Yes, I’m talking about you Mr. Minaya.
It was November 20, 2006—thirty-one days removed from Game 7 of the National League Championship Series. The Mets had just replaced a broken down thirty-three year old left fielder and replaced him with a 40-year old that is about as fragile as a snowflake.
This was one of the first decisions Omar Minaya made that I second-guessed from the get-go. This was the move that started the immeasurable hatred that I have for this man as the general manager of my favorite baseball team.
Though he has made numerous questionable decisions over the past three seasons, his patience allowed him to make one outstanding trade when he pulled off a deal to acquire the best pitcher in baseball. Had it not been for the deal to bring Johan Santana to New York, I would have a hard time believing Minaya would still have a job.
Many Mets fans around 2006-2007 were enamored with Minaya because he took what was a 91-loss team and put them within one base hit from going to the World Series just two years later. All in all, what did he really do? He took over as the general manager of a New York sports franchise and sold the Wilpons on opening up their wallets to bring two top free agents to New York in 2005. Yes, Omar did do that, and those moves did turn the franchise around, but show me any front office executive that wouldn’t have said, lets go get the best available starting pitcher and best available bat on the free agent market.
Yesterday, Kerel Cooper of OnTheBlack.com asked me on Twitter, “Could the Mets do anything in terms of moves at this point to get you to the ballpark? Curious…”
It really got me thinking. The product on the field starts with the general manager. At this point, nothing about this team impresses me. Looking at it from a Phillies standpoint, nothing on this team truly intimidates me to the point where I’d be worried about my division title. So, what would get me to the ballpark? A new face in the front office.
I feel like I have been hearing the same nonsense year after year since 2006. It goes a little something like, “The Mets are on the brink, and if we sign this guy and this guy this offseason, we can get over that hump.” Well, I have been waiting to get over that hump for three seasons now and I find that my patience is running out. While I have been waiting for the Mets to get over that hump, the Phillies have gotten over that hump and have seen the World Series in back-to-back years.
Minaya seems to have a horrendous lack of understanding for depth and the farm system—and it appears he figured that out, but didn’t want to distribute that concept throughout the various nine positions and chose only to stock up in catchers this offseason.
I refuse to attend any Mets games until there is a new face running this franchise. Quite frankly, I’m tired of seeing Omar Minaya making the decisions for the team I grew up watching nearly every single night since I was eight years old.
This team hit rock bottom in Minaya’s tenure as general manager this past season—and even after two previous collapses, still ownership refuses to change the direction in which this franchise is headed. I’m sick of seeing the Moises Alou’s, the Julio Franco’s, the ridiculous 3:00am firings of managers, the asinine assistant general manager that challenges our minor leaguers to a fight, the constant disappointment put forth by the baseball team that Minaya puts together year after year.
How much more embarrassing can this franchise get with Minaya continuing to run it?
Please Mr. Wilpon. I’m begging you. Save yourself anymore embarrassment. Get rid of this guy.
Follow Gary Grund on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/gargrund.
Pete Lappin (3)
Bats in the Outfield
By Benjamin Tulis on February 1, 2010 at 7:45 am
Comments
The Mets certainly have some question marks. Is a rotation of Johan Santana and the “Human Question Marks” sufficient to compete? Can the Mets reasonably rely on Mike Pelfrey to revert to 2008 form? Similarly, will Oliver Perez revert to pitching like a Major League caliber starter?
Are Kelvim Escobar and Ryoto Igarashi effective set-up men for Francisco Rodriguez? Is a platoon of Daniel Murphy and Fernando Tatis really the move at first base? Is there a starting catcher aboard the 2010 train? The training staff. And that list of 2010 roster questions is hardly all-inclusive.
While Carlos Beltran’s knee remains a temporary question mark until he is again roaming Citi Field, the fact is the Mets are entering the 2010 season with a seemingly productive and reliable outfield for the first time in a long time. Beltran’s knee will heal and when it does, the Mets will have at least five months of the most productive outfield it has had in a long time.
I am not saying the Mets are saved because they have a good outfield. They are not. Jason Bay and Jeff Francoeur certainly have their flaws but they are in or entering their prime (unlike the Moises Alou’s and Shawn Green’s of years past) and have put up gaudy numbers in past seasons. Gary Matthews Jr. is not a $50 million man but at $1.25 million/year, he is a steal as a fourth outfielder even in light of his advancing age and declining numbers. Isn’t Alex Cora making double that?
Lest we forget that Matthews has had his Endy moments while providing some offense as recently as a few years ago. And Angel Pagan has proven he is capable of performing like a starting outfielder (if he remains healthy of course). Even Frank Catalanotto, recently signed to a minor league contract and invited to spring training, appears to be a smart signing and could provide some reliable outfield depth. And Carlos Beltran will come back in May as Carlos Beltran.
This article is a merely a comment on a long trend in recent Met history and Omar Minaya’s recent decision to abandon the trend of the “piecemeal” outfield or the “Beltran plus ‘anyone’” outfield. The abandoned philosophy was also attributable to the reigns of Steve Phillips and Jim McIllvane. The philosophy essentially goes back to the transition from Frank Cashen & Darryl Strawberry to the likes of Vince Coleman and Bobby Bonilla.
Read more