Callaway Gets Support From BVW & Front Office

Mets Manager Mickey Callaway. Photo by Jason Schott.

Mets Manager Mickey Callaway received a vote of confidence from General Manager Brodie Van Wagenen on Monday afternoon as the Mets open a four-game series with the Washington Nationals at Citi Field.

The Mets are returning home after a 1-5 road trip that has left them with a record of 20-25.


Callaway said of the support he received from Van Wagenen, "I want to thank Jeff (Wilpon) and Brodie and Fred (Wilpon) and our whole front office for their continued support. I never felt that I wasn't supported at any time, and we've always had unbelievable dialogue about how we can do things better. We realize that we have to do things better and we have to start winning games, and that's where our focus has been at all times."

Callaway then addressed the following issues:

On if he thought about his job security and if he sensed it was becoming a distraction for the team: "You worry about that, I think that's why we wanted to address that, but it can never be an excuse. We have to block out everything we possibly can. The players understand that, I understand that, and we're going to go our there everyday and continue to try and do that to the best of our ability and make adjustments and address things as we see fit."

On having the support of the players: "I means a ton, I think they understand that we, as an organization, support them wholeheartedly, and I think in return, they support us. That's what we try to create everyday and that's what we'll continue to try and create. We're going to do everything we can to win, and that has to be part of it, is trust and support."

On if he is concerned with the term "foreseeable future" that Van Wagenen used, and if it will allow him to manage without looking over his shoulder: "I've never looked over my shoulder one day. I complete the task at hand, and the task today is to go and win a game."

On if there are things that he has experienced as a player or coach that he can lean on to get this team out of its funk: "Absolutely, I felt this was two or three times every year in Cleveland (as their pitching coach). This is a normal Major League Baseball season. There's ups and downs, there's tons of history that says that our team and any team can climb out of the hole we've put ourselves in, and do something special, and I definitely believe it. As bad as I felt those two or three times in Cleveland, you look up and, after five years, I think we had the best record in the American League. So, this is not just our team at this moment in any season. This is a Major League season, it has to be dealt with, we have to climb out of it, and I believe we will. The key to that, when we did climb out of those, in my experience, has been consistency, hard work, and continuing to try to improve every day - having open dialogue on how we can continue to get better and we do that here, we've done that here, and we will continue to do that here."