Mets executives concluded their second round of managerial interviews today when they met with Wally Backman and Terry Collins, writes ESPNNewYork.com's Adam Rubin. While they did not specify the reason, the club has told SNY to get ready for a press conference on Tuesday, tweets Bob Klapisch of the Bergen Record.
Collins has been rumored to be the favorite for the job but Joel Sherman of the New York Post (via Twitter) says that he is somewhat unsure of his chances as the 61-year-old spoke today about being helpful to the Mets in any role. Sherman tweets that he still believes Collins is the slight favorite over Bob Melvin and Anthony DiComo of MLB.com (via Twitter) also sees Collins as the frontrunner.
Backman told Rubin that he felt that the interview went "very good" and remains focused on securing the Mets managerial post. However, Backman will likely wind up managing the club's Single-A or Double-A affiliates as the three runners-up are expected to remain in the organization.
Please, no Bob Melvin.
“Wally *clap clap* “Wally” *clap clap*
It could be anyone of them and I wouldn’t be surprised. Backman is my choice
The Mets just love having press conferences.
The Mets just love having press conferences.
It’s gonna be Backman. The Mets are leaking the non-sexy names to the press to get the fanbase nervous and then when they introduce Backman the fans will go nuts.
Never forget, regardless of who the GM is, the Mets are all about PR and public image. They know the fans will dance in the street and consider it “their victory” if Wally gets named manager.
All the press leaks are part of the drama.
Might’ve been the way the former regime would’ve worked, but Sandy Alderson isn’t going to make a move to appease the fans, he’ll do it because he believes it’s the right move and no other reason. If it was just about appeasing the fans, he would’ve at least interviewed Bobby Valentine.
It’s a interesting situation in that I really wouldn’t be surprised if it was any of the 4 remaining candidates. I do think Backman is picking up some momentum, where he would be paired with someone like Melvin or Collins as his bench coach. But it’s just as likely IMO that Melvin or Collins can win the job outright. Who knows….
former regime ?
u mean the Wilpons ?
last i checked Omar only got to pick one manager, and hiring an ex-yankee is not exactly trying to win over the 1986 fans over.
Yeah, former regime. Omar and his pals. And they hired two managers, both of them poor picks from the start — Randolph and Manuel.
ummm…how is Omar hiring Willie ( an ex-yankee ) to be manager…and Jerry Manuel ( an ex-white sox ) to be bench coach trying to appease fans ?!!?
i know the anti-omar hate is strong…but lets try to use logic once in a while before we make statements.
Huh? I never said Omar’s picks were meant to appease fans. I was basically trying to point out that Omar hired TWO managers, not one as you said.
He hired Willie (one) and then when Manuel’s contract expired at the end of 2008, the Wilpons told Omar it was up to him whether or not to bring Manuel back. Omar chose to give Manuel a new contract (two). So, that’s TWO managerial hires Omar botched.
ummm jerry was actually the 1st base coach/of coach in 2005. Sandy Alomar was the bench coach. then in 2006, for reasons unknown, they moved Jerry to bench coach. right after he was fired, according to willie, manuel had been feeding info to tony b. (who along with jeff who never wanted willie in the first place. ). same thing happened to rick down in 07. the mets went into a slump for 3 weeks. HoJo in a Daily News interview said that upper management was complaining about the hitters and he knew what the problem was and could have it solved. next day they canned Downs. Willie was fuming…his next choice was to replace Downs with Ricky Henderson…and again was over-ruled…management wanted HoJo…and that was that…the mets upper management were seriously THE most dysfunctional group in MLB. omar contributed to part of the dysfunction, but took ALL the blame. I wish him well. I wish he could stay on board and learn from Sandy cuz what I feel he truly lacked was a mentor. he went from a scout with the rangers to an asst. gm under steve phillips to a GM spot in Montreal to a GM spot in NY…no where did he learn how to do the 95 other parts of being a GM. You could see the sigh of relief on his face when he was canned. he knew this was more than he could chew.
Uh, what does the long discourse in the first part of your reply have to do with anything? What’s your point?
The fact remains, Omar hired TWO managers. The first was Willie. The second was his decision to give Jerry Manuel a 2-year extension after the 2008 season. Ownership told him it was his call and Omar decided to bring Jerry back. So he had two chances to hire managers, and I think he screwed both up.
I do agree with you that it is unfortunate Omar never really had a mentor. I suppose Steve Phillips was in a mentor position, but he wasn’t the best person to be mentoring anyone.
i dont think it was omar’s choice to even have jerry in the org….jerry from what i understood was tony bernazard’s former teammate with the expos…
and at first omar only agreed to have jerry in as a 1st base coach…and he lost that job and was demoted to Outfield instructor in 2005….then in 2006, he was magically promoted to bench coach…even though willie randolph wanted no part of him…i think jeff via tony via jerry had conspired to undermine willie from the jump.
long story short, jerry takes over in 2008…the mets go on a tear and finish one game out of the playoffs, they lose wagner in the 2nd half of the season…blow 28 games and the obvious culprit was the bullpen and not jerry….it was very obvious that u could put a mannequin in the dugout and the mets would win on talent alone…i believe it was this thinking that led to jerry’s re-signing. where do u see that ownership gave omar the opp to go outside the org for a managerial signing?
