Mets Fans: Take note of this headline – “What exactly are the Mets looking for in a manager if Joe Girardi doesn’t fit the bill?” I have a better question…
The Mets search for a new manager prompted Deesha Thosar, writing in the New York Daily News, and spurred by her editors who saw fit to produce this front page (right), to ask the wayward question above.
Typically, Deesha Thosar gets it right, but in this case, she has my head spinning. Her point should be that Joe Girardi indeed fits the bill, but the Mets never seriously considered him for the post – ironically – for all the reasons she goes on to detail.
I thought by now we had this figured out, and we’ve come to an agreement.
Brodie Van Wagen will never – ever – hire a person who is a threat to his ever-increasing power base with the New York Mets. You can say the same about Joe Maddon, who went to the Angels where his expertise is appreciated.
And you can add Buck Showalter to the list as well, though for other reasons, it’s good he’s not going to be interacting with the talented core of young Mets players.
Czar Brodie Is Salivating At The Narrowing Field
Joe Girardi did not bolt from the Mets. Instead, he ran as has as he could away from the Mets. He did this in the face of the Phillies announcing three weeks ago that Matt Klentak is retained as their General Manager with a three-year contract.
Why is that relevant? For openers, take a glance at the photo below and tell me if he doesn’t have an eerie resemblance to Brodie Van Wagenen? Klentak is another one of these wanna-be know-it-alls GM’s taking the stage with an exploding ego bent on making his mark in Philadelphia.
What’s telling is that Girardi chose to enter that realm over the choice of combating Czar Brodie on a daily basis. Neither is a good situation for Joe Girardi, but he certainly took the lesser of two evils in Philadelphia.
The Mets courted Joe Girardi in the same way the Yankees “went after” Dallas Keuchel when he was available this past summer. Here’s your interview and here’s our offer, take it or leave it. That is not how you corral a manager if you are serious in your intent.
The Mets and Van Wagenen are keeping the details of their search a secret, leaving only the speculation that exists here and elsewhere. The “bombshell” hiring is now focused on AJ Hinch, who if we believe the reports is “fed up” in Houston. Really?
As if Czar Brodie would even come close to hiring Hinch, the well-established and respected manager of a team currently in the World Series?
Mets: It’s Time To End The Charade
How about we end the charade this week, Brodie? The Cubs, Phillies, Angels, and Padres have all completed the process with little or no hoopla.
Pick your lackey, and let’s move on to Zack Wheeler, nine Mets up for arbitration, the Rule 5 Draft, and the players who will declare free-agency after the World Series.
The whole episode is getting a bit boring. We know your motive, find the lackey of your choice – and be done with it.
Baseball, it is said, is only a game. True. And the Grand Canyon is only a hole in Arizona. Not all holes, or games, are created equal.
