The Mets Police

Here's a must read:  Valentine's Demise via Japan Times.  Bobby won it all, and made a lot of money....but when the winning stopped, and the money got tight....

Valentine's supporters boasted that he was headed for the Japanese Hall of Fame.

But then the roof began to fall in.

The 2008 Marines finished in the second division — albeit barely in a four-team race for the flag. It was the third time in the five years of the Valentine administration that this had happened, and it was not the kind of record people expected from one of the world's most expensive managers.

More here.

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Another Saturday visit to this cool 1980 Topps site.   This player is a man named Bobby Valentine, the master of finishing second.   Bobby's unique talent for finishing second did not translate back when he was a player, as there was no force on earth that could help the 1978 Mets.

You can read more about this fine card here.

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The Mets have won.  As fas as I know, Jerry Manuel is still the manager for 2010.

Guys, please at least interview V.

ESPN.com reports the former Rangers and Mets manager -- who recently signed to work as a studio analyst for the network -- is talking to the Florida Marlins about a position in their organization.


You may have heard of the Marlins.  They are that joke of a team that has won two World Series since 1987 and finished ahead of the Mets this season with their low payroll and inability to compete.  

I don't know about you but I'd rather Valentine be on TV than in the division.

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Over at  Ya Gotta Believe Eddie D'Anna has an open letter to Fred, calling for the return of Bobby Valentine.

We wrote a month ago that part of the 2010 marketing plan will need to be distraction.  While V is not a favorite of mine (I don't like finishing second), I think he's a good choice for this offseason.  They can't try to sell us on "everyone is healthy, really" and head into 2010 with Murphy/Castillo/Reyes/Wright/Someone/Beltran/Francoeur/Santos and Santana and Nobody.

The News also has 2010 on their minds today.

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Yesterday I floated the idea that the Mets will have wind up firing Jerry Manuel for the sake of change, and I thought Bobby Valentine might be their choice because what ownership and Omar need is a distraction.


The idea of Bobby V II is going over very well:






Thomas Ogilvie has left a new comment on your post "Jerry Manuel Is Going To Take The Fall For The New...": 

I'm sure he wouldn't have said he was definitely leaving Chiba Lotte if he thought he didn't have a chance of getting a job somewhere in MLB. The Metscould do with someone who's able to manage the resources that are put at their disposal. 

matt fitz has left a new comment on your post "Why Do You Want The New York Mets To Fire Omar Min...": 


The entire NL East made moves last week...some punted, some went for the ring. The Mets did nothing...That leads me to believe Minaya/Mets have accepted the nail in 2009 coffin. Their team MAY be good enough to compete in 2010, but look at the Phillies current roster, we are not that good...

Defending Minaya with who is better is an awful argument. Can you keep a 100+million budget, and have a better record than the Nats? That currently is the job requirement. Where can I send my resume? The bullpen is awful WITH a world class closer. Putz going down doesnt forgive everyone else being awful. Has anyone asked why Bernazard was so incensed? Maybe Minaya let him know that no results in the minors would lead to no job. Yet Minaya gives us no results in the majors and his job is safe... The Mets could run GM with this plan.

I believe we are 6 back of the wild card behind 6 teams or so. We are not going 35-23 to close and that doesnt even guarantee a playoff spot. So we are giving a pass to a top 5 payroll with back to back chokes and a "free pass" for injuries this year.

Just curious...what HAS Minaya done that merits keeping his job? He paid a lot of good players a LOT of money to stay (or move) to Flushing? The team has NO chemistry the last 3 years. The team has NO FEEL, and that is really the only job of the GM. Look at Florida, tiny payroll, whose team has more heart, if the uniforms had no names, who would you rather watch? That guy is a GM, and every 3 years the good players all move to NY or Boston or LA. He refills by having a good minor league system, and accepting some years suck and you sell on the bad years.

At worst, since it is crystal clear that management has pulled the plug on the 09 season..why not play the scrubs!! Dump Berroa and Santos, they won't be here when people are healthy... we are just giving these guys free auditions for other teams next year. Maybe 2 of them pan out as backups or a starter or possibly a sub 5 bullpen ERA!! Maybe dying out on the West Coast swing will let them pull the plug and get 50 games for the AAA players.

Just pretend every Met was healthy...are they good enough to win? NO, this team is BUILT to make the playoffs then see what happens. How many free passes does he get...moreover what has he done that is special? And dont get me started on Manuel! 

If it were up to me:  Omar and Jerry both come back.

What I think will happen:   Omar and Bobby V in 2010.

There's still a third of this season left.

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Sorry Jerry.

