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July 27, 2010 poll Joe Janish

Mets Second-half Plan: What Would You Do?

After admitting that no one’s job was safe, and sitting behind closed doors to discuss the plans for the immediate future of the team, the Mets’ front office came away with the decision to do absolutely nothing.

Just for a minute, pretend that you were sitting at the conference table on Monday and had a vote. What would you have recommended? Vote below and/or provide your comments.

What Should the Mets Do?

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Joe Janish began MetsToday in 2005 to provide the unique perspective of a high-level player and coach -- he earned NCAA D-1 All-American honors as a catcher and coached several players who went on to play pro ball. As a result his posts often include mechanical evaluations, scout-like analysis, and opinions that go beyond the numbers. Follow Joe's baseball tips on Twitter at @onbaseball and at the On Baseball Google Plus page.
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  1. Mike July 27, 2010 at 9:36 am
    Problem with this poll is that everyone here believes Omar and Jerry are jokes and need to be replaced. Of Course we would vote to remove them. The people in that front office are either more concerned with the money they are owed or actually believe in these two. So this is a somewhat pointless poll.
  2. Nick July 27, 2010 at 10:46 am
    This team is just a bit better than the current record indicates, and will probably finish several games above .500.

    Since we’re in a trough right now, I bet you can expect another run of good baseball before we flame out, which will allow management to say that we were “contending” in August. That way everyone keeps their jobs, and we can do the same thing all over again in 2011.

    This is a horrendously run ball club, from the ownership on down to the training staff. I’ continue to support the team and some of the players, but I won’t be paying for tickets or watching SNY until significant managerial changes are made.

  3. gary s. July 27, 2010 at 12:01 pm
    release ollie perez and luis castillo.. than hire them to be G.M. and manager.. john maine could be the pitching coach and fernando tatis could replace hojo as batting coach.This way the wilpons could still get some return on their financial investment, which seems to be the sole reason they own a major league baseball team..
  4. wohjr July 27, 2010 at 1:00 pm
    We need another option– leap across the table and throttle Jeff Wilpon. Sell franchise to not-broke owners. Then fire Omar and Jerry. And Razor Shines!
  5. Professor Longnose July 27, 2010 at 1:13 pm
    The problem with the Mets is that they need more hitting, but there’s no place in the lineup where they have the potential for an obvious upgrade. Bay is not hitting well, but he’s expected to do better, and you can’t give up on him. Beltran isn’t hitting, but he’s been injured and is expected to do better, so you can’t give up on him. Reyes isn’t hitting, but he’s been injured and he’s expected to do better, so you can’t give up on him. Pagan is having a nice year, but doesn’t really have the power to hold down a corner outfield position. Ike Davis doesn’t really have the OBP and is holding down a power position, but he’s developing and the hope is the OBP will come around and he’ll do better in the future. Meanwhile, everyone is below average, and collectively they don’t hit.

    Maybe it’s time to give up on someone. Find the biggest bat on the trade market you can, and give up on someone to get that position open. Int he long run, it may not make sense, but it might help out now. Ike Davis and spare parts for Adam Dunn? Something like that, perhaps.

  6. booker July 27, 2010 at 1:36 pm
    baseball is a game of streaks and firing people won’t get the team to hit. if on the road trip they had hit AT ALL they would have won a couple more games and the situation wouldn’t seem so dire. I’m not crazy about the staff either but they didn’t suck on the trip because of the coaches.
  7. Mic July 27, 2010 at 2:30 pm
    1. trade carlos beltran …yanks, WS, rsoxx and angels being potential destinations.

    2 . trade barajas (as rumored to red sox ) for ramirez , and hope that reverse the amount of walk off losses.

    3. Trade for Dionar navarro stuck in the Rays minors

    4. release Luis. Install Justin turner and Alex Cora as a platoon at 2nd.

  8. Joe July 27, 2010 at 3:17 pm
    The Mets will never be a team that works intelligently. Subtle moves can make a big difference.

    I would fire Jerry Manual… Actually a long time ago I would have fired him. Can we get Bobby Valentine to return? Word has it that the Cubs and Bobby V may have mutual interest in each other… The Mets have to beat them to the punch. BOBBY V IS A WINNER!!!!

    Secondly we have to solve second base. That may be easier said then done, but why O. Hudson is not a Met still eludes me.

    Third, add a starting pitcher. You can never have enough pitching. The Yankees have CC, Burnett, Pettitte, Hughes, Vazquez, and have been able to toss Wang to the junk heap. You need to have more pitching on tap than you to just fill out the roster.

    While I like filling out the bullpen with guys that may or may not be a success, the starting rotation needs to be 5 quality guys. The Mets need to realize this some day soon, please.

    With all that being said, the question of Omar Manaya’s security must to asked. While he has his ups and downs, we are not a playoff team and haven’t been for a few years. Yes, we had a couple of close calls. But this is baseball, in NY. We spend the money, let raise the expectations of management.

    FINALLY – Ownership. Put your balls on the table, bring in Showalter as GM, Bobby V as Manager, and let them run baseball operations. Keep your nose out of it.

    If these things got done, maybe Santana would be happy and getting more wins, and maybe D. Wright would have players around him reaching above their potential.

