Right decisions for Mets could get Manuel fired

Joel Sherman
Blog: Hardball

HARDBALL

Clues are being dispensed. Jose Reyes was hitting third. Jenrry Mejia was being compared with Mariano Rivera. Kelvim Escobar essentially was exiled before even throwing a bullpen session.

Perhaps Jerry Manuel would make these moves and say these things if he had job security. But he doesn’t. So these feel like clues about how he is going to manage the Mets while he still is managing the Mets.

Manuel knows the deal: He has one guaranteed year left on his contract, but not all one-year deals are the same. Yankees manager Joe Girardi has one year left, too, but is not under career duress because he won the World Series last year while Manuel piloted a disaster.

Anthony J. Causi (2); AP

MANAGING TO SURVIVE: Will Jerry Manuel try to buy himself some time by rushing first baseman Ike Davis (inset, left) and pitcher Jennry Mejia?

So it is understandable why Manuel is emphasizing a strong start to this season, and not just because the organization wants to quickly flush the stench of 2009 and elevate the confidence in 2010. A strong start also is desperately needed for the 57-year-old Manuel to hold on to what probably is his last major league managing job.

“If we don’t get off good, I will be a target,” Manuel said. “I cannot react to that because I know it is

162 games. We need to win those early games, but not at the expense of jeopardizing the entire season. You can’t go bankrupt early.”

That is what he says, and general manager Omar Minaya and top lieutenant, John Ricco, both agree, stating that Manuel is a veteran baseball man who would not put his own situation ahead of what is best for the team. But self-preservation is our most powerful instinct, making folks behave in ways they might not be consciously aware of.

Manuel has not run away from his predicament. As is his wont, he has kidded about tip-toeing on the quicksand. He laughed recently in acknowledging “I am both of those,” referring to crazy and desperate when it comes to strategy. Was that gallows humor or real signs that he knows standard operating procedure might not save him?

For example, Manuel always has had a hunch that Reyes is a third-place hitter. But if he were secure in his job, would Manuel be pushing that role now with Reyes coming back from a traumatic injury and Carlos Beltran due to return in May? But being around in May and/or seeing Beltran back on the field are not assured to him. It also now will be fascinating if Manuel sticks with the No. 3 option if and when Reyes returns from his thyroid issue.

Should a veteran baseball man really be fueling comparisons between Mejia and Rivera; a 20-year-old who is 0-5 with a 4.47 ERA in his only 10 games above A-ball and the greatest closer ever? The accepted practice is to lower expectations around a prospect as talented, but as crude as Mejia.