ANAHEIM, Calif. – Hoping to be a big-league manager again, Jerry Manuel admitted he would sometimes put together a list of possible assistants if that ever happened again.
When it came to pitching coaches, Manuel said Dan Warthen was always on that list.
Manuel got the chance to act on that wish list late Monday night when he was tabbed to replace the fired Willie Randolph. One of the Mets’ first moves in support of Manuel was to promote Warthen from Triple-A New Orleans to replace the axed Rick Peterson as pitching coach.
“He’s been on my list as a guy that I would like to get to know and have a chance to work with, so I’m really looking forward to that,” Manuel said of Warthen, former pitching coach for the Tigers, Padres and Mariners.
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Fresh from his botched axing of Randolph, general manager Omar Minaya left the trip yesterday and returned to New York. Minaya was supposed to help open a Met baseball academy in the Dominican Republic today but canceled that appearance.
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Manuel said again yesterday that many of his star players are due for some rest, though he said it likely will come on the road.
The Mets’ new field boss also plans to streamline the team’s daily batting-practice sessions.
“I want to rest those guys on the road because I would like our fans to see them play every day,” he said. “Giving them a day here or there would be ideal. How their at-bats [go] will determine that. I’ll be studying them and watching them closely.”
bhubbuch@nypost.com