FanHouse Rick Down

The controversy that Brian McNamee hath wrought has centered on the Yankees, thanks to his past employment with the team and personal history working with Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte. Certainly there were other PED-peddlers ingratiated with other franchises around the big leagues, but McNamee was the one who was caught and spilled his guts under oath.

In hindsight, the Mets have to be overjoyed they avoided entangling themselves in the whole mess, because it turns out that they almost put McNamee on their payroll before Omar Minaya nixed the idea before last season. From the New York Post:

Willie Randolph and Rick Down, who was the Mets' hitting coach to begin last year, both endorsed that the team hire McNamee as a batting-practice pitcher based on relationships formed with McNamee when all of them had been employed by the Yankees.

However, Minaya decided to investigate McNamee's reputation and opted against making the hire based on a series of dubious responses he received from associates around the majors and his sense McNamee did not fit the support role available.

Down told the Post that he thinks "the Tampa incident" turned Minaya off on McNamee, though Minaya's official explanation was that McNamee's history as a personal trainer didn't jibe with what the team was looking for. Either way, the Mets dodged a p.r. bullet.

No, not as an active player, as would have been his desire, but Rickey Henderson will be wearing a major league uniform again as the Mets' hitting coach. He replaces Rick Down, the Mets' hitting coach since 2005, who was fired late last night, according to Newsday:

When asked whether Randolph offered an explanation, Down -- who came to Flushing with Randolph before the 2005 season -- replied: "Not really. Approach, I guess."

(...)

"We got hit with some injuries, and we had guys like Ricky Ledee trying to replace them," Down said. "It's tough. They'll do well. When they get healthy, they'll get back."

Did Down just blame Ricky Ledee for losing his job? Tsk, tsk.

Who knows how much Down really has had to do with the Mets hitting problems. He was vilified in 2005 when the Mets were struggling, and then when the team put up some historic franchise numbers at the plate in 2006, the heat was off. Down does have a point about the injuries. Besides Carlos Delgado, who is struggling simply because he's struggling, you can attribute many struggles and fall-offs at the plate from '06 to '07 to injuries at some point or another.

But this serves a dual purpose. The Mets' approach, hitting and otherwise, has certainly been more lackadaisical this season ... probably because the team has gotten a little too comfortable. Henderson will certainly shake things up whether it be by approach (Rickey will preach the virtues of deep counts, an approach the Mets sorely need), and by just being there (Rickey will certainly like to be Rickey, so get your quote books ready). As long as he doesn't tell Carlos Beltran to steal more bases, this move will work out just fine.

And who knows, Rickey could activate himself in September if he really wants one more go. After all, he's younger than Julio Franco. (Update: According to Omar Minaya during a radio interview, not only have the Mets designated Franco for assignment, Rickey isn't officially the hitting instructor ... yet. Although Rickey has been hired by the Mets, his capacity has yet to be determined.)

Previously on FanHouse:
Rickey Henderson Is Sparking a Grassroots Movement
Rickey Henderson is Officially Insane
Carlos Beltran Wants Rickey to Be Rickey With Someone Else
Rickey Henderson Wants Back In

That's not a headline that's going to instill any confidence in Met fans. But sometimes, you have to get back to basics.

Shawn Green's power numbers have declined over the last few seasons. Back in February, Green found a hand hitch in his swing, and he thought all was well. However, Green started off the spring 0 for 13. So much for self help.

On Wednesday, Green tried another approach...

Green spent an extra hour hitting on the main field with Carlos Beltran, Julio Franco and hitting coach Rick Down providing suggestions. Green's swings were recorded by a high-tech video system called Pro Mirror, which was set up with a monitor that allowed Franco and Beltran to point out adjustments in Green's swing as they were being made.

"I can honestly say today was my most productive day this spring," Green said. "It was about getting in a good hitting position - a more powerful hitting position. The video helped, but I was more interested in listening to Carlos and Julio and what they had to say. I thought I had hitting figured out five or six years ago and now I'm learning how to hit."

It's worth noting that Green got his first hit of the spring on Thursday after "learning how to hit" from Carlos and Julio ... but he also made the final out of an 8-7 Mets loss to Baltimore. If Green gets desperate, could Tom Emanski's hitting drills be far behind?