By BART HUBBUCH in Anaheim, Calif., and JOEL SHERMAN in New York

Last updated: 7:29 pm
June 27, 2008
Posted: 3:18 am
June 19, 2008

Jerry Manuel's job as bench coach was to advise Willie Randolph, to give the Mets manager counsel on how to handle everything from game strategy to clubhouse politics.

However, friends of Randolph's told The Post that the now former manager had grown to believe Manuel actually might have been doing the opposite of helping him by undermining him to upper management. It is a charge Manuel denied late yesterday afternoon.

Randolph had spotted Manuel having a lengthy conversation on the field at Shea Stadium last week with Mets VP of player development Tony Bernazard, a known Randolph detractor. Randolph grew concerned Manuel was serving as a mole to the front office and he confronted Manuel about the meeting. Manuel denied anything nefarious in his face-to-face with Randolph.

But Randolph was fired on Monday night and his suspicions about Manuel widened after watching Manuel's introductory press conference to become interim manager, because Manuel was so explicit about the areas in which he would separate himself from Randolph.

It is Randolph's burgeoning belief that Manuel might have been pointing to just these areas as a way to knock Randolph and campaign to be his replacement.

Speaking before last night's game against the Angels, Manuel confirmed his on-field chat with Bernazard but strongly downplayed it.

"There's nothing to that, honestly," Manuel told The Post. "I've always gotten along real well with guys like [Mets assistant GM] John Ricco, guys like Tony Bernazard, Omar [Minaya]. The conversations are always about baseball: What are we doing, where are we going, are we trying different things. I never had any of these meetings secretly. Everyone could always see us talking."

Manuel also confirmed that an angry Randolph challenged him about the meeting with Bernazard.

"He asked me, and I understood completely, what with the way things have been around here the past few weeks, and with my name out there all the time as his successor," Manuel said.

Manuel said he understood Randolph's point after being fired himself as manager of the White Sox in 2003.