NEW YORK — After a miserable season full of
baserunning blunders and fielding miscues, the New York Mets made several
changes to their coaching staff Monday.
Chief operating officer Jeff Wilpon also announced the
club will alter its training practices for treating and preventing injuries, and
the team's payroll for 2010 should be similar to this year.
First base coach Luis Alicea was fired and third base
coach Razor Shines will have a different role next season. Bench coach Sandy
Alomar also lost his job, but will be offered another position in the
organization, while son Sandy Alomar Jr. likely is headed for a promotion after
serving as catching instructor this year.
New York's first season at Citi Field was a mess, filled
with injuries, mistakes and lackluster play. An April favorite for a deep
postseason run, the Mets swept a three-game series from Houston last weekend to
finish 70-92 – their worst record since going 66-95 under Art Howe in 2003.
While general manager Omar Minaya and manager Jerry
Manuel will return next season, Wilpon made it clear that ownership expects a
turnaround.
"We demand better and we expect better," Wilpon said.
"And to me, he and Omar deserve a chance to come back and right the ship. It's a
one-year thing."
The Mets hit .270 this season, tying playoff-bound Los
Angeles for the best average in the NL, and batted .276 with runners in scoring
position, second in the league behind Atlanta. But they finished with only 671
runs, good for 12th in the National League.
Injuries robbed them of stars Jose Reyes, Carlos Delgado
and Carlos Beltran for long stretches, but Manuel and the front office decided
to change the base coaches.
"The traffic that we had on the bases probably to a lot
of degree was not properly managed as well as we would've liked to have seen,"
Manuel said. "That was probably the biggest issue with us was one of the issue
of baserunning. We didn't seem to have that perform at the level that we thought
we need to to be a championship club."
Alomar's dismissal was particularly painful for Manuel,
who said they were such close friends that they used to ride to the ballpark
together. Alomar, who turns 66 this month, could be back with the club next
season depending on his personal situation and whether he can find a big league
job with another club.
"Defensively, I thought we struggled and I think that we
needed to get to another level," Manuel said, citing the club's 134 double plays
– tied for 12th in the NL. "We have to do everything we can to be better
defensively."
Manuel, signed through next season with a club option
for 2011, said Shines could be considered for the other coaching openings and
Alomar Jr. could be in the mix at first.
Hitting coach Howard Johnson, pitching coach Dan Warthen
and bullpen coach Randy Niemann will be back in the same roles next season. New
York pitchers were plagued by control problems but Manuel said he thinks Warthen
is the right person to help young starters John Maine, Mike Pelfrey and Oliver
Perez return to form.
A relatively healthy season would go a long way to
helping the pitching staff and the rest of the team rebound next year.
New York used the disabled list 22 times in 2009 for 19
players, including eight former All-Stars. Mets players spent more than 1,480
days on the disabled list, more than any other major league team, according to
STATS LLC.
Wilpon said it appears Reyes will need surgery to repair
his torn right hamstring.
New York's medical staff will remain in place for 2010
but "we are changing our medical protocols to better treat and prevent
injuries," Wilpon said, declining to get into specifics. The son of owner Fred
Wilpon also said he plans to take a more active role in how the club releases
information about ailing players.
Injuries to Reyes, Beltran and Delgado became a
season-long soap opera as they appeared to be close to playing again, only to
remain sidelined. Beltran was the only one of the three who returned to the
lineup.
Wilpon said part of the communication problems occurred
when players were hurt on the road.
"We relied on visiting team doctors to diagnose," he
said. "When Jose had a hamstring tendon that was partially torn to begin with,
the doctor in, I forget where it was, L.A., said it was his calf. Now the
radiating pain was through his calf. It wasn't really what happened."
New York's rough season was part of a tough stretch for
the Wilpon family, whose members and companies lost millions in convicted
swindler Bernard Madoff's Ponzi scheme. The owner's losses don't appear to have
affected the team's finances yet, with Jeff Wilpon saying Monday the 2010
payroll will be "what Omar needs."
That puts the pressure squarely back on Minaya, who said
he will do anything to help the team rebound next year. He didn't rule out
adding former major league GMs Kevin Towers and J.P. Ricciardi to the front
office.
"I'm going to look at any way we can improve ourselves,"
Minaya said. "There will be some personnel out there. Like every year, I look
around and see how can we get better?"