Mets Will Benefit From Either Valentine or Backman as Manager
(Long Island, N.Y.) Regardless of who eventually replaces Jerry Manuel as manager of the New York Mets, it will be a breath of fresh air. After two and a half seasons, it is time to go for the current field boss and two favorites for the job will conjure up nostalgic memories of Met teams who did not collapse in September.
Both Bobby Valentine and Wally Backman are associated with success in Queens and are also loved by the fans. For an organization in serious need of some positive PR, deciding on the fate of Manuel and his replacement sooner than later would be a smart move.
Valentine was welcome in his first stint as Met manager from his playing days with the club. Back then, he was more known for his championship in the Bubble Yum bubble-blowing contests than on the baseball diamond. The Mets were perennial losers at the time, but Bobby V returned to Shea Stadium two decades later and turned things around.
He led them to the playoffs in 1999 and 2000, even reaching the World Series in the latter. The five-game loss to the Yankees notwithstanding, that was a magical year for the Mets and their fans have never forgotten that.
After being a national hero in Japan, Valentine has come back to America, is currently working at ESPN and still interested in managing. He seemed all set to go to Florida, but decided against it. Speculation arose that he was holding out for the Mets job and once the team fell out of contention, it was apparent that there would in fact be a job opening in Flushing.
Backman returned to the organization and added to his resume a playoff berth for the Brooklyn Cyclones this summer. The second baseman on the 1986 World Series championship team has always endeared himself to the fans by playing a hard-nosed style of baseball and he definitely brought along that attitude to the Single-A affiliate.
His legal issues and firing as the Arizona Diamondbacks’ manager after a few days seems like ancient history and should not be a factor in the Mets’ decision. This is an organization that is always worried about public perception and has historically stayed away from personnel moves that may bring along some negative attention, but the Wilpons need to think outside the box here.
The smarter move here would be to hire Backman. The Mets are obviously in some type of rebuilding mode and have elected to go with youth for the most part, so to bring in a veteran manager like Valentine may not work. He was able to win the first time around with a mixture of youngsters and a few vets, but the make-up of the current Mets is much different from their counterparts of the late 1990s. There are no team leaders present in the clubhouse and there was an abundance back then. That is a huge difference and one that should not be overlooked.
Bringing Backman in would be a move more geared for the future and he can grow with them in his first real major league managerial job. Plus, he would come a whole lot cheaper than Valentine. And for a team looking to cut payroll and save money, that part of the decision will come into play.
It is definitively time for the Mets and Manuel to part ways and it is a foregone conclusion that he will be let go as soon as the season commences. If the Mets keep the short list to the aforementioned two, they really can’t go wrong.
Mets Will Benefit From Either Valentine or Backman as Manager
(Long Island, N.Y.) Regardless of who eventually replaces Jerry Manuel as manager of the New York Mets, it will be a breath of fresh air. After two and a half seasons, it is time to go for the current field boss and two favorites for the job will conjure up nostalgic memories of Met teams who did not collapse in September.
Both Bobby Valentine and Wally Backman are associated with success in Queens and are also loved by the fans. For an organization in serious need of some positive PR, deciding on the fate of Manuel and his replacement sooner than later would be a smart move.
Valentine was welcome in his first stint as Met manager from his playing days with the club. Back then, he was more known for his championship in the Bubble Yum bubble-blowing contests than on the baseball diamond. The Mets were perennial losers at the time, but Bobby V returned to Shea Stadium two decades later and turned things around.
He led them to the playoffs in 1999 and 2000, even reaching the World Series in the latter. The five-game loss to the Yankees notwithstanding, that was a magical year for the Mets and their fans have never forgotten that.
After being a national hero in Japan, Valentine has come back to America, is currently working at ESPN and still interested in managing. He seemed all set to go to Florida, but decided against it. Speculation arose that he was holding out for the Mets job and once the team fell out of contention, it was apparent that there would in fact be a job opening in Flushing.
Backman returned to the organization and added to his resume a playoff berth for the Brooklyn Cyclones this summer. The second baseman on the 1986 World Series championship team has always endeared himself to the fans by playing a hard-nosed style of baseball and he definitely brought along that attitude to the Single-A affiliate.
His legal issues and firing as the Arizona Diamondbacks’ manager after a few days seems like ancient history and should not be a factor in the Mets’ decision. This is an organization that is always worried about public perception and has historically stayed away from personnel moves that may bring along some negative attention, but the Wilpons need to think outside the box here.
The smarter move here would be to hire Backman. The Mets are obviously in some type of rebuilding mode and have elected to go with youth for the most part, so to bring in a veteran manager like Valentine may not work. He was able to win the first time around with a mixture of youngsters and a few vets, but the make-up of the current Mets is much different from their counterparts of the late 1990s. There are no team leaders present in the clubhouse and there was an abundance back then. That is a huge difference and one that should not be overlooked.
Bringing Backman in would be a move more geared for the future and he can grow with them in his first real major league managerial job. Plus, he would come a whole lot cheaper than Valentine. And for a team looking to cut payroll and save money, that part of the decision will come into play.
It is definitively time for the Mets and Manuel to part ways and it is a foregone conclusion that he will be let go as soon as the season commences. If the Mets keep the short list to the aforementioned two, they really can’t go wrong.
