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Mariners vs. Yankees |
Mets vs. Cardinals
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Sunday, October 15
Valentine could become free agent
By Jayson Stark
ESPN.com
NEW YORK -- It was Big Question No. 1 when the New York Mets' season started. It is still Big Question No. 1 today.
Will Bobby Valentine be back as manager when pitchers and catchers arrive at Port St. Lucie next February?
Mets general manager Steve Phillips said Sunday he's through answering that question -- and then kept answering it anyway.
Phillips said he has "recommended" to ownership that Valentine be retained. But does that mean the manager is definitely back? It isn't that simple. Of course.
"When the season ends," said Phillips, whose own contract expires after this season, "I'll negotiate my deal with ownership. When that deal is done, and I'm confident it will, then I'll negotiate a deal with the manager."
But even that doesn't mean Valentine's return is automatic. After winning 191 games the last two years, Valentine will be looking for a deal similar to those commanded by Lou Piniella and Dusty Baker, the two other postseason managers whose contracts are up.
With as many as eight jobs open this winter, Valentine may want to allow himself the opportunity to be courted by multiple teams, assuming one of those other seven clubs has interest in him. (And at the moment, there has been no concrete indication to that effect.)
Asked if the Mets would be willing to get themselves into a bidding war to keep Valentine, Phillips did his best to knock down the notion that a bidding war would get started in the first place.
"No matter what happens in this postseason, we have a period of exclusivity to negotiate with Bobby," Phillips said. "So we'll know then (whether Valentine will explore managerial free agency or not)."
But with the manager's contract expiring October 31, it's possible that period of exclusivity might be only a couple of days -- since the World Series could extend through October 29. And Phillips acknowledged it's possible that window could be a short one.
There have been rumblings recently that the Mets wouldn't be willing to give Valentine a three-year deal. But Phillips disputed that talk, asking: "Have you seen anyone in Mets management being quoted to that effect? I'm not saying what we'll offer. I'm just saying: Don't believe what's been written."
And with that, he announced (one more time): "And that will be the last contract question I answer for the rest of this postseason."
At least until the next one.
Andy' return?
It's hard to say which question the Cardinals were more unsure of as they headed into Game 4 Sunday: Whether there would be a Game 6 Wednesday, or who would pitch it if there is?
Manager Tony La Russa hasn't officially said that Rick Ankiel is no longer a candidate to start any more games this postseason. But privately, he has told friends Ankiel won't start again in the NLCS.
So with Darryl Kile starting Game 4 and Pat Hentgen pitching Game 5, that leaves La Russa with a choice of either rookie Britt Reames, who has been pitching out of the bullpen, or Andy Benes, who would have to come back on three days' rest after throwing 115 pitches Saturday on a gimpy knee.
La Russa strongly implied Sunday that he's leaning toward Benes, if his arm feels OK Monday.
"Most guys will tell you it's two days after, not the day after," La Russa said. "So we'll see (how Benes feels). I think his arm will be fine. We'll see how his knee is. ... As of this afternoon, there wasn't anything in the way Andy walked in that does make you think he wouldn't be available, maybe as early as (Game 6)."
Benes hasn't started a game on three days' rest since June 18, 1997, when he lost a game to the Brewers, allowing seven runs and nine hits in five innings. He hasn't won a game on three days' rest since Sept. 4, 1996, when he beat the Astros in St. Louis, allowing four hits and two runs in seven innings.
One other complication is that the Cardinals need to make sure that Kile feels strong enough to come back on short rest again to pitch Game 7. If he can't, Benes would have to start that game. But they're a long way from having to worry about Game 7.
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