“Opinions are like a-holes, everyone’s got one and most of them stink” Reports are swirling that the Mets will be holding a press conference on Tuesday to announce the next manager of the Mets. Everyone wants to pick apart every possible “hint” as to who it is going to be.

I honestly think they are hiring whomever they think is the best person to lead the 2011 Mets. I don’t think there is any ticket selling agenda, any 1986 agenda, any plan to have a “YES” man, any plan to have a vanilla personality or a badass.

I honestly think they heard from all of these guys. They know the direction they see this team going in the next few years and want the best guy for that. I know that isn’t a sexy theory to some. I went into the off-season hoping the Mets would hire Bobby Valentine.

I’ve always been a fan of Valentine and I admittedly am nostalgic for the late 90′s early 2000′s Mets. When it became clear Valentine was not going to be hired I tried to keep an open mind who I wanted. I have gone through stages of strongly wanting Backman, strongly wanting Collins and currently think my pick would be Chip Hale.

All of that said this is actually one of the least important moves the Mets will make in coming years. A manager is an important piece of a team. He motivates, he puts the lineup card together and he tries to give his team the best chance to win….. that said…. managers in general are overrated.

Nobody would have said Ron Washington was some amazing manager and he led his team to the WS, Charlie Manuel is a great motivator but his decision making doesn’t remind you of Joe McCarthy. Players win games. If the Yankees tomorrow fired Joe Girardi for having stupid looking braces and Tony Pena took over…. NOBODY would downgrade the Yankees chances in 2011, if Terry Francona decided to step down and DeMarlo Hale were to take over NOBODY would downgrade the Sox chances.

The Mets in their HISTORY as a franchise have never had a prolonged run as one of the best franchises in baseball and their next manager will NOT be the reason if they do going forward. It’s been fun debating who the next manager of the Mets will be, or who it should be but the fact of the matter when the white smoke bellows from Flushing to reveal the next leader of this team it will only be a minor step in their quest for greatness.

First let me start off by saying that personally I agree with Sandy Alderson’s belief that a manager at the very least is somewhat overrated. Nobody can convince me that Joe Girardi, Charlie Manuel, Ron Washington, Terry Francona (all managers who have either recently won or appeared in the WS) are “great” managers. Bobby Valentine was “eh” with the Rangers, Joe Torre was deemed “Clueless Joe” when he was hired by the Yankees. That said I do believe that some managers have the ability to keep players heads in the game and playing hard when things go poorly better than others (Bobby Cox a perfect example).

A few weeks ago I wrote a piece talking about 1 candidate I felt was a strong choice. That being Giants bench coach Ron Wotus. Today I bring you another such candidate who I believe the Mets would be smart to look at. Matt Walbeck. Walbeck is probably best remembered as a former big league catcher playing parts of 11 seasons for 5 different teams. He retired from the game following the 2003 season at age 33.

In 2004 he was hired by the Tigers as manager of their A-ball West Michigan Whitecaps. Walbeck won 2 titles in 3 seasons with the Whitecaps. In 2007 Walbeck was promoted to AA where they improved from last place in 2006 to the playoffs (going 81-59) under Walbeck in 2007 garnering Walbeck his first manager of the year award. In 2008 he served as 3b coach for the Rangers. The last 2 seasons have been spent in the Pirates organization where in 2010 he won his 3rd championship and 4th manager of the year award in 6 minor league seasons.

Walbeck then approach the Pirates about a promotion to AAA and requested a chance to interview with the big club. The Pirates being the Pirates fired him over this. Walbeck is described by those in the game as a “passionate” manager who is “obsessed with winning”. His resume speaks for itself. 6 years as a manager, 3 titles, 4 managers of the year and an overall record of 443-380. He is young (41) which I think would be good with a younger team.

Tom Smith from rumbunter.com (a pirates blog) had the following comments about Walbeck in an article following his release from the Pirates “Everywhere he goes, Walbeck has won. His office wall is a little fuller this year after winning another of Manager of the Year award and we say it is easy to see that he’s a rising star in the baseball world. One could speculate the Pirates are simply waiting until the Curve win the ELCS to make the announcement. Yeh, wouldn’t that be fantastic? Just dry the champagne off of him and put Walbeck in black and gold!” (http://rumbunter.com/2010/09/30/after-winning-title-pirates-fire-curve-manager-walbeck/).

I know some of the fanbase is frothing over Wally Backman but today I submit to you the best choice for the next manager of the Mets…. Matt Walbeck.

We are almost through another woeful season for the Mets, likely to end the year below .500, and possibly another top 10 pick. So now you have to start asking the question, what can they do to fix it so 2011 isn’t another wash? It first starts with a new GM, and a new manager. I don’t know who the new GM will be (I just pray it’s an outside candidate), and I’d guess the manager is probably Bobby Valentine or Wally Backman. But while those changes are completely necessary, you also have to realize the on-field product needs work too.

One thing I feel the team is lacking is a pure slugger. Sure David Wright, Ike Davis, Jason Bay, Carlos Beltran(if still here) could hit some home runs, but they aren’t that guy that every time he comes up I feel a home run coming. One player that could be available via trade this offseason that does fit that criteria is Dan Uggla. With the team highly likely to part ways with Luis Castillo one way or another, the 2nd base job will be open. Sure you could go no bat all defense in Ruben Tejada, or suspect defense and I guess OK bat in Daniel Murphy, and they should be able to atleast replicate Castillo’s putrid 2010.

