It wasn’t the winds of change that blew through inner sanctum of Citi Field yesterday – it was more like a tornado ! Gone are the two biggest personalities associated with the futility that has marked the past two seasons. That’s right we won’t have Omar and Jerry to kick around anymore ! Hopefully gone now will be the perception of a organization that puts making a profit above winning into a organization that emphasises tradition and winning above all else.
Gone will be the double talk of Omar Minaya. He has been vilified by both the fans and the media, but I can’t help to feel that he has been somewhat maligned unfairly. Yes he is the man who orchestrates trades and free agent signings, but if you tell me that he didn’t ask permission to jettison Oliver Perez and the remaining twelve plus million dollars that remains on his contract, I would say he should have been committed. Omar did at one time command respect from the baseball world, whether it was the fans, the media or the other franchises. He took a team that was in a death spiral back in ’04 and he did bring credibility back for albeit short , but productive period of time. He looked and sounded tired yet relieved yesterday, like a unwilling combatant that has left the arena with a loss. He was battered and bloodied, but his was looking forward to going home to convalesce from the wounds that have been inflicted over the last four years.
Jerry Manuel didn’t give any interviews , and that is his perrogative. Jerry I am sure is a good man. He is quick with a joke and is very witty. But he just wasn’t the right man for the job. As a in game tactician he was mediocre at best and he came off as way to passive – especially when having his players backs during on field altercations. But Jerry Manuel with all his wishing and hoping and praying couldn’t withstand the winds of change yesterday. He is the type of person that will always find work with some baseball organization, but I think these last two and a half years have tarnished his reputation as a manager.
Well the first stage of the purge has been implemented. Let us just hope Jeff, Fred and the elusive Saul Katz do their due diligence and pick the right man to pull this organization out of the quicksand of losing that it is mired in and become the model that all teams will envy and want to imitate. Keep your fingers crossed this should be a brave new chapter in the history of the Mets.
"We won't Have Omar & Jerry to kick around anymore !"
And with that said… HERE COMES THE INFAMY !!!
Happy Birthday wishes go out to the following player :
Spot Starter and middle reliever from the ’67 team, Dennis Bennett is 71 (1939) .
Middle reliever from ’82-’84, Brent Gaff is 52 (1958) .
One of the most hated Mets of the last fifteen years, shortstop , Rey ” The Barber” Sanchez is 43 (1967) .
New York Mets claimed pitcher, Jason Middlebrook on waivers from the San Diego Padres on October 5, 2000.
Middle reliever, Manny Aybar granted free agency on October 5, 2005.
Mo Vaughn was in attendance during the press conference, If you look watch closely you will see him fighting with Joel Sherman of the New York Post over the last knish at the buffet !
6 comments
gategem
10/5/2010-8:14am at 8:14 am (UTC -4)
For those who do not receive the print version of Newsday or do not subscribe to the website I’m reproducing an article by Ken Davidoff:
“Davidoff: Wilpons care; now, can they get this right?
October 5, 2010 By KEN DAVIDOFF ken.davidoff@newsday.com
If the Wilpons achieved anything Monday, the first day of a long offseason without baseball at Citi Field, it is this:
They made it clear to their fan base that they care. That they cry and cringe along with their fans whenever incompetence rears its ugly head in Flushing. That they’re not just in this to turn a profit.
But with Omar Minaya and Jerry Manuel officially gone, and Fred and Jeff Wilpon shedding a pint of blood each, the hard work begins now for the Mets. The owners must prove not only that they know what must be done here, but that they’re the ones to do it.
“We’re going to look for somebody that has some new ideas and a new leadership quality here to reinvigorate the franchise, to give our fans the hope that they deserve and figure out some ways to do some things to try to turn it around and try to move it into the new direction that we want,” COO Jeff Wilpon said. “Create a winning atmosphere and culture within the organization. And we’re going to listen. We’re going to do a lot of listening at first to see how it comes out.”
Perfect. Except that, well, the Wilpons’ judgment in people has been questionable, at best.