I don't like anything I'm about to write, but fans of the Mets Police know I call them as I see them.

I've enjoyed Jerry Manuel's time as Mets manager, and I in no way blame him for any of the disasters the 2009 have faced. (I am looking in to the rumor I started that Citi Field was built over ancient Indian burial grounds).

I don't think anybody could have coaxed 90+ wins out of the "Nieve/Berroa/what was the name of that guy who was the SS for a week" Mets.

This was a season in which somehow Gary Sheffield and Livan Hernandez became really important.  That was never anyone's plan.

Think back to March.   I had the Mets going to the playoffs.  You had the Mets going to the playoffs.   Look at SI's baseball preview.   Look where they picked the Mets.  Even at my most cynical I had the Mets finishing second.  Don't act like you knew this team would be a disaster.  You didn't.   Nobody was talking about depth at Buffalo in April.

So to sit back now and suggest that Omar Minaya put together a lousy team is unfair.

However, Ownership won't be able to market 2010 as "Everyone's Back!"   Telling us that the crew that was here for the biggest collapse of all time, the worst stadium closing in history, and the all-time injury bug just isn't enough for the fans.

You can't break up the core because you will get diminished value for all four.   Nobody is sure how healthy Delgado, Beltran and Reyes are - and do you think trading David Wright when he has 8 home runs is going to get you back what if might have a year ago (not to mention the Seaveresque riots that would follow)?   Plus pesky things like no-trade clauses and such.

So you have to sell change.   That change, unfairly, is going to come from the managers chair.

Who will it be.   Mazzilli, Backman, LaRussa or Manny Acta?  None of those guys for reasons we can talk about in the days to come.

There is one man for this job.

The job is about more than managing ballplayers.   It's more than trying to coax a performance out of players (which is a Buck Showalter type job; he too won't be the choice).

The job in 2010 is about distraction.

Appease as many fans as you can, give the sportswriters something to write about other than lack of pitching depth, and give the haters an enemy.

A fallen hero will return.

Distract the fans.

Casey Stengel is dead.  So is Billy Martin.  That leaves one man.

This is going to pain me to type, because I think the name I am about to write might take the team to second place, but his teams start slow, and the fact is he just hasn't won the big one.

That being said, I know who the next manager of the New York Mets will be, and he will be the distracting face of the team for 2010 and 2011 while this organization gets its act together.

The next manager of the New York Mets will be.....

Bobby Valentine.

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(I wrote this last Sunday, and sat on it because everyone was in Citi mode, and I like to hang onto "generic" pieces for when there is nothing going on.   I'm releasing it now because Murray Chass just wrote a hatchet piece on V , and I know how the blogosphere works...)

Anytime I don't kneel before V I get attacked...and Chass isn't the most popular person in Flushing these days because he um wonders about Piazza's acne...so I'll let Chass lead off.

....in 15 years of managing in the major leagues, Valentine never had a team finish in first place. In fact, only Jimmy Dykes managed more games (2,962 to 2,187) without finishing first.

Dykes, however, played on three teams that finished in first place so Valentine’s combined 2,826 games played and managed are the most without finishing first in baseball history. (Valentine’s 2000 Mets played in the World Series but as the wild card. They finished second during the season.)

That's always been my issue with the legend of Bobby V.   Chass goes on to talk about some personal issues he has with the man.  You can read about those here...

So while V is in the news...here's what I didn't publish Sunday when I saw the WBC piece:




Want To Finish Second in the 2013 WBC? Manager For Hire 

The man who convinces everyone he wins, except for the winning part, is looking for a job:

“I think they would be a bit worried about me against them."

That's Bobby Valentine talking about leading the Americans to a WBC victory over Japan in 2013.

Valentine said he would conduct in-depth interviews with players to determine who was willing to do the necessary work to prepare for a tournament that begins a month before the regular season. In addition, Valentine said part of the evaluation process would involve finding players with strong career statistics in March.

Oh boy.  Does that include spring training, or just going two for four on a Sunday Night Baseball season opener?


“If this is a real championship, why should there be any pitch limits?” Valentine said. “Do you think it is right that the rest of the world of baseball has to be told what to do by M.L.B.?”


Awesome.   Can you imagine Mike Pelfrey's arm being blown out by V in March so that Bobby can prove to everyone how awesome he is?


Hopefully Bobby gets a job in the NL East, there will be one fewer team to worry about.   Sure they'll win 86 games, but they'll be 8 in back on April 30th so you won't need to worry about them winning the division.


...
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More in the Times.
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From the Japan Times

The Marines skipper confirmed Wednesday that he was approached last year by a consortium of wealthy Japanese and foreign investors interested in purchasing another existing NPB franchise and putting him in charge.

