Mets GM Brodie Van Wagenen met with the media on Monday at Citi Field and threw his support behind embattled manager Mickey Callaway. But that support came with an asterisk.

"We called a meeting today with the coaching staff and with the players," Van Wagenen said after arriving late to the press conference due to the aforementioned meeting. "The puirpose of this meeting had many different aspects to it. First and foremost, to make clear to the coaches make clear to Mickey, and make sure that the players understood that I, the front office, and the entire ownership group has support of Mickey Callaway as our manager. Mickey is our manager now, Mickey is our manager going forward," Callaway said.

After adding that there is confidence among the players, Van Wagenen explained why he thinks Callaway remains the right man for the job.

"I think Mickey has the respect of the players," Van Wagenen said, adding the the players feel "united and connected and that he believes "Mickey has the pulse of the clubhouse."

"We wanted to communicate it without any ambiguity that this coaching staff had the support of us," Van Wagenen said. "And we wanted the players to recognize the accountability that exists on all parties. ... we're not looking to blame a manger and we're not looking to blame any adversity through injuries."

While Van Wagenen said he wanted to communicate the support for Callaway and the coaching staff without "any ambiguity," he would not answer yes or no when asked if Callaway was safe for the remainder of the season.

"He has our full support to lead this team for the foreseeable future," Van Wagenen said, before dodging another follow-up question about the length of the support for Callaway.

"I don't want to leave this to be an ambiguous statement," he said. "We met this morning. ... we all felt like this was the right decision. We maintain that position from where we were in the offseason. We intend to win games. And I think that Mickey is gonna be a part of that future. And I think it's as simple as that."

As Van Wagenen finished speaking, he got up and gave Callaway a firm handshake as the two men switched spots at the podium.

"I want to thank Jeff and Brodie and Fred and our whole front office for their continued support," Callaway said, though -- as is noted above -- it remains unclear how strong that support is.

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