Minaya returned to the organization six years ago as a New York feel-good story, a Queens native with charm who had a knack for spotting baseball talent. He departed as someone who turned out to be thoroughly overmatched by the job.
Along the way, he brought in Willie Randolph (poor interpersonal skills), Manuel (an enthusiastic detester of statistical analysis) and the notorious Tony Bernazard, who enjoyed free rein to do other people’s jobs in addition to his own.
I can’t sit here and opine that the Wilpons should hire a smart person whom they don’t like, because a good working relationship is essential. But if they find someone with a true vision who can offer both a one-year plan and a five-year plan, they should work hard to like him.
For too long, they’ve gone with familiar faces; they haven’t hired a GM from outside the organization since Frank Cashen came aboard in 1980.
The new GM should plan to share core beliefs with his or her manager and institute those throughout the organization. The person should be able to think proactively, anticipating next year’s problems rather than simply throwing a Band-Aid on last year’s condition.
The person should be more willing to exert authority on the manager, coaches and players, and also more able to stand up to ownership when, say, there’s a crying need for Oliver Perez to be released.
Plenty of such candidates exist. You already know the names: Sandy Alderson, Josh Byrnes, Rick Hahn and Terry Ryan are my four favorite, realistic recommendations.
What the Wilpons said offered plenty of positive prose, but at times, they still make you wonder if they fully appreciate the task at hand. Jeff Wilpon said the “money we misspent” constituted Minaya’s biggest crime, but I’ll say it was his lack of organizational structure that led to the bad signings of Perez and Luis Castillo.
Fred Wilpon noted “the way we do business” with not only the Mets but their real estate ventures; he referred to the interaction among himself, Jeff Wilpon and Fred’s brother-in-law, Saul Katz. The way they do business, though, has led to myriad baseball heartbreak. They need to work faster and with more fluidity, particularly during the winter.
They’ve got the pick of the litter – the Mets have the only GM opening – and they say they’re willing to spend money for the best executive.
Caring is good. Competence is much better. Which is why this will be one of the Mets’ most intriguing, important Octobers in their history.”
njstuckintx
10/5/2010-8:57am at 8:57 am (UTC -4)
Terry Ryan is starting to intrigue me the more I read about him.
“The person should be more willing to exert authority on the manager, coaches and players, and also more able to stand up to ownership when, say, there’s a crying need for Oliver Perez to be released.” – Didn’t we come away from the Wilpon meetings thinking that they wanted a hand in who the manager would be? Doesn’t that circumvent the “authority of the GM over the manager, etc. and stand up to ownership…”?
TRS86
10/5/2010-9:30am at 9:30 am (UTC -4)
I agree. I was reading about him just now. Seems like a perfect guy.
metsfan4decades
10/5/2010-12:33pm at 12:33 pm (UTC -4)
Well put, Rusty.
I’m cautiously optimistic that they’ve all learned from past mistakes.
Let’s just hope they don’t make new ones for awhile going forward.
stickguy
10/5/2010-12:41pm at 12:41 pm (UTC -4)
well, there is always the option of a status quo 2011. Don’t bring in anyone on a LT deal, hoard all the young guys you can, and see what happens.
Let the new FO guys spend the year clearing payroll, and rebuilding the organization top to bottom.
then in the off season, they should have a clear idea of what the missing pieces are, and money to spend (if justified) to go out and get them.
GravediggerHebner
10/5/2010-1:19pm at 1:19 pm (UTC -4)
I don’t know how else to sum up my feelings except to say I am quite pleased that a particular era ( or dare I say “error”) has come to an end.
I can’t gripe. I wanted it, I got it. Now I wait, hopeful.
Gategem thank you I am one who can’t read Newsday so I appreciate the reprint. I take from that article two things that I guess I already knew but hadn’t really contemplated: 1, the last outside the organization GM was by far the best GM this team has ever had; and 2, the only GM opening in the sport is the Mets so they really can choose freely from every available candidate. Hopefully the cream will make itself apparent by rising to the top and the result can be at least the greatest era of this franchise since Cashen if not the best era ever.