There's a 'Kid' in the Duck pond!

Hall of Fame Catcher Gary Carter will be managing in New York in 2009 afterall. Not in Flushing, but a little farther out on Long Island. Carter is the new head man for the Long Island Ducks of the independent Atlantic League. He was introduced at a press conference Monday. Carter managed last season in the independent Golden Baseball League. He guided the Orange County Flyers to a title. In '06, "The Kid" managed the Class-A St. Lucie Mets in the Florida State League. He has been out of the Mets system since then and from what I understand it wasn't the most amicable parting.

Makes you wonder why he did what he did in May. When the buzzards were circling Willie Randolph, sensing the kill, Carter let everyone know that he was interested in managing the Mets. Not necessarily the classiest way to do things, ya think? Especially when Randolph had not yet been fired. Keith Hernandez, Carter's teammate in 1986, was especially vocal in his criticism. Hopefully Carter learned something about diplomacy from that situation. As he works his way up the ranks as a manager, some diplomacy will serve him well. Carter, no doubt, still has dreams of managing in the Bigs, but for now will have to settle for being the skipper at Citibank Park, rather than Citi Field.