Mets baseball blog

GM Omar Minaya seems to be ignoring aging state of Mets

Omar Minaya said the process of preparing for the 2009 season began as he drove home from Shea Stadium on Sunday night, after the Mets lost to the Marlins and were eliminated from postseason contention on the regular season's final day.

And this much is clear to the GM about his winter task, he concluded: "We have a tough challenge in front of us." Minaya, speaking Monday in the old Jets locker room at doomed Shea Stadium, declined to confirm that Jerry Manuel will return as manager during an address mostly filled with vagueness. Regardless, it's clear that Manuel's "interim" title will be lifted as soon as Wednesday, after he signs a multiyear deal to remain the skipper. Continue

Manuel's job likely is safe

All indications last night were the Mets intend to keep Jerry Manuel as their manager. According to a baseball executive briefed on the issue, it's just a matter of the Mets working out the details with Manuel and announcing a deal. "Nothing has been finalized, but it's looking real good for [Manuel]," the executive said after the Mets' season concluded with a 4-2 loss to the Marlins.

An SI.com report last night reported that team COO Jeff Wilpon already has made up his mind to retain Manuel, who assumed the reins following Willie Randolph's firing in June. The Mets went 55-38 under Manuel after starting 34-35 under Randolph. Continue

Shea it ain't so! Mets lose playoff spot

Maybe what the Mets really need is a change of scenery. They can only hope for better luck at Citi Field. Evidently, the ghosts of last September's collapse never left Shea Stadium, and the Mets were unable to fumigate the building this year. It seems that the only solution is to knock it down, and the wrecking ball did not arrive in time Sunday to prevent history from repeating itself in a 4-2 loss to the Marlins.

Carlos Beltran hit a tying two-run homer off Scott Olsen in the sixth inning to rally the Mets and energize a crowd of 56,059. But the team's Achilles' heel, its bullpen, conspired to prevent the Mets from earning a playoff berth on the final day of the season -- for the second consecutive year. Continue

Hope alive for Shea faithful

Ryan Church hadn't often heard the sappy side of Shea Stadium's schizo phrenia, the happy half that the old-timers recall with fond smiles. A year ago, as a National, he heard how ugly baseball terror sounds when it tumbles from the grandstand.

For much of this year, for much of the past few weeks, he has heard the same harsh chorus, only this time it arrived as friendly fire, the inevitable doom descending when late leads vaporized or hopeful rallies died. "This is, after all, a tough town," an old Mets New York Mets hero named Keith Hernandez had said before the game. But Church and the other Mets heard something else yesterday, something new, a splendid timbre that sounded suspiciously like hope.  Continue

Johan Santana shuts down Marlins, saves Mets season

On a sheet of paper posted inside the Mets' clubhouse, this handwritten quote hung from the wall: "It's time to be a MAN." Johan Santana often utters that expression to teammates, with an expletive inserted. He more than lived up to his pet phrase Saturday afternoon.

Santana's $137.5 million contract bought the Mets at least one more meaningful game at Shea Stadium before they tear down the relic. Starting for just the second time in his career on short rest, Santana tossed his sixth career shutout as the Mets blanked the Marlins, 2-0. Continue

Ace is only card left to play

No matter what happens today, let's agree that from now until Johan Santana's contract with the Mets expires, there should be a moratorium on the discussion of his toughness, his willingness to take a ball and chuck it until his fingers are numb and his rotator cuff barks.

If only the rest of the Mets had shown up for work last night with the same urgency as Santana, maybe they wouldn't be handing their entire season over to him this afternoon. But they didn't, of course. As resilient as they can be after losses, they can also be equally resistant to the momentum gained from a big win. Continue

Mets falling out of playoff contention, lose to Marlins 6-1

Doc Gooden, Tom Seaver and Mike Piazza might want to borrow some ear plugs from Bobby Bonilla for that Shea farewell Sunday. It could be a venomous atmosphere at the postgame sendoff to the stadium if Johan Santana and Oliver Perez can't save the Mets' season with starts on short rest.

For a second straight year, Florida arrived in Flushing for a season-ending series aiming to knock out the Mets. This time the Fish handed the not-so-Amazin's a 6-1 series-opening loss Friday night that dropped the Mets a game behind the Brewers in the wild-card race and to the brink of elimination. If the Mets lose with Santana on the mound and Milwaukee beats Chicago Saturday, they will have penned a second straight collapse. The Mets (88-72) also fell two games behind the division-leading Phillies with two games remaining, reducing Philadelphia's magic number to one. Continue

Church breaks out of slump in style

Interim manager Jerry Manuel, besieged daily about why he hasn't benched Ryan Church for Endy Chavez , called the struggling right fielder one of the pillars of Mets' pillars, capable of dominating a game. Last night, the struggling Church finally repaid that faith, helping the Mets to a big 7-6 win over the Cubs that moved the Amazin's a game behind the Phillies in the NL East and kept them tied with the Brewers in the wild-card race. Continue

Carlos Beltran knocks in game-winner, Mets beat Cubs 7-6

This doomed stadium still has some magic. The Mets overcame a late three-run deficit and beat the Cubs, 7-6, Thursday night at Shea to maintain a tie with Milwaukee atop the wild-card standings. Carlos Beltran's two-out, line-drive single off the glove of diving first baseman Micah Hoffpauir scored Jose Reyes from second base in the ninth with the winning run as the Mets split the four-game series, moved within a game of idle Philadelphia for first place in the NL East and perhaps resuscitated their season with three games remaining. Continue

Jerry Manuel mulls going with Johan Santana on short rest for Mets

Johan Santana threw a career-high 125 pitches in beating the Cubs Tuesday, but Jerry Manuel wouldn't rule out using him on short rest Saturday, depending on the Mets' playoff status. That would also set up the Mets to use Oliver Perez Sunday on short rest, too.

At first, Manuel said, "I won't go short with him," when asked if Santana could start on three days' rest against the Marlins. Then he added, "He'd have to really do a job on me to get that. That's possible, too. I could be had. I probably won't do that to him, but I could be had." Continue