Jerry Manuel

Citi Field is a state-of-the-art facility. A throwback to old-time baseball with an eye towards the future. Filled with a vast array of unobstructed views, intimate feel and quirky dimensions. It is truly a ballpark in every sense of the word.

So why does it feel more like a morgue?

It wasn't so long ago that the core of these Mets' players—Wright, Reyes, Beltran, and Delgado—were part of a reorganization, headed by Omar Minaya, to bring back the good old times from Shea and deliver them into Citi Field.

In this past month, the New York Mets have turned into the New York Bets; people all around the world are betting on when the next Mets player will find himself with all the others on the bloated DL. Some even go a little bit farther and pick a player. 

Some of the biggest names on the Mets' disabled list are Jose Reyes, Carlos Delgado, JJ Putz, Oliver Perez, John Maine, and the newest player to join the club, Carlos Beltran. 

Baseball writers and Met fans in particular are quick to blame Jerry Manuel when things go wrong. Many are down on Manuel for the way the Mets have played this season, despite the depleted roster he works with every day.

Some of that criticism is warranted. A consistent lineup would be nice, Ryan Church playing every day would likely improve his numbers, and perhaps a rookie righty shouldn't be facing Chase Utley. 

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Should the New York Mets hire Manny Acta?

During the Mets' brutal loss to the Yankees on Sunday, something very rare happened: David Wright got in an umpire's face about a called third strike for only the second time in his career.

Manager Jerry Manuel has often said he will defend his players 110 percent if they are right. If not, so be it, which is fine. But why did he wait for Wright to return to the dugout before coming out to argue with the umpire?

The pitch to Wright in the sixth inning was definitely over the plate, but well below his knees, and the ball was dropped by the catcher.

At this juncture, there are not many of us that would trade places with Mets manager Jerry Manuel.

His team has been decimated by freak injuries and lingering illnesses to the point where they are out of major league-level players. The lineup these days looks like one out of an early March split-squad game.

When the 2008 season started, Jerry Manuel was the Mets' bench coach supporting Willie Randolph. The events of last summer could not have been foreseen by most fans, never mind players or coaches.

The firing of Willie Randolph and the two coaches involved took place in a manner that no one was expecting. Omar Minaya surprised everyone by his visit to Anaheim in late June, although it was not the first visit that was pretty much kept in secret.

According to MLB.com, Mets manager Jerry Manuel is leaning toward batting Daniel Murphy second in the Mets lineup to begin the 2009 season.

Earlier this winter, Manuel hinted shortstop Jose Reyes might bat third.  While every indication shows that he is returning to the top of the lineup, I was beginning to warm to the idea that Reyes could provide speed in the middle of the order with guys like Wright, Delgado, and Beltran right behind him.

If Reyes was going to bat third, I would welcome with open arms the possibility of Murphy batting second.