spot - something Manuel did. Fans tend to forget how many brutal losses the Mets suffered in August and September only to bounce back and win the day after. Manuel got the team to play hard - something we've seen regularly over the past two plus years.
2009 brought promise and excitement to the fan base. The Mets would bring in J.J. Putz and Frankie Rodriguez to solidify the bullpen. Sports Illustrated even went so far as to pick the Mets to win the World Series. On May 29th, the Mets stood at 27-20, in first place. The problem was that they lost Carlos Delgado and Jose Reyes (whom little did we know we'd never see again that year). Beltran soon followed along with J.J. Putz, Angel Pagan and Johan Santana.
For most of the second half, the Mets featured a lineup that resembled their Triple-A affiliate ballclub, the Buffalo Bisons. The Mets would finish with a 72-90 record, despite a National League leading .270 batting average.
Can Jerry be blamed for all of these injuries? Absolutely not. Omar Minaya never gave him the resources to compete if someone went down.
2010 rolled around with little optimism for a team that featured so many players coming off of the disabled list. The team motto would become known as "Prevention and Recovery." The Mets began the year 4-8 and Jerry looked to be out of a job. But, a 9-1 home stand later, and with "New York" in the northmost place in the NL East standings, Jerry had rescued the Mets from the abyss.
The same predicament surfaced prior to the Yankees series. Again, Manuel led the charge as the Mets took 5 of 6 from the Yankees and Phillies. Jerry even guided the Mets to a 48-40 record heading into the break.
As Mets fans over the last four years, many of us have become nitpicky with regards to managerial decisions. Sometimes we agree, sometimes we don't. Jerry has been criticized for using so many different lineups since the All-Star break, yet nobody complained when Bobby Valentine lead the Mets to the NLCS in 1999 doing much the same thing. Even so, the Mets have scored the least amount of runs in the National League in the 2nd half.
The players need to perform. It's certainly not fair to blame Manuel for Jason Bay's six home run output, Oliver Perez' inability to pitch or for Carlos Beltran playing center field in slow motion.
Do I think Jerry is going to lose his job at year's end? Absolutely. But to blame Manuel is both unjust and unwarranted. Do you really think another manager would have won with the respective squads the Mets have run out there the past two years? Once again, the answer is no.
When Manuel has been given a lineup and a roster to succeed, he has. Jerry will almost surely take the blame, and the next manager will hear many of the same criticisms as soon as a questionable decision is made.
Let's give Jerry a full season with pieces good enough to win. It's a shot he certainly deserves.
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