Mets fire manager Jerry Manuel, GM Omar Minaya after second straight losing season

A day after ending their second straight losing season, the New York Mets fired manager Jerry Manuel and general manager Omar Minaya, actions that had been widely expected.

After starting the season with a $133-million payroll, fifth-highest in baseball, the Mets finished 79-83, 18 games behind Philadelphia in the NL East. There have been no playoff games in Queens since the Mets fell one game short of going to the World Series in 2006.

“The last four years have been the most painful to me,” team owner Fred Wilpon said, “and probably the most disappointing in what is over 30 years” as owner.

Gibson staying on

Kirk Gibson, hired as Arizona’s interim manager after a midseason shake-up, had the “interim” title removed and will manage the Diamondbacks next season.

Gibson, National League MVP and World Series hero with the Dodgers in 1988, was promoted from bench coach when the Diamondbacks fired manager A.J. Hinch and GM Josh Byrnes on July 2. Gibson went 34-49, and Arizona finished last in the NL West at 65-97.

Pirates fire Russell

The Pittsburgh Pirates fired manager John Russell, who matched the franchise record for losses by a manager in three seasons. Russell went 186-299; the only other manager in the team’s 124-season history with so many losses in so few seasons was Fred Haney, who was 163-299 from 1953-55. Among Pirates teams in baseball’s modern era, only the 1952 edition, which went 42-112, lost more games than Russell’s final team, which went 57-105.

Etc.

Ken Macha will not return as manager of the Milwaukee Brewers, the club announced. Macha, 60, was 157-167 in two losing seasons following Milwaukee’s first postseason appearance in 26 years. . . . Minnesota first baseman Justin Morneau, out since July 7 because of post-concussion symptoms, will not play in the postseason, the Twins said. . . . Manager Dusty Baker got a two-year contract extension through 2012 for leading the Cincinnati Reds to their first playoff appearance in 15 years.