Manuel & Minaya Are Safe...For Now

According to some sources, Jerry Manuel and Omar Minaya will be back with the New York Mets in 2010.

Owner Fred Wilpon has pinned blame for this disastrous season on the injuries that have riddled this club all season, and he assured both Manuel and Minaya that their jobs were safe in a private meeting a few weeks ago.

However, when questioned about his job security tonight, Manuel told reporters that he never heard from ownership that his job was secure for next season.

The team has played considerably worse over the past three weeks, but according to Mets blog, the Wilpons have not reversed their decision to keep both Manuel and Minaya.

"Yet Wilpon has continued to insist internally that there will be no major changes in management for the rest of this season and maybe not even for next season. However," the source said, "nothing has been assured for 2010."

The source said Wilpon would be hesitant to fire Minaya because the GM's three-year contract extension does not begin until next year and that firing him also would mean firing assistants close to Minaya who also have contracts beyond this season.

Manuel is signed through 2010, and the organization "is not displaying a strong inclination at present to sacrifice him for this disappointing season." (qtd. Mets Blog. com 7/20/09)

Clearly, we will have to wait and see how this season pans out. If the Mets totally fold, and end up losing 90 plus games this year, it will be interesting to see how patient the Wilpons will be. Keep in mind this was a team with NLCS and World Series aspirations before the season started, and have the highest payroll in the NL at $143 million.