Mets' Manuel, Minaya To Meet With Wilpon Monday
NEW YORK (AP/WFAN) -- Embattled Mets manager Jerry Manuel and GM Omar Minaya will meet with COO Jeff Wilpon on Monday.
Neither is expected to remain in their current role.
Speculation about their futures has swirled for weeks. The guaranteed portion of Manuel's contract expires at the end of the season, and Minaya, completing his sixth season, is due two more years.
SI.com and WFAN's Jon Heyman reported Friday that the team will announce after the season that the pair won't return in their roles.
After coming within a win of reaching the World Series in 2006, the Mets have slopped through four sorry seasons.
First, they blew a seven-game lead with 17 to play in 2007 by going 5-12 down the stretch. Then, after manager Willie Randolph was fired in June 2008 and Manuel was promoted from bench coach, they wasted a season-high 3½-game lead with 17 remaining by sliding to a 7-10 finish.
Last year, they sank from 89-73 to 70-92 as players spent a major league high of more than 1,480 days on the disabled list, according to STATS LLC. This year, they entered the final two days 78-82 and finished with ace Johan Santana, closer Francisco Rodriguez, and outfielders Carlos Beltran and Jason Bay all hurt.
Santana is likely to miss at least the first half of 2011 following shoulder surgery. Rodriguez also faces an uncertain future after a tearing a ligament in the thumb of his pitching hand during a fight with his girlfriend's father outside a family lounge at Citi Field in July. He faces criminal charges, and the Mets withheld more than $3 million of his salary, prompting a grievance.
"Can't wait to do it again," Manuel said following what may be his final game as Mets manager, an extra-innings loss to the Washington Nationals.
