So why, you might ask, don’t I care much about who the next manager of the Mets will be?

It isn’t because I think Jerry Manuel’s been an effective manager — I certainly don’t believe that. His penchant for bunting in ludicrous situations, either overusing or banishing relievers, and — his apparent going-away present — his refusal to make lineups that will best help the team get ready for 2011 are all infuriating.

But let’s face it: This Mets team wasn’t going to the playoffs, regardless of the manager. And without a comprehensive change in player evaluation — something accomplished above the manager’s pay grade — that will be true in 2011 and seasons to come.

– Howard Megdal, SNY.tv.

Tons and tons of discussion about the Mets’ next manager lately, some of which Howard participates in later in this column. But the crux of this excerpt is right: It doesn’t really matter much who’s managing the team if the team isn’t operated better from the top.

Look: It’s best to have a field manager who doesn’t actively cost his team wins, and at times in 2010 it wasn’t clear that the Mets could boast that. And it’s not easy to manage Major League egos, balance the roster, maximize the arms in the bullpen, everything. All that stuff is hard, and there’s a reason fans of nearly every team in the Majors are certain their manager sucks.

But the manager pales in importance to general manager, and pales in importance to the players on the field, too. Sure, he is charged with getting the most out of them, with trying to motivate them to perform their best. But Major Leaguers must be pretty good at motivating themselves to make the Major Leagues.

Maybe a good manager provides some extra spark or squeezes a little bit of extra juice out of his players by instilling more confidence or using them in precisely the right situations to maximize their potential, I’ll grant that for sure. I’m not saying you can just shove any chump on the bench and all things will be equal.

I just don’t think any manager’s going to make a difference of much more than a couple of wins either way.

So to Mets fans freaking out over the few tidbits of Joe Torre nonsense like word came down that the four horseman are galloping through Flushing, I say two things: 1) It’s probably not that big of a deal if it does happen and 2) It’s probably not going to happen anyway.

The talk all along has been that the Mets are going to be reluctant to pony up the cash for Bobby Valentine, but they’re going to gladly fork it over to Joe Torre, a much less popular figure among their fanbase? I doubt it.