Jerry Manuel said it best, which is really saying something.
“One of the faults of myself is, whatever’s on my mind I express it,” the Mets manager told MLB Network this spring training. “Now, that’s not always good.”
No, it isn’t, especially when you know that about yourself (and the media), and have been through its consequences before.
And what does it all mean for Johan Santana? Manuel wasted little time telling Shea Stadium fans what he knew about waste management, likening them to fertilizer.
Manuel was in charge less than a week when Bart Hubbuch wrote, “Adding to his fast-developing reputation for outrageous comments, the Mets’ interim boss compared the atmosphere at home for Heilman with manure today.”
Two days later, Mark Hale wrote, “Manuel had to explain and defuse a swirl of mayhem just hours before his first home game as Mets manager,” and Manuel wound up claiming manure “was a good thing.”
And all this was after he jokingly said he would knife Jose Reyes — drawing stabs on another Web site — and referred to his shortstop as “she.”
This spring, Manuel said he’d like to try Luis Castillo batting leadoff, putting Reyes third, but had not told the players (“Manuel dropped that little bombshell in the middle of his first news conference of the spring …).
Manuel also said Daniel Murphy was a better hitter than Ryan Church, and if there was a strict platoon it would be with Fernando Tatis and Church in right field (“The Mets’ manager yesterday livened up a sleepy news conference once again …”).
The next day, Manuel walked up to Church and told him he was the team’s right fielder (“Manuel moved quickly to defuse the public challenge he issued Sunday to Ryan Church …”).
So Manuel, who guided another sinking Mets ship last September, knows he has loose lips. And he’s seen — from his first week on the job — how the media will react (OK, maybe over-react) to any candor he may provide.
Does he know what he’s doing, using his comments to distract the press from a bigger issue (like his role in Randolph’s firing, Castillo being on the roster, or Santana’s elbow trouble)?
Does he just not get it, like a bank CEO who wonders why people are angry about his private jet, a double-talk double-take?
Or can he just not help himself, frank and glib with a media group that knows no one by those names?
Which brings us to Santana, who was going to pitch Tuesday then wasn’t, who wasn’t going to have an MRI exam, then was, then wasn’t, which may or may not have had something to do with today’s snow.
And Manuel said Santana felt fine, but will see team doctors when they get to Florida.
Manuel has said over and over and over that he’s being extra, extra, extra cautious with his ace’s arm, but who knew there was twisting of that arm by the pitching coach?
And who knows what to believe?
For argument’s sake, let’s say Manuel, a well-read grown man who has been around baseball media for 35 years, has a method to his offhandedness.
He wanted the fans to lighten up, wanted to light a spark under Reyes, wanted to take pressure off Heilman and Murphy, and did it (poorly) through the media.
And by saying he’s being cautious and Santana is fine, he wanted to protect both his pitcher and his pitching coach.
So what does he say when Santana ends up on the disabled list?