1) Yes, it WAS Omar’s choice to have Manuel in the organization in the beginning. When Randolph came aboard, it was said that he would get to pick a few of his staff and Omar would get to pick the others. For example, Randolph picked Rick Downs. I believe Randolph also got to pick his first base coach. But most of the other staff was picked by Omar.
2) Bernazard was hired by Omar and reported directly to Omar. So what you’re saying about Bernazard makes no sense. Even if he was the one who first suggested Manuel, it was totally Omar’s pick/choice from the beginning. At any point he had the power to nix or approve Manuel.
3) At the end of the 2008 season, both Omar and Jerry were on the hot seat. It was reported then that ownership gave Omar the option to keep or fire Jerry … that they made it clear to Omar his future would be linked to whomever he picked. Omar chose to retain Jerry and give him a new contract.
4) There is no evidence whatsoever that Jeff Wilpon had anything to do with Manuel being in the organization or was pushing to have him retained after 2008. Nothing of the sort was ever reported. Any suggestion of the sort comes purely from the over-active minds of the conspiracy theorists who imagine little green men in every corner of the Mets organization.
Bottom line: Manuel was Omar’s pick both in 2005 and again in 2008 when he gave Manuel an extension to manage the Mets.
Please show me the first article/interview that states Omar was given a choice to not renew Jerry Manuels contract in 2008.
now the fact that tony b. was omar’s hire in 2004…whether omar wanted jerry or not, he is responsible for jerry having joined the staff…not trying to say he isnt.
but in terms of being the next manager…remember in context…the mets were 34-35 when they fired randolph. and went 53-38 with manuel. despite the fact that manuel had no bullpen to work with that 2nd half, + the wilpons were still paying willie 2.5 mil for 2009 + jerry being a breath of fresh air to the media compared to willie…and u explain to me how ownership would even THINK of not resigning Jerry….he was cheap…he just came off a great 2nd half…plus he was cheap…did i mention he was cheap ?
Omar by the way, NEVER hired Wally, that was Jeff Wilpon. not saying it was not the right move because it was, but i laughed when i heard jeff say omar had full autonomy, dude could not even fire or move the hitting coach if he wanted to. Omar did have the responsibility if things didnt work out.
look at what just happened now with Sandy Alderson, it was reported that he suggested Melvin or Backman and they went with Collins. Sandy said:This is probably one of those areas where I make a recommendation (to Ownership), and it’s incumbent on me to make sure those who receive the recommendation support it”
the problem is…because ownership ( with the exception of the Boss ) never stands up and takes accountability for THEIR choices…u never know if the GM and ownership were on the same page
Might’ve been the way the former regime would’ve worked, but Sandy Alderson isn’t going to make a move to appease the fans, he’ll do it because he believes it’s the right move and no other reason. If it was just about appeasing the fans, he would’ve at least interviewed Bobby Valentine.
It’s a interesting situation in that I really wouldn’t be surprised if it was any of the 4 remaining candidates. I do think Backman is picking up some momentum, where he would be paired with someone like Melvin or Collins as his bench coach. But it’s just as likely IMO that Melvin or Collins can win the job outright. Who knows….
If they hire a manager purely to appease the fanbase, they are downright stupid. If the team loses 90 games this year and gets off to a bad start next year, no one will care who is the manager, they will want him gone. Which is why you never make a move to appease fans, they are fickle and, for the most part, stupid.
The team is going to struggle next year. Their Ace in Santana is injured and no one knows what to expect. The rest of the starting pitching staff is a mess.
They’re going to pick Backman knowing that the fans will be more forgiving of him for the play of the team next year. The fans could care less about any of the other three. If they struggle with the other three candidates there will be cries all season for Backman.
That’s why he gets the job. If he somehow wins with them he’s the hero. If he’s loses with them it’s not Wally’s fault — it’s Omar’s fault for what he left the team with.
The Wilpons still own this team and they still care what the fans and public opinion are.
Their ticket sales have plummeted. They have lowered ticket prices.
They need to hire Wally, who by the way is actually a very good manager, in order to inspire any kind of confidence in this team before it hits the field next season.
Alderson and his guys will deconstruct this team and rebuild it. They’ll need a guy like Wally on the bench to keep public opinion positive through the tough parts of the process.
Wally getting the job is a victory for the long suffering fans.
Exactly. And while the fans want Backman, it’s not just because they like him. They also think the Mets can win with him.
David Wright for John Farrell?
David Wright for John Farrell?
Wally Backman as Manager
Tony Bernazard as Bench Coach
the fans want passion…thats the best combo
Are you insane? They also want a professional. No a buffoon like Bernazard.
Collins or Melvin would be the wrong choice…. not saying Backman or Hale would be the right choice… but collins and melvin are definitely not the correct choice
GIVE US BACKMAN!
but honestly, im cool with whoever Alderson picks, because he knows whats up. he knows what he’s doing, and what’s good for this team. Minaya would of probably chose 50 cent by now.