    Speaking there of. Where would this team be without Takahasi, Pagan, and the first half from Barajas? We would be in big trouble. We need a manager who gets the team to see the big picture and play as a unit.

    Reyes — while the talent is boundless, his mental state is less than firm. I love the guy and want to see him succeed more than anyone on the team, but since his pay day he has been living in another world. We should expect this guy to hit .300. If Cano can bid for the triple crown why can’t Reyes, just be an impact player. We don’t need greatness, we don’t need a highlight reel. We need a guy that has his heart and head in the right place. Once that happens the Mets will be a team to be reckoned with.

  9. Ken July 27, 2010 at 3:37 pm
    Need to start thinking about the long-term viability of this club. As a lifetime Met fan, I am very tired of the Mets teams post 2000… feels like every year we just layer on new problems and never fully address the underyling issues. We keep thinking that “one more thing” will get us over the hump; whether that be a starting pitcher or a slugger… I feel like we’re fooling ourselves year after year.

    I’m the radical on this board that thinks leadership needs to cut their losses, sell off the veterans for prospects and make a clean start; aim for a long-term solution. I’d keep Niese, Thole, Davis, Parnell, Wright and our farm system and that’s about it. I just don’t ever see us winning with “potential”… we have too much faith in beat-up former all-stars.

    If only the New York market would let us do this.

    • wohjr July 27, 2010 at 4:28 pm
      See, I think the fan base COULD take a rebuilding period. Ticket sales wouldn’t be down for that long, especially if they send out a bunch of hungry youngsters playing under a firey manager. The only ones who can’t take the rebuilding period are the DEAD BROKE Wipons who need people showing up to drink czechvar to even be able to pay the utility bill. Seriously, there was another “leak” this week stating that the Wilpons are fine financially and took no hit from Bernie. How many times have we heard that in the last few years? 20? The doth protest too much I think….

      I’d trade Wright, not Reyes. Reyes’ talents are the more rare commodity and Wright would fetch more in return. A team with DW as its best hitter is not a World Championship team… plain and simple.

      • Mike July 28, 2010 at 9:40 am
        Wohjr I have been arguing this for over a year! I absolutely would accept a “rebuilding” phase. I think fans would too, so long as it is open and honest. Trying to win with crummy players and trying to sell the team to fans as a winner when you have nothing but scrubs and young players would never work. It would have to be sold as a 2-3 year building phase. Problem is that as long as Reyes and Wright are on the team they will never accept rebuilding. So it has to be a retool but also try to win team and that never works. But the Yankees took a year to retool and they won the WS because of it. I’ve always said the Mets should take one step back to take two steps forward.
    • Eko July 27, 2010 at 5:11 pm
      I would also approve of a “rebuilding” of the team…but they cannot realistically do it by “selling off veterans.” Santana, Krod, Beltran, Bay, etc are due way too much money to trade to any team thats not the Yankees. The Mets would have to eat a lot of money to make any deal palatabe and the Wilpons have showed they don’t like to eat money (although we don’t know if they won’t in exchange for good minor league talent).

      I’d keep Reyes (partly because his value is down), Wright (anyone who thinks trading him is a good idea is nuts imo), Davis (though I WOULD be open to trading him for the right team) and the cheap pitchers (Parnell, Niese, Pelfrey).

  10. mooshinator July 28, 2010 at 10:01 am
    “A team with DW as its best hitter is not a World Championship team…”

    What happens after you get rid of Wright? Then Angel Pagan is your best hitter… well if a team with Wright as its best hitter is not a championship team, then certainly a team with Angel Pagan as its best hitter isn’t either, so we should get rid of Pagan. And then a team with Jose Reyes as its best hitter is not a championship team so we get rid of Reyes…

    If you don’t like Wright as the best hitter on the team, and given that Wright is pretty indisputably one of the top three 3rd baseman in the league, isn’t your problem more easily solved by obtaining a better hitter than Wright at a different position, thus making Wright the 2nd best hitter on the team?

    I don’t agree with your premise to begin with that a team with Wright as its best hitter can’t be a championship team, but even if I did agree with it I don’t see how getting rid of him would even remotely improve the situation.

    • wohjr July 28, 2010 at 12:46 pm
      Yes, definitely moosh, Wright as second banana would definitely be interesting. What would be more interesting is four solid pitchers we could be confident in heading into September/October. We have maybe 2.5 right now… depending on how much credit you want to give Niese and how long you think Dickey has before he turns back into a pumpkin.

      Look, I can only say what I see with my own eyes… and I see someone who has good numbers, but tends to disappear in big spots. The three-pitch-K special with men on is my personal favorite. The return of the erratic and loopy throws worry me. If the wilpons want to go out and sign Adrian Gonzalez, well then we’re getting somewhere although we’re not there yet…. because you still need the arms. I think Wright is most easily turned into worthwhile arms… then you sign the championship bat and put someone at 3B who can put up 75% of Dwright’s numbers… .270-.280 w/20 HR. It can be done.

      Keeping the ‘core’ of Wright and Reyes is a recipe for more of the same kinds of seasons we’ve been seeing ’07-’09… media hyped moves to stir up excitement to keep people in the seats to keep the Wilpons afloat. What’s the ratio of Mets’ media to scouting budget? 1:1??