Surprisingly, Jerry Manuel doesn’t want the Mets’ season to end.
The Mets manager addressed his players during a meeting before last night’s 13-4 loss to the Marlins, telling them to concentrate on playing well through the end of the season and reminding them that the long-term goal remains a World Series title.
“He said basically he wanted us to go into the offseason not necessarily ending something,” Jeff Francoeur said, “but putting a little calm on it and continuing it.”
Manuel insisted the meeting was not spurred by anything in particular, saying he has been satisfied with the Mets’ effort.
“I just wanted to be sure that we stay concentrated on what’s ahead and that despite where we are in the standings, even though the end is very near, the quest for a championship continues,” Manuel said. “We have enough players that we feel are going to be a part of this that we still think we have to think in that mindset.”
Manuel said nobody else spoke in the meeting, but Carlos Beltran — like Francoeur, a Met expected to be here next season — said Manuel wants to ensure that the players don’t lay down for the final three weeks.
“I think one of the things is he doesn’t want anyone to quit,” Beltran said.
Added David Wright, “The goal is to win. And obviously we haven’t done that this year. But you can look at it two ways — either continue to make the same mistakes we’ve made this year and in years past or we can learn from this.”
Last night, Angel Pagan (who did have three hits and a walk) forgot how many outs there were in the seventh inning and was doubled off second on a fly ball to right.
“I know right now I’m not playing championship baseball,” Pagan said.
Manuel will be facing a must-win situation next year, but it’s hard for him to learn much from how Tom Coughlin and Joe Girardi thrived in similar spots.
“With this type of season,” Manuel said, referring to the Mets’ injury-marred debacle, “it’s difficult to even evaluate yourself.”
Two seasons ago, Coughlin’s job was in jeopardy, and the Giants coach responded by improving his media skills and his relationship with the players. The Giants went on to win the Super Bowl. This season, Girardi was under must-win pressure with the Yankees, who missed the playoffs last year after 13 straight postseason appearances. The formerly closed-off manager changed to communicate better with his players, and the Yankees arguably have been baseball’s best team.
Will Manuel, expected back in 2010, change anything, as Coughlin and Girardi did? Manuel doesn’t have to improve relationships with the media and is well-liked by players, one thing he thinks he might implement is more balance of leadership.
In the offseason, Manuel talked about how he wanted Jose Reyes to become the infield’s defensive captain. But that didn’t happen this year because of Reyes’ hamstring injury.
“Now maybe what I need to do, in just thinking out here out loud,” he told The Post, “is to charge other people with that [leadership] responsibility as well, not just one guy.”
By doing that, Manuel would help ensure that should someone go down with an injury — such as Reyes — the system doesn’t totally crash. Manuel’s basic plan for 2010 is to do the same things he’d planned to do this year–“to create leadership on the field.”