Though Valentine rejected the overture and declined to identify the team, The Japan Times has confirmed through baseball sources that it was the Yokohama BayStars.

"I never considered the possibility that I would leave this team," Valentine said of Lotte. "And it was not the first time I said, 'Thanks, but no thanks to another club.' "

More here.

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The Connecticut Post has this article with Bobby Valentine.

"The WBC is the world event that baseball needs," Valentine said. "But personally, I'd rather see championship teams from each country play each other. However, that's not realistic so an All-Star event like the WBC is the next best thing. I hope the WBC is a catalyst to grow baseball internationally."

'Great life experience'

Make no mistake at age 58, Bobby Valentine is better thanks to his time in Japan. And Japan is a better baseball nation for having experienced Bobby Valentine.

"It has been a great life experience. I lived in Japan as a minority, which is quite a different perspective on life," Valentine said. "I feel good about myself. I learned a new language. I learned a lot about baseball. I learned a lot about patience. I learned a lot about cultural diversity and people's motivations.

"I'm glad that I was young enough when I went there to experience it," Valentine continued. "It is so challenging. It is such a demanding baseball culture. Japan was a place where there was room for baseball growth. A place where I got to see the fruits of my labors. Japan is full of 30,000-capacity baseball stadiums. My first year we drew 400,000 fans. Now attendance is up to 1.7 million and my Japanese players come out and sign autographs before games. I was truly part of some positive change."

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On my TV now, the SNY guys are complimenting Bobby V.  Why?

Bobby Valentine is the king of finsihing second.  You want your team to underachieve - bring in V.  I keep hearing this nonsense that he got teams to the playoffs that had no business being there?  Really????

Is it not revisionist history to suggest the Mets weren't favorites to win the East most of those years?

Is Bobby not at fault for several awful Aprils?  Isn't prepping the team in the spring part of the job?   When you are 8 games out on May 1st it makes for along year - so when you "bring the team back" don't go crowing.

The Wild Card covered for a lot of V's failings.   In '99 they needed a play-in game.  3rd place in 2001.  5th in 2002.    He'll manage the Yankees some day and it will be majorly entertaining.

Bobby Valentine (pictured here in horrible black jersey) has his own blog...and well...looks like he still has a sense of humor. This is on yesterday's Q&A page:

Sani Hands asked:

Bobby, what is it like when you go to the bathroom in Japan? Are there good places to wash your hands?

As a matter of fact, the answer is yes. I’ve been very fortunate. I guess I don’t have the urge to go to the bathroom spontaneously so I have time to find the right place.

http://www.bobbysway.jp/

Quiet Day. Leave Delgado alone. If you were going to bitch about Delgado you should have bitched when they made yet another free agent signing to replace a home grown player (Mike Jacobs).

Anyways, there's a movie about Bobby Valentine coming out on May 13th and since it's a quiet day, I'll share. Bobby was the king of finishing second when he was in America.

So there's talk that the Mets would have a former player represent each day of the Shea Countdown Clock - so Craig Swan would show up with 27 days left and Hernandez with 17 etc. Presumably that means Mookie would do the last day (topic for another day).

Anyways, Cyclonesfan pulled this together for me, and he used Mets By The Numbers as a source of info....today's topic is Who is the Real Number?

First in a series...

1

Rightful Owner: Mookie Wilson
Rent-A-Met: Vince Coleman
Cyclonesfan's Comment: I'm surprised the Mets haven’t unofficially retired 1 considering how popular Mookie was
The Mets Police say: doesn't deserve to be on the fence, but if it were in semi-limbo like #24 that would be cool. Definitely Mookie's number.

2

Rightful Owner: Bobby Valentine
Rent-A-Met: none suggested, also no comment provided.

The Mets Police say: You gonna fly Bobby V in for the ceremony? You can't do that to Willie. How about Jose Oquendo? That would seem silly too.

3

Rightful Owner: Bud Harrelson / Rafael Santana
Rent-A-Met: Damon Easley
Cyclonesfan's Comment: OK, Raffy wasn't great, but he was a Met and an anchor in the infield

The Mets Police say: it's time to bring Buddy back into the fold. Sure he was afraid to go to the mound but in hindsight it got a lot worse than Buddy in the dugout (cough, September 2007).

4

Rightful Owner: Ron Swoboda / Lenny Dykstra
Rent-A-Met: Robin Ventura
Cyclonesfan's Comment: Regardless of the Grand-Slam Single, Ventura was a White Sox

The Mets Police say: tough call. If decisions must be made.....Swoboda.