But why not significantly upgrade? Sure Uggla is not a good defender by any means, but I am sick and tired of sacrificing offense for defense. The Seattle Mariners tried that this year, and look where they are. Uggla is a bonafide slugger at a position of need, and he’s someone that I don’t believe Citi Field would really diminish his home run totals much at all as nearly every home run I see him hit is an absolute bomb, whether at Citi Field or anywhere else.

Uggla’s OPS+ this year is at 128, and has a 116 mark for his career. 100 is considered to be an average player, thus Uggla is a pretty decently above average offensive player, not a star, but a strong hitter. For fun, Luis Castillo’s OPS+ this year is a mere 67, and his career is 92. Tejada’s OPS+ this year is 44, and Murphy’s in 2009 was 95 making him even a below average player. But one thing Uggla has the ability to do that none of the other candidates have is the ability to hit the home run on any given at bat against any given pitcher. That ability is something that cannot be taught, he can always be taught to be a better defender. With the right coaching you can always improve footwork to get a better first step and make you atleast passable at the position.

I just think it’s time for the team to just forget about the defense at one position and just go with a real pure slugger like Uggla. Now you can ask, well why would Florida trade him then? Well, it looks as if they are at a standstill on extension talks with Uggla, and he has one more year of arbitration before free agency, where you can expect him to make close to $10M via arbitration. If you offer Florida the right package, I’d bet they’d be willing to make a trade, and they have not been afraid to deal good players within division, especially to the Mets (see Paul Lo Duca, Carlos Delgado). Could a package like outfielder Kirk Nieuwenhuis or Fernando Martinez + a replacement 2B in Tejada entice them? I’d certainly be willing to explore that.

It’s become common knowledge that after the season is over the Mets will indeed fire Jerry Manuel. This leaves the manager spot open for a new hiring of managements desire. One has been speculating for months on not only who the next manager will be, but who all the candidates will be. Some candidates are realistic choices of who management may choose, then there are the unrealistic ones such as say Lou Piniella. The only way I see Piniella returning to manage in 2011 is if its on the Yankees and Girardi skips town for Chicago. But without further ado here are some of the candidates -

Wally Backman

From everything one has read in the past few months it is looking more and more likely that Backman may be the next Mets manager. Most beat writers in New York tend to believe that management is in favor of hiring Backman at seasons end to take over the big squad. Backman has lead the Brooklyn Cyclones to a 47-22 record so far this season. It is Backman’s first year at the helm in Brooklyn and many have gone a long way to praise his work with the youngsters down there. With the Mets starting to go with a younger look Backman may fit in greatly serving as a mentor to some of these players. Backman is my personal favorite candidate as well to manage the Mets next season. I love his fiery attitude and passion for managing baseball. I also like that he works well with these young players and I believe that is a trait you must look for when trying to name the Mets next manager.

Bobby Valentine

Bobby Valentine is a favorite amongst Mets fans and will always be. Mets fans have collectively wanted to bring Valentine back into the fold for years. Now that he is back from managing in Japan and he’s once again looking for a job in MLB, this may be perfect timing. A lot of signs have pointed to him possibly coming back. For one he was close to taking the Marlins job, but that never panned out. He was talked about for the Orioles job, but that never came to fruition with them choosing Buck Showalter instead. The Mariners have said they will be interested come this offseason, but until the Mets job is filled one has a hard time believing Valentine is going anywhere. I strongly believe in the end it will be a 2 horse race between Backman and Valentine for the skippers spot on the Mets. Either way one would be happy with who Mets management chose if that was the case. There will be plenty of argument on why each are better then the other. It will be up to management however to make the tough choice. Peter Gammons recently said on WFAN that he believes the Mets will choose Valentine as the next manager. However, like with most things Gammons says take it with a grain of salt. Jason Bay still hasn’t reported for Spring Training in Beirut.

Joe Torre

Some people have been speculating that Joe Torre may be interested in the Mets job once he leaves LA after the 2010 season. Other believe he will indeed retire. My money is on that he will call it quits and hangs up his spikes on what was a terrific managing career. However he may get that Favre-esq “itch” to stay around and thats why one believes he may very well be a candidate for the Mets spot. Torre is beloved in the city of NY and always has been. Since his playing days (and managing) for the Mets to his extraordinary job he did managing the Yankees, he is a icon in the state of NY. One believes he will be welcomed back with open arms if he throws his hat into the rings of potential candidates. He also may jump right to the top of that list if Mets management wants to go with a proven winner. Stay Tuned.

Fredi Gonzalez

Most people believe that the Braves already have a jersey with Gonzalez’s last name printed on it ready for 2011. Bobby Cox will be retiring as Braves manager following the 2010 season and it is common knowledge that they are infatuated with Gonzalez in Atlanta. However with nothing set in stone Gonzalez’s name would have to be on the list of candidates for the Mets job.

Ken Oberkfell

Ken Oberkfell is the manager of the Mets AAA affiliate the Buffalo Bisons. He is considered to be a well liked guy within the organization and was even a Mets base coach when Willie Randolph was fired and the Mets brought up coaches from AAA. One would have to think he would absolutely be a candidate for the Mets open managing position do to his well liked status within the organization. Would he be the favorite? Probably not. However the favorite candidate doesn’t end up as the candidate that wins. The interview process is a tricky one and a strong showing during it may land you the top spot. Oberkfell is absolutely a candidate for the Mets 2011 opening.