Jeff Wilpon meets with Minaya, Manuel in Atlanta

ATLANTA - Jeff Wilpon emerged from a 90-minute meeting in the manager's office Monday at Turner Field and declared, "I didn't come here to fire anybody."

But the COO's surprise visit created a sense of uneasiness around the Mets before Monday night's 3-2 win over the Braves.

As Wilpon discussed the Mets' problems with manager Jerry Manuel, general manager Omar Minaya and assistant general manager John Ricco, many players watched a bloody double feature of "The Departed" and "No Country for Old Men."

In the middle of dozens getting whacked on-screen, the office door opened and out popped Manuel. When a reporter jokingly yelled over, "Still here?" the manager laughed.

"I got my uniform on!" Manuel said, smiling.

The reference dated to Manuel's first day on the job in 2008, fresh off the late-night firing of Willie Randolph. In response to the axing of Randolph at the team's hotel in Anaheim, Manuel said he would sleep in his uniform from then on.

If he was joking then, this might be a good time to start. The Mets were in last place before Monday night's win moved them a half-game ahead of the Braves.

Despite the urgent nature of Wilpon's visit, Manuel insisted that the meeting was to discuss baseball issues and that he was not slapped with ultimatums.

"I have not been concerned about my status," Manuel said. "Maybe I should. But I have not been."

The Mets did tackle some concrete roster decisions. After Jon Niese was diagnosed with what the team described as a "mild strain" of his right hamstring, it was announced that Hisanori Takahashi will start in his place Friday against the Yankees.

Manuel didn't name a starter for the spot vacated by Oliver Perez, but a nameplate for R.A. Dickey, the knuckleballer for Triple-A Buffalo, was placed above a locker in the clubhouse. Dickey is expected to start Wednesday against Washington.

Despite the Mets' recent slide, Manuel has tried to stay upbeat. Wilpon was not as eager to put a rosy spin on his club's nosedive.

This was his first on-field news conference since mopping up after the Minaya mess last July, when the general manager got into a heated exchange with a reporter. Wilpon stated that the Marlins' four-game weekend sweep prompted him to point his private plane toward Atlanta.

Wilpon did not specifically give Manuel or Minaya a vote of confidence, but he suggested he is willing to be patient this early. When asked if either was told of a timetable to show improvement, he shook his head.

"No," he said. "Jerry and Omar both know what's expected and they're both working at it. We're 38 games into the season, right? If I was going to make a change this quick, I should have made it last year, and we didn't do that."

If this meeting was truly about baseball, it could have been conducted at the team's hotel. Instead, Wilpon's presence made it more of a spectacle, and probably was done for impact.

"I wouldn't be here if I felt good about everything going on," Wilpon said. "We played four poor games in Florida, and I felt like it was time to come down and meet with the staff and get a state of where they think we're at. What can be done to get this team moving